Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 8 October 2002 In Joined Cases T-185/00, T-216/00, T-299/00 and T-300/00: Métropole télévision SA (M6) and Others v Commission of the European Communities (Competition — Decision granting exemption — Television rights — Eurovision system — Article 81(1) and (3) EC — Manifest error of assessment)
Date: 2002-12-21
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Broadcasting Union, European Commission, Spain, action for annulment (EU), cable distribution, free movement of programmes, restriction on competition, sport, television

21.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 323/31

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

of 17 October 2002

of 8 October 2002

in Case T-180/00: Astipesca, SL v Commission of the
European Communities (1)

In Joined Cases T-185/00, T-216/00, T-299/00 and T-300/
00: Métropole télévision SA (M6) and Others v Com-
mission of the European Communities (1)

(Fisheries — Reduction of Community financial aid —
Action for annulment — Articles 44 and 47 of Regulation
(EEC) No 4028/86 and Article 7 of Regulation (EEC)
No 1116/88 — Principle of proportionality — Action for
compensation)

(Competition — Decision granting exemption — Television
rights — Eurovision system — Article 81(1) and (3) EC —
Manifest error of assessment)

(2002/C 323/49)

(2002/C 323/48)

(Languages of the case: French, Spanish and Portuguese)

(Language of the case: Spanish)

J.-R. García-Gallardo Gil-Fournier

In Case T-180/00, Astipesca, SL, established in Huelva (Spain),
represented by
and
M.D. Domínguez Pérez, lawyers, v Commission of the Euro-
pean Communities (Agents:
initially L. Visaggio, and, sub-
sequently, S. Pardo Quintillán and J. Guerra Fernández):
Application for, first, annulment of the Commission’s fax of
5 May 2000 informing the applicant of the payment, on 4 May
2000, of part of the balance of the financial aid granted to
project SM/ESP/20/92 and of the contents of the Commission’s
letter of 18 May 2000, reducing the abovementioned aid and,
second, compensation on the grounds of the allegedly unlawful
suspension of payment of the balance of that aid and of the
abovementioned reduction, the Court of First Instance (Third
Chamber), composed of: M. Jaeger, President, K. Lenaerts and
J. Azizi, Judges; J. Palacio González, Administrator, for the
Registrar, has given a judgment on 17 October 2002, in which
it has ruled:

1. Dismisses the application;

2. Orders the applicant to pay the costs.

( 1) OJ C 259 of 9.9.2000.

In Joined Cases T-185/00, T-216/00, T-299/00 and T-300/00,
Métropole télévision SA (M6), established in Neuilly-sur-Seine
(France), represented by D. Théophile, lawyer, with an address
for service in Luxembourg, applicant
in Case T-185/00,
Antena 3 de Televisión SA, established in Madrid (Spain),
represented by F. Pombo García, E. Garayar Gutiérrez and
R. Alonso Pérez-Villanueva, lawyers, with an address for service
in Luxembourg, applicant
in Case T-216/00, Gestevisión
Telecinco SA, established in Madrid, represented by S. Muñoz
Machado and M. López-Contreras Gonzalez, lawyers, with an
address for service in Luxembourg, applicant in Case T-299/
00, SIC — Sociedade Independente de Comunicação SA,
established in Linda-a-Velha (Portugal), represented by C. Bo-
telho Moniz, lawyer, , supported by Deutsches SportFernsehen
GmbH (DSF), established in Ismaning (Germany), represented
by K. Metzlaff, lawyer, with an address for service in Luxem-
bourg, in Case T-299/00, and by Reti Televisive Italiane Spa
(RTI), established in Rome (Italy), represented by G. Amorelli,
lawyer, with an address for service in Luxembourg, in Case
T-300/00, v Commission of
the European Communities
(Agents:
in Case T-185/00: K. Wiedner and B. Mongin; in
Cases T-216/00 and T-299/00: K. Wiedner, E. Gippini Fournier
and J. Rivas Andrés, and in Case T-300/00: Wiedner and
M. França), supported by Union européenne de radio-télévision
(UER), established in Grand-Saconnex (Switzerland), represen-
ted by D. Waelbroeck and M. Johnsson,
lawyers, with an
address for service in Luxembourg, in Cases T-185/00, T-216/
00, T-299/00 and T-300/00, and by Radiotelevisión Española
(RTVE), established in Madrid, represented by J. Gutiérrez
Gisbert, lawyer, with an address for service in Luxembourg, in
Cases T-216/00 and T-299/00: Application for annulment of
Commission Decision 2000/400/EC of 10 May 2000 relating
to a proceeding pursuant to Article 81 of the EC Treaty (Case
IV/32.150 — Eurovision) (OJ 2000 L 151, p. 18), the Court
of First Instance (Second Chamber, Extended Composition),
composed of: R.M. Moura Ramos, President, V. Tiili, J. Pirrung,
P. Mengozzi and A.W.H. Meij, Judges; B. Pastor, Principal
Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on
8 October 2002, in which it:

