Case T-418/04: Action brought on 15 October 2004 by Confcooperative and Others against the Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2004-12-04
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, Hungary, accession to the European Union, action for annulment (EU), designation of origin, market organisation, product designation, viticulture, wine

4.12.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 300/53

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— annul the explanatory note attached to item no 103 in
Annex I
to Commission Regulation No 1429/2004
concerning the limitation in time on the use of the name
‘Tocai friulano’ up to 31 March 2007;

— order the Commission to pay all costs of the proceedings.

— Finally, the applicant submits that there has been an infrin-
gement of the principle of proportionality and a breach of
property rights.

(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 1429/2004 of 9 August 2004
amending Commission Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 of 29 April
2002 laying down certain rules for applying Council Regulation
(EC) No 1493/1999 as regards the description, designation, presen-
tation and protection of certain wine sector products (OJ L 263 of
10.08.2004, p. 11).

Pleas in law and main arguments:

Article 1(5) of Commission Regulation No 1429/2004 (1)
amending Commission Regulation No 753/2002 replaces
Annex II to the amended Regulation No 753/2002 by a new
annex (Annex I) which maintains, for wine derived from the
grape type ‘Tocai friulano’ (item no 103 in the new Annex I),
on the basis of an added explanatory note, the limitation in
time up to 31 March 2007 on the use of that name, as already
contained in Annex II to Regulation No 753/2002. The present
application seeks the annulment of the explanatory note that
refers to the use of the name ‘Tocai friulano’.

In support of its contentions the applicant makes the following
submissions:

— Pursuant to Article 59(1) of the Vienna Convention on the
Law of Treaties, following the entry into force on 1 May
2004 of the Treaty of Accession of Hungary and the other
Member States, all provisions contained in previous treaties
concluded between Hungary and the European Community
lapsed unless they were expressly included in that Accession
Treaty.

— Lack of competence on the part of the Commission to
abolish rights in the area of the application of Article 19 of
Regulation No 753/2002 in so far as, if the Commission
had the power under Article 53 of the basic regulation
(Regulation No 1493/1999) to determine in which country
a specific variety of grape could be grown, it had no power
to abolish a variety of grape long cultivated in a Member
State in view of the fact that the Member States alone are
authorised to take such a decision.

— Infringement of the prohibition of discrimination laid down
in the second subparagraph of Article 34(2) EC. That prohi-
bition, which could not have been applied in regard to
Hungary prior to its accession, has, by contrast, become
applicable in full since that country became a Member
State.

Action brought on 15 October 2004 by Confcooperative
the European
and Others against

the Commission of
Communities

(Case T-418/04)

(2004/C 300/103)

(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 15 October 2004 by Confcoopera-
tive FVG Federagricole,
la
Cantina Sociale di Ramoscello, S. Vito S.C.a.r.l.,
la Cantina
Produttori Cormòns S.C.a.r.l. and Luigi Soini, represented by
Fausto Capelli.

il Consorzio Friulvini S.C.a.r.l.,

The applicants claim that the Court should:

— annul

the explanatory note attached to item no 103
in Annex I
to Commission Regulation No 1429/2004
concerning the limitation in time on the use of the name
‘Tocai friulano’ up to 31 March 2007;

— order the Commission to pay all costs of the proceedings.

Pleas in law and main arguments:

The pleas in law and main arguments are identical to those put
forward in Case T-417/04 Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia
Giulia v Commission (1).

(1) Not yet published in the Official Journal.