Case T-21/02: Action brought on 25 January 2002 by Giuseppe Atzeni and Others against the Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2002-05-18
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, Italy, State aid, action for annulment, aid to agriculture, company in difficulties, competition, farming sector, infringement of EU law

18.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 118/25

1.

2.

The applications for interim measures are dismissed.

The costs are reserved.

— the aid in question must be regarded as having been in
existence ever since 1928. In adopting the contested
decision, the Commission omitted the entire procedure
provided for by the first paragraph of Article 88;

— infringement of

the Community rules

concerning
improvements in the efficiency of agricultural structure
the ‘Community guidelines on State aid for
and of
rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty’.

Action brought on 25 January 2002 by Giuseppe Atzeni
and Others against the Commission of the European
Communities

The applicants also plead failure to comply with the obligation
to provide a statement of reasons.

(Case T-21/02)

(2002/C 118/40)

(Language of the case: Italian)

(1) OJ C 56 of 2.3.2002, p. 20.

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 25 January 2002 by the applicants
specified above, represented by Giovanni Dore and Fabio
Ciulli, lawyers.

The applicants claim that the Court should:

— pursuant to Article 230 of the Treaty, declare unlawful,
and consequently annul
in its entirety, Commission
Decision 612/97, alternatively annul the same in so far
as it provides for the recovery of the aid granted to the
applicants by the Italian State, and order the Commission
to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

Action brought on 7 February 2002 by Michel Sautelet
against the Commission of the European Communities

(Case T-25/02)

(2002/C 118/41)

(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 7 February 2002 by Michel
Sautelet, residing at Kirchberg (Grand Duchy of Luxembourg),
represented by Gilles Bounéou, lawyer, with an address for
service in Luxembourg.

This action is directed against the same decision as that
contested in Case T-4/02 Arca Delio eredi and Others v
Commission (1)

The applicant claims that the Court should:

In support of their claims, the applicants plead:

— lack of competence on the part of

the defendant,
inasmuch as the competition rules are not in principle
applicable in the agriculture sector. As regards the
provisions of Regulation No 26/62, the applicants main-
tain that, in the present case, no aid was granted, either
for production or for trade in the agricultural sector;
instead, what was intended was merely the re-establish-
ment of the necessary liquidity for agricultural undertak-
ings facing objective difficulties, as expressly identified by
the Region of Sardinia. Moreover, that regulation provides
that the rules concerning aid are applicable only in
relation to the matters covered by Article 88(1) and the
first sentence of Article 88(3);

— annul the express decision No 39090 of 6 November
2001 fixing the compensation for the non-material
damage suffered by the applicant
in the sum of
1 500euros;

— award the applicant the sum of 12 394,68 euros (rep-
resenting the sum of LUF 500 000) by way of compen-
sation for the non-material damage suffered as a result of
the lateness in drawing up his staff report for the period
from 1 July 1997 to 30 June 1999;

— annul the express decision No 44024 of 15 November
2001 declaring inadmissible complaint No 497/01 of
31 October 2001, registered by the General Secretariat of
the Commission on 5 November 2001;