Case T-178/05: Judgment of the Court of First Instance of  23 November 2005  — United Kingdom v Commission (Environment — Directive 2003/87/EC — Scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading — Proposed amendment to national allocation plan — Refusal by the Commission — Action for annulment)
Date: 2006-01-28
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, action for annulment (EU), greenhouse gas, reduction of gas emissions, tradeable emission permit

C 22/14

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

28.1.2006

Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 23 November
2005 — United Kingdom v Commission

Action brought on 27 October 2005 — Mecklenburg-Stre-
litzer Montage- und Tiefbau v Commission

(Case T-178/05) (1)

(Environment — Directive 2003/87/EC — Scheme for green-
house gas emission allowance trading — Proposed amend-
ment to national allocation plan — Refusal by the Commis-
sion — Action for annulment)

(Case T-392/05)

(2006/C 22/28)

Language of the case: German

(2006/C 22/27)

Parties

Language of the case: English

Applicant: Mecklenburg-Strelitzer Montage- und Tiefbau GmbH
(Neustrelitz, Germany) (represented by: M. Grehsin, lawyer)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

Parties

Form of order sought

Applicant(s): United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland (represented by: initially, C. Jackson, Agent, M. Hoskins,
barrister, then R. Caudwell, Agent, and M. Hoskins)

Defendant(s): Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: U. Wölker and X. Lewis, Agents)

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— annul the Decision of the Commission of 5 March 2003
in so far as the Land
(document number C(2003) 519)
guidelines of the Land of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
have, according to Article 1(3) of the Decision, been quali-
fied as illegal State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1)
EC as regards subprogramme C (shared offices abroad) in
the territory of ‘official candidates for accession’.

Application for

Pleas in law and main arguments

annulment of Commission Decision C(2005) 1081 final of 12
April 2005 concerning the proposed amendment
to the
national allocation plan for the allocation of greenhouse gas
emission allowances notified by the United Kingdom in accord-
ance with Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1) Annuls Commission Decision C(2005) 1081 final of 12 April
2005 concerning the proposed amendment to the national alloca-
tion plan for the allocation of greenhouse gas emission allowances
notified by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland;

2) Orders the Commission to pay the costs.

(1) OJ C 155, 25.6.2005.

In the contested Decision the Commission found that
the
guidelines of the Land of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for
the granting of aid to promote the sale and export of products
from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania constitute State aid
within the meaning of Article 87(1) EC, in so far as they grant
assistance that does not fall within the scope of Regulation (EC)
No 69/2001 (1). According to the Commission there is also
State aid if provision has been made for the granting of aid in
respect of export measures to countries which have the official
status of candidates for accession to the European Union.

The applicant maintains that the contested Decision is unlawful
as the defendant has equated an official candidate for accession
with a Member State of the European Union and consequently
applied the rules relating to the common market. Furthermore,
in the view of the applicant, the aid scheme does not infringe
Regulation (EC) No 69/2001 or Regulation (EC) No
70/2001 (2). Finally, the applicant claims that the contested
Decision is unintelligible. In this connection it observes that the
notification procedure should not apply to de minimis aid.

(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 69/2001 of 12 January 2001 on
the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to de minimis
aid.

(2) Commission Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 of 12 January 2001 on
the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid
to small and medium-sized enterprises.