Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 12 July 2001 in Case T-2/99: T. Port GmbH & Co. KG v Council of the European Union (Bananas — Imports from ACP States and third countries — Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 — Possibility of relying on WTO rules — First paragraph of Article 234 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, first paragraph of Article 307 EC) — Action for damages)
Date: 2002-01-05
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: Council of the European Union, appeal to the Court (EU), import, tariff quota, third country, tropical fruit

5.1.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 3/21

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

of 12 July 2001

in Joined Cases T-202/98, T-204/98 and T-207/98: Tate &
Lyle plc and Others v Commission of the European
Communities (1)

(Competition — Sugar market — Infringement of Article 85
of the EC Treaty (now Article 81 EC) — Fines)

(2002/C 3/32)

5. Orders the applicant in Case T-204/98 to pay its own costs
and those incurred by the Commission in that case, including
those relating to the proceedings for interim relief;

6. Orders the applicant in Case T-207/98 to pay its own costs

and those incurred by the Commission in that case.

(1) OJ C 48 of 20.2.1999.

(Language of the case: English)

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

In Joined Cases T-202/98: Tate & Lyle plc, represented by
R. Fowler QC and A. L. Morris, solicitors, with an address
for service in Luxembourg, T-204/98: British Sugar plc,
represented by T. Sharpe QC and D. Jowell, barristers, and
L.R. Lindsay and A. Nourry, solicitors, with an address for
service in Luxembourg, Case T-207/98: Napier Brown & Co.
Ltd, represented by D. Guy, solicitor, and S. Sheppard,
barrister, with an address for service in Luxembourg, against
Commission of
(Agents:
B. Doherty and K. Wiedner) — application for annulment of
Commission Decision 1999/210/EC of 14 October 1998
relating to a proceeding pursuant to Article 85 of the EC

European Communities

the

Treaty

(Case

IV/

F-3/33.708 — British Sugar plc, Case IV/F-3/33.709 — Tate
& Lyle plc, Case IV/F-3/33.710 — Napier Brown & Company
Ltd, Case IV/F-3/33.711 — James Budgett Sugars Ltd) (OJ
1999 L 76, p. 1) — the Court of First Instance (Fourth
Chamber), composed of P. Mengozzi, President, V. Tiili and
R.M. Moura Ramos, Judges; J. Palacio Gonza´lez, Administrator,
for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 12 July 2001, in
which it:

1. Annuls Article 3 of Commission Decision 1999/210/EC of
14 October 1998 relating to a proceeding pursuant
to
Article 85 of the EC Treaty (Case IV/F-3/33.708 — British
Sugar plc, Case IV/F-3/33.709 — Tate & Lyle plc, Case IV/
F-3/33.710 — Napier Brown & Company Ltd, Case IV/
F-3/33.711 — James Budgett Sugars Ltd) in so far as it
concerns the applicant in Case T-202/98;

2.

Fixes the amount of the fine imposed on the applicant in Case
T-202/98 by Article 3 of Decision 1999/210 at 5.6 million
euros;

of 12 July 2001

in Case T-2/99: T. Port GmbH & Co. KG v Council of the
European Union (1)

(Bananas — Imports from ACP States and third countries
— Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 — Possibility of relying on
WTO rules — First paragraph of Article 234 of the EC
first paragraph of
Treaty

(now,
Article 307 EC) — Action for damages)

after amendment,

(2002/C 3/33)

(Language of the case: German)

In Case T-2/99: T. Port GmbH & Co. KG, established in
Hamburg (Germany), represented by G. Meier, lawyer, against
the Council of the European Union (Agents: S. Marquardt and
J.-P. Hix) supported by the French Republic (Agents: K. Rispal-
Bellanger, C. Vasak, S. Seam and F. Million) and by the
Commission of the European Communities (Agent: K.-D. Bor-
chardt) — application for compensation for the loss which the
applicant has suffered as a result of the Council introducing,
under Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 of 13 February
1993 on the common organisation of the market in bananas
(OJ 1993 L 47, p. 1), provisions which are alleged to conflict
with Article I.1 and Article XIII of the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT) — the Court of First Instance
(Fifth Chamber), composed of P. Lindh, President, R. Garcı´a-
Valdecasas and J.D. Cooke, Judges; G. Herzig, Administrator,
for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 12 July 2001, in
which it:

3. Orders the Commission to pay its own costs and those of the

applicant in Case T-202/98;

1. Dismisses the action;

4. Dismisses the applications in Cases T-204/98 and T-207/98;

2. Orders the applicant to pay the costs;

C 3/22

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

5.1.2002

3. Orders the Commission and the French Republic to bear their

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

own costs.