C 323/32

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21.12.2002

1. Annuls Commission Decision 2000/400/EC of 10 May
2000 relating to a proceeding pursuant to Article 81 of the EC
Treaty (IV/32.150 — Eurovision);

2. Orders the Commission to pay its own costs, together with
those of the applicants and of the intervener Reti Televisive
Italiane Spa;

3. Orders DSF Deutsches SportFernsehen GmbH to bear the costs

of its intervention;

4. Orders the intervener Union européenne de radio-télévision to
bear its own costs, together with those incurred by Métropole
télévision SA, Antena 3 de Televisión SA and SIC — Sociedade
Independente de Comunicação SA for their interventions;

5. Orders the intervener Radiotelevisión Española to bear its own
costs, together with those incurred by Antena 3 de Televisión
SA for its intervention;

6. Orders Gestevisión Telecinco SA to bear the costs it incurred in
connection with the intervention of the Union européenne de
radio-télévision and of Radiotelevisión Española.

2000), the Court of First Instance (Fifth Chamber), composed
of: J.D. Cooke, President, R. García-Valdecasas and P. Lindh,
Judges; D. Christensen, Administrator, for the Registrar, has
given a judgment on 15 October 2002, in which it:

1. Annuls the decision of the Commission of 30 June 2000,
refusing to acknowledge the eligibility of the applicant for the
Programme encouraging the development and distribution of
European audiovisual works (MEDIA II — Development and
distribution) (1996-2000);

2. Orders the Commission to pay the costs.

(1) OJ C 316 of 4.11.2000.

( 1) OJ C 285 of 7.10.2000, C 302 of 21.10.2000 and C 355 of

9.12.2000.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

of 15 October 2002

in Case T-233/00: Scanbox Entertainment A/S v Com-
mission of the European Communities (1)

(Programme encouraging the development and distribution
of European audiovisual works (MEDIA II) — Automatic
support for distribution — Recipient company)

of 17 October 2002

in Joined Case T-330/00 and T-114/01: Stefano Cocchi
and Evi Hainz against Commission of the European
Communities (1)

(Officials — Recruitment procedure — Article 29(1) of the
Staff Regulations — Priority of officials — Rejection of
candidatures of temporary members of staff — Appointment
of an official — Prohibition of discrimination — Statement
of reasons — Interests of the service — Fourth and fifth
paragraphs of Article 8 of the Conditions of employment of
other servants — Duty to have regard for the interests of
officials — Vacancy notice)

(2002/C 323/50)

(2002/C 323/51)

(Language of the case: Danish)

(Language of the case: French)

In Case T-233/00, Scanbox Entertainment A/S, established in
Farum (Denmark), represented by T. Steffensen,
lawyer, v
Commission of the European Communities (Agents: N. Ras-
mussen and H. Støvlbæk): Application for the annulment of
the Commission’s decision of 30 June 2000 refusing to
recognise the applicant’s eligibility for the programme encour-
aging the development and distribution of European audiovisu-
al works (Media II — Development and distribution) (1996-

In Joined Cases T-330/00 and T-114/01: Stefano Cocchi and
Evi Hainz, former members of the temporary staff of the
Commission of the European Communities, residing in Varese
(Italy), represented by G. Vandersanden and L. Levi, lawyers,
with an address for service in Luxembourg, against Com-
mission of the European Communities (Agents: J. Currall and
D. Waelbroeck), application: