Case C-172/06: Action brought on  31 March 2006  — Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Spain
Date: 2006-06-03
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: EU Member State, European Commission, European Economic Area, Spain, State aid, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, free movement of goods, marketing, national law, quality label, solar collector

3.6.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 131/35

Those errors concern:

Form of order sought

(i) the fact that the Court of First Instance failed completely to
examine the appellants' pleas and arguments relating to
infringement of the right of complaint, as enshrined as an
aspect of European citizenship;

(ii) the fact

that

the Court of First

Instance in any event
distorted the sense of the Ombudsman's decision of 18
July 2002, which constituted the most relevant item of
evidence relied upon by the appellants in their action, or
at any rate erred in the legal characterisation of that item
of evidence;

(iii) the fact that the Court of First Instance interpreted and
applied incorrectly the principles of good administration,
impartiality and the protection of legitimate expectations,
in certain instances distorted the sense of the evidence and
in any event erred in the legal characterisation of the facts
of the action which relate to the infringement of those
principles;

(iv) the fact that the Court of First Instance failed to examine
the action for compensation or, in any event, examined it
in a deficient manner, inasmuch as it treated the Commis-
sion's conduct in question as a collection of isolated events
separate from one another and not in an overall manner,
despite the fact that the infringement of Community rules
relied upon by the appellants and the damage suffered by
them result principally from the overall stance of
the
Commission over a period of eight years.

More generally, the appellants consider that the Court of First
Instance failed to draw the correct conclusions from the funda-
mental rule that the Commission is responsible for ensuring
that procedures progress in a correct and lawful manner and in
the event of error must bear the financial burden of maladmin-
istration. Furthermore, failure to observe the fundamental rules
governing authorities' conduct can give rise to non-material
harm in respect of which citizens may seek reparation and
damages.

Action brought on 31 March 2006 — Commission of the
European Communities v Kingdom of Spain

(Case C-172/06)

(2006/C 131/65)

Language of the case: Spanish

Parties

Applicant: Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: S. Pardo Quintillán, acting as Agent)

Defendant: Kingdom of Spain

— Declare that, by making the grant of public aid to economic
operators who wish to market in Spain solar captors manu-
factured and lawfully marketed in another Member State or
manufactured in a country which is a signatory to the
Agreement on the European Economic Area subject to the
those captors must have a certificate of
condition that
conformity which satisfies the requirements laid down in
the national rules and, for that purpose, to undergo in a
specially designated national
laboratory for tests already
carried out in that State, the Kingdom of Spain has failed to
fulfil its obligations under Articles 28 and 30 of the EC
Treaty and Articles 11 and 13 of the Agreement on the
European Economic Area;

— order Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The Spanish provisions on the conditions of access to public
aid for solar captors from another Member State or a country
which is a signatory to the Agreement on the European
Economic Area are contrary to the fundamental principle of
free movement of goods and cannot be justified for any of the
reasons of general interest laid down in Article 30 of the EC
Treaty or by any of the overriding requirements recognised by
the case-law of the Court of Justice.

Appeal brought on 5 April 2006 by Stadtwerke Schwä-
bisch Hall GmbH, Stadtwerke Tübingen GmbH and Stadt-
werke Uelzen GmbH against the judgment of the Court of
First Instance (Fourth Chamber) delivered on 26 January
2006 in Case T-92/02 Stadtwerke Schwäbisch Hall GmbH,
Stadtwerke Tübingen GmbH and Stadtwerke Uelzen
GmbH v Commission of
the European Communities
supported by E.ON Kernkraft GmbH, RWE Power AG,
EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG and Hamburgische
Electricitäts-Werke AG

(Case C-176/06 P)

(2006/C 131/66)

Language of the case: German

Parties

Appellants: Stadtwerke Schwäbisch Hall GmbH, Stadtwerke
Tübingen GmbH and Stadtwerke Uelzen GmbH (represented
by: D. Fouquet and P. Becker, Rechtsanwälte)

Other parties to the proceedings: Commission of the European
Communities, E.ON Kernkraft GmbH, RWE Power AG, EnBW
Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, Hamburgische Electricitäts-
Werke AG