Case T-415/03: Action brought on 18 December 2003 by Cofradía de Pescadores San Pedro de Bermeo, Vizcaya, and Others against the Council of the European Union
Date: 2004-02-21
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: Council of the European Union, authorised catch, catch quota, right of action, sea fish

C 47/32

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

21.2.2004

Action brought on 12 December 2003 by the Regione
Siciliana against the Commission of the European Com-
munities

(Case T-408/03)

(2004/C 47/62)

(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 12 December 2003 by the Regione
Siciliana, represented by A. Cingolo, avvocato dello Stato.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— Annul Commission Decision BUDG/C5/ME/jlsD(2003)
358046 of 6 October 2003 on the detailed rules for the
the contribution paid by the European
recovery of
Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the ‘Messina
Palermo Motorway major project’ partially cancelled by
Commission
(ERDF
No 93.05.03.001 — Arinco No 93.IT.16.009) of 5 Sep-
tember 2002 and the Debit Note No 3240406591 of
25 September 2002 and the other acts resulting from it;
Order the Commission of the European Communities to
pay the costs.

Decision

109206

No

The applicant claims that the Court should:

Pleas in law and main arguments

— Annul

Decision

Commission

BUDG/C5/ME/
jlsD(2003)358046 of 6 October 2003 on the detailed
rules for the recovery of the contribution paid by the
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the
‘Aragona Favara’ and ‘Piana di Catania’ projects, Debit
Notes No 3240304871 of 14 August 2003 and
No 3240303927 of 13 August 2003, and the other acts
resulting from it; Order the Commission of the European
Communities to pay the costs.

The pleas in law and main arguments are the same as
those put forward in Case T-392/03 Regione Siciliana v
Commission (1).

(1) Not yet published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The pleas in law and main arguments are the same as
those put forward in Case T-392/03 Regione Siciliana v
Commission (1).

(1) Not yet published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Action brought on 11 December 2003 by the Regione
Siciliana against the Commission of the European Com-
munities

(Case T-414/03)

(2004/C 47/63)

(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 11 December 2003 by the Regione
Siciliana, represented by G. Aiello, avvocato dello Stato.

Action brought on 18 December 2003 by Cofradía de
Pescadores San Pedro de Bermeo, Vizcaya, and Others
against the Council of the European Union

(Case T-415/03)

(2004/C 47/64)

(Language of the case: Spanish)

An action was brought before the Court of First Instance of
the European Communities on 18 December 2003 against
Council of the European Union by Cofradía de Pescadores San
Pedro de Bermeo,Vizcaya, and Others established at Guipúzcoa
and Vizcaya, Spain, represented by the lawyers Emiliano
Garayar Gutiérrez, Gervasio Martínez-Villaseñor, Anna García
Casatillo and Miguel Troncoso Ferrer.

21.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 47/33

The applicants claim that the Court of First Instance should:

— Declare that the Community has incurred non-contrac-
tual liability by making a deduction from the percentage
of the Total Allowable Catch of anchovies to which Spain
and the fleet authorised to fish for anchovies in ICES
zone VIII are entitled in the years 1996 to 2001, by
transferring Portugal’s quota in ICES zone IX for it to be
fished by France in ICES zone VIII;

— Compel the Community, represented by the Council, to
compensate the applicants for the real and certain harm
suffered as a result of the acts of the Council, comprising
both consequential damage and loss of profits, in the
terms set out in the present application and its annexes;

— Order the Community, represented by the Council, to
pay all the costs incurred by the applicants in the context
of the present proceedings.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The purpose of the present action is to seek compensation for
the damage suffered by the applicants as a result of the removal
between 1996 and 2001 of part of the Total Allowable Catch
(TAC) of anchovies to which Spain is entitled in ICES
(International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) zone VIII,
following the authorisation granted by the Council of the
European Union for the transfer of Portugal’s quota in ICES
zone IX for it to be fished by France in zone ICES VIII.

In support of their claims, the applicants submit that the
alleged illegality fulfils all the requirements laid down by the
case-law to give rise to non-contractual liability on the part of
the Community.

As regards the condition concerning a sufficiently serious
breach of a superior rule of law, they refer to contravention of
the principles of relative stability, legal certainty and protection
of legitimate expectations.

the permitted anchovy catches in ICES zone VIII initially
assigned to them, contravenes both the principle of relative
stability and the Act of Accession (Article 161(1)(f)). Thus, the
Council also acted in breach of the principle of legal certainty,
infringing upon the legitimate expectations of the economic
agents involved.

The applicants also allege that the Council has misused its
powers.

Action brought on 22 December 2003 by La Mer Tech-
nology, Inc. against the Office for Harmonisation in the
Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM)

(Case T-418/03)

(2004/C 47/65)

(Language of the case to be determined pursuant to article 131(2) of
the Rules of Procedure — language in which the case was submitted:
English)

An action against the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal
Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM) was brought before
the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on
22 December 2003 by La Mer Technology, Inc., New York,
USA, represented by Dr V. v. Bomhard, Dr A. Renck and Dr
A. Pohlmann, lawyers. Laboratoires Goëmar was also a party
to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

1.

annul the Decision of the second Board of Appeal of the
office for Harmonisation in the Internal market (Trade
Marks and Designs) of 23 October 2003 in case R 814/
2000-2;

2.

order that the costs of the proceedings be borne by the
defendant.

They state, in particular, that the principle of relative stability
serves to guarantee compliance with the quota allocated to
Spain in the Act of Accession, according to which Spain is
entitled to 90 percent and France to 10 percent of anchovy
catches in ICES zone VIII. Accordingly, the quota swaps
provided for in Article 8 (4) (ii) of Regulation No 3760/92 and
Article 9 (1) thereof must be carried out without changing the
overall balance of percentages laid down in the Act of
Accession. Consequently, the contested authorisation of swaps,
the result of which is to deprive Spain and the Spanish fleet of

Pleas in law and main arguments

Applicant for the Com-
munity trade mark:

The Community trade
mark sought:

La Mer Technology, Inc.

The word mark ‘La Mer’ for goods
in class 3 (in addition to other
things,
the care of
for
human skin and the human body;
perfumery, essential oils, cos-
metics, hair lotions)

soaps