(1) OJ C 71 of 13.3.1999.

of 5 June 2001

in Case T-6/99: ESF Elbe-Stahlwerke Feralpi GmbH v
Commission of the European Communities (1)

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

of 12 July 2001

(ECSC Treaty — State aid — Investment aid — Operating
aid — Scope of the ECSC Treaty — Principle of protection
of legitimate expectations)

in Case T-3/99: Banatrading GmbH v Council of the
European Union (1)

(Bananas — Imports from ACP States and third countries
— Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 — Possibility of relying on
WTO rules — First paragraph of Article 234 of the EC
Treaty (now, after amendment, first paragraph of Article
307 EC) — Action for damages)

(2002/C 3/34)

(Language of the case: German)

lawyer, against

In Case T-3/99: Banatrading GmbH, established in Hamburg
(Germany), represented by G. Meier,
the
Council of the European Union (Agents: S. Marquardt and
J.P. Hix) supported by the French Republic (Agents: K. Rispal-
Bellanger, C. Vasak, S. Seam and F. Million) and by the
Commission of the European Communities (Agent: K.-D. Bor-
chardt) — application for compensation for the loss which the
applicant has suffered as a result of the Council introducing,
under Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 of 13 February
1993 on the common organisation of the market in bananas
(OJ 1993 L 47, p. 1), provisions which are alleged to conflict
with Article I.1 and Article XIII of the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT) — the Court of First Instance
(Fifth Chamber), composed of P. Lindh, President, R. Garcı´a-
Valdecasas and J.D. Cooke, Judges; G. Herzig, Administrator,
for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 12 July 2001, in
which it:

1. Dismisses the action;

2. Orders the applicant to pay the costs;

3. Orders the Commission and the French Republic to bear their

own costs.

(1) OJ C 71 of 13.3.1999.

(2002/C 3/35)

(Language of the case: German)

In Case T-6/99: ESF Elbe-Stahlwerke Feralpi GmbH, established
in Riesa, Germany, represented by W.M. Kühne and S. Bauer,
avocats, with an address for service in Luxembourg, supported
by Federal Republic of Germany (Agents: W.-D. Plessing and
C.-D. Quassowski) and by the Freistaat Sachsen, represented
by J. Sedemund and T. Lübbig, avocats, with an address for
service in Luxembourg, against Commission of the European
Communities (Agents: D. Triantafyllou and P. Nemitz) —
application
of Commission Decision
1999/580/ECSC of 11 November 1998 concerning aid granted
by Germany to ESF Elbestahlwerk Feralpi GmbH, Riesa, Saxony
(OJ 1999 L 220, p. 28) — the Court of First Instance (Third
Chamber, Extended Composition), composed of
J. Azizi,
President, and P. Mengozzi, K. Lenaerts, R.M. Moura Ramos
and M.
for the
Registrar, has delivered a judgment on 5 June 2001 in which
it:

Judges; G. Herzig, Administrator,

annulment

Jaeger,

for

1. Annuls the first paragraph of Article 1 of Commission Decision
1999/580/ECSC of 11 November 1998 concerning aid
granted by Germany to EF Elbestahlwerk Feralpi GmbH, Riesa,
Saxony, in so far as the part of the investment grant granted to
the applicant in 1995 relating to investments in its cold wire
rod drawing plant is declared incompatible with Decision
No 2496/96/ESC and the common market for coal and steel;

2. Annuls

the second paragraph of Article 1 of Decision
1999/580, in so far as it states that the aid element of the
guarantees covering the operating loans of DEM 7.2 million
and DEM 4.8 million granted at the end of 1994 was not
authorised;