Case T-34/02: Action brought on 20 February 2002 by EURL Le Levant 001 and Others against the Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2002-05-04
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, France, State aid, action for annulment (EU), private investment, sanction (EU), shipbuilding, vessel

4.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 109/57

Action brought on 20 February 2002 by EURL Le Levant
001 and Others against the Commission of the European
Communities

(Case T-34/02)

(2002/C 109/109)

(Language of the case: French)

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 20 February 2002 by the company
EURL Le Levant 001 and Others, represented by Pierre Kirch,
lawyer, with an address for service in Luxembourg.

The applicants claim that the Court should:

— annul the Commission’s decision of 25 July 2001 on
the State aid implemented by France in the form of
development assistance for the cruise vessel ‘Le Levant’,
built by Alstom Leroux Naval for operation in Saint-
Pierre-et-Miquelon (State aid C 74/99 — France), publi-
shed in OJ L 327 of 12 December 2001, p. 37;

— order the Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicants in this case are one-man undertakings with
limited liability and the persons who formed those undertak-
ings. Those persons have invested, through a one-man limited
liability undertaking (EURL),
‘Le Levant’. The
investment could be inferred from their taxable income, in
accordance with the French ‘Loi Pons’ (1). The applicants
are contesting the Commission’s decision declaring those
companies to be recipients of State aid in consequence of the
construction of the vessel ‘Le Levant’.

in the vessel

In support of their action, the applicants assert that the
Commission has exceeded its powers by adopting a decision
the effect of which is to require a Member State to recover
from private individuals, and not from undertakings within
the meaning of Community law, the amount of the State aid.

The applicants further maintain that the Commission has
infringed their rights of defence and their right to a fair
hearing, by not allowing them effectively to submit their
observations prior to the adoption of the decision.

Next, the applicants deny that they are undertakings within
the meaning of Article 87(1) of the EC Treaty. In the applicants’
view, they are merely private investors who have made a

financial investment exclusively in order to benefit from a tax
break. The applicants also maintain that the Commission has
infringed Council Directive 90/684/EEC on aid to shipbuilding.
They submit that Article 4(7) of that directive can apply only
to shipyards or ship operators, and in no circumstances to
private investors.

In addition, the applicants plead infringement of the principles
of the protection of legitimate expectations and legal certainty
and failure to comply with the obligation to provide a
statement of reasons. Moreover, by ordering the recovery of
the alleged aid when that is contrary to the abovementioned
general principles of
the Commission has infringed
law,
Article 14 of Council Regulation No 659/1999 (2).

According to the applicants,
the contested decision also
contains manifest errors of assessment and is based on material
inaccuracies.

In addition, the applicants plead infringement of Article 153(2)
of the EC Treaty, in that the Commission does not take into
account the interests of the applicants, who are consumers of
financial services. Lastly, they claim that the Commission has
infringed Article 2 of Regulation No 69/2001 (3) by failing to
apply the de minimis rule.

(1) Rectifying Finance Law No 86-824 of 11 July 1986, published in
JORF (Official Journal of the French Republic) of 12 July 1986,
p. 8688.

(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 of 22 March 1999 laying
down detailed rules for the application of Article 93 of the EC
Treaty (OJ L 83 of 27.3.1999, p. 1).

(3) Commission Regulation (EC) No 69/2001 of 12 January 2001 on
the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to de
minimis aid (OJ L 10 of 13.1.2001, p. 30).

Action brought on 13 February 2002 by ALITALIA
against the Commission of the European Communities

(Case T-35/02)

(2002/C 109/110)

(Language of the case: Italian)

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 13 February 2002 by ALITALIA,
represented by Guido Alpa, Mario Siragusa, Gian Michele
Roberti, Giuseppe Scassellati and Francesca Maria Moretti,
lawyers.