Case T-298/04: Action brought on 21 July 2004 by EFKON AG against the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union
Date: 2004-10-23
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: Council of the European Union, EC Directive, European Parliament, action for annulment (EU), competition law, new technology, toll

C 262/38

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

23.10.2004

Action brought on 22 July 2004 by Salvador Contreras
José Ramiro Lopez and Antonio Ramiro Lopez
Gila,

against the Council of the European Union

Instance of the European Communities on 21 July 2004 by
EFKON AG, Graz-Andritz (Austria),
represented by Georg
Zanger, lawyer.

(Case T-296/04)

(2004/C 262/72)

(Language of the case: Spanish)

An action against the Council of the European Union was
brought before the Court of First Instance of the European
Communities on 22 July 2004 by Salvador Contreras Gila, José
Ramiro Lopez and Antonio Ramiro Lopez, residing in Jaen
(Spain), represented by José Francisco Vasquez Medina, of the
Jaén Bar.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— Annul – ipso iure – Article 1(7) of Council Regulation (EC)

No 864/04;

— Reserve the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments:

In support of their arguments the applicants allege breach of
the principle of the protection of legitimate expectations and,
therefore, of the principle of legal certainty and infringement of
the rule that the administration is bound by its own acts,
because, as a result of the fact that the contested measure uses
as the reference period for the calculation of the direct aid for
the producers of olive oil only for marketing years 1999/2000,
2000/2001, 2001/2002 and 2002/2003 those producers who,
in accordance with the provisions of Regulation No 2366/98,
planted olive trees in the years 1997 or 1998 will be entitled
to hardly any of the aid provided for, since it would appear
that in those marketing years there was hardly any production,
given that at least eight years must elapse in order for an olive
tree to become fully productive.

They also allege infringement of the principle of non-discrimi-
nation in so far as other Member States, such as Portugal, are
allowed funds intended to finance an increase in the production
of young olive groves.

Action brought on 21 July 2004 by EFKON AG against the
European Parliament and the Council of the European
Union

(Case T-298/04)

(2004/C 262/73)

(Language of the case: German)

An action against the European Parliament and the Council of
the European Union was brought before the Court of First

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— annul Directive 2004/52/EC of the European Parliament

and the Council of 29 April 2004; (1)

— in the alternative, annul Article 2(1)(a),

(b) and (c) and
Articles 3 and 6 of Directive 2004/52/EC of the European
Parliament and the Council of 29 April 2004;

— in the alternative, allow the technology used by the appli-
cant (active infra-red) in the introduction of electronic road
toll systems;

— order the defendants to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments:

The applicant seeks the annulment of Directive 2004/52/EC of
the European Parliament and the Council, arguing that,
contrary to the requirement that legal measures be technologi-
cally neutral, it mandatorily prescribes specific technologies and
thereby creates a market regime in favour of the technologies
specified in the directive, infringing the principle of competi-
tion in the Community. The applicant complains that, with its
technology (bi-directional high-speed active infra-red communi-
cation technology), it is excluded from the market for road toll
systems.

The applicant further argues that the directive does not achieve
its purpose, namely inter-operability between electronic road
toll systems in the Member States, and at
the same time
hinders cooperation between the Member States, constituting
an infringement of the subsidiarity principle. The applicant was
not able to participate in the law-making process,
thereby
infringing its right to a fair hearing, and was discriminated
against by the legal measure in relation to the microwave
industry. The market regime created by the European legisla-
ture adversely affects the applicant in the exercise of its basic
freedoms guaranteed by the EC Treaty.

(1) Directive 2004/52/EC of

the
Council of 29 April 2004 on the interoperability of electronic road
toll systems in the Community.

the European Parliament and of