Case T-344/04: Action brought on 13 August 2004 by Stardust Marine S.A. against the Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2004-10-23
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: EC Decision, EC action to establish liability, European Commission, France, State aid, aid for restructuring, control of State aid, pleasure craft, privatisation

23.10.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 262/55

Action brought on 13 August 2004 by Stardust Marine
S.A. against the Commission of the European Commu-
nities

scheme by judgment of the Tribunal de Commerce de Paris.
The cessation of payments which led to that judgment is the
direct consequence of the debt arising from the Commission's
decision. The harm sustained is the amount of the deficit in
STARDUST's assets.

(Case T-344/04)

(2004/C 262/101)

(Language of the case: French)

An action against the Commission of the European Commu-
nities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 13 August 2004 by Stardust Marine
S.A., established in Paris, represented by Bernard Vatier, lawyer.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— Declare that European Commission Decision 2000/513/EC
of 8 September 1999, which orders the French State to
recover the alleged State aid of FRF 600 million from
STARDUST, is vitiated by illegality, and that that illegality is
of such a kind as to engage the Commission's liability
under Article 288 of the EC Treaty;

— Consequently, order the European Commission to pay to
Stardust
the sum of EUR 112 635 569.73 in damages,
with statutory interest from the date of the present applica-
tion;

— Order that the forthcoming decision shall be provisionally

enforceable;

— Order the Commission to pay all the costs in the present

action.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of its application, the applicant claims that the
unlawful nature of Decision 2000/513/EC cannot be disputed,
since that decision has already been annulled by judgment of
the Court of Justice EC of 16 May 2002 in Case C-482/99.
That unlawfulness is, the applicant submits, sufficient to engage
the Commission's non-contractual
liability under Article 288
EC. The applicant also claims that, even supposing that the
decision at issue were a legislative act containing economic
policy measures,
the Commission would have infringed a
superior rule of law protecting individuals by adopting a deci-
sion adversely affecting the applicant without legal or factual
basis. Therefore, the applicant argues that the Commission is
required to pay damages to it.

As concerns the harm allegedly sustained, the applicant states
that STARDUST was the subject of a court-supervised recovery

Action brought on 20 August 2004 by Italian Republic
against the Commission of the European Communities

(Case T-345/04)

(2004/C 262/102)

(Language of the case: Italian)

An action against the Commission of the European Commu-
nities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 20 August 2004 by the Italian
Republic

The applicant claims that the Court should annul the following
decisions:

— the memorandum of 17 June 2004 No D (2004) 4074
concerning DOCUP Ob 2 — Lombardy Region 2000-2006
(No. CCI 2000 IT 16 2 DO 014) — Certification of the
intermediate statement of expenses and claim for payment,
received on 17 June 2004, by which the European
Commission — Directorate General Regional Policy —
Regional intervention in France, Greece, Italy, transmitted
the following decision: ‘the Commission therefore requests
the submission of the intermediate statement of expenses
and the claim for payment in question together with the
following
every measure
providing for an aid scheme:

information in respect of

— total amount of advances paid

— amount of the advances paid which are eligible for

structural fund contribution as previously stated.

In the absence of such information, the Commission will
not be able to make the payment requested in respect of
the measures relating to the aid scheme of the DocUP
Lombardy 2000-2006 Objective 2’ together with all other
connected and prior acts;