Case T-156/06: Action brought on  5 June 2006  — Regione Siciliana v Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2006-07-29
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, European Social Fund, Sicily, action for annulment (EU), coordination of financing, operational programme

29.7.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 178/39

Form of order sought

— Annul the contested decision;

— order the defendant to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

— Infringement of essential procedural requirements in that,
firstly, the defendant did not allow the national authorities
sufficient time to carry out an adequate examination of the
documentation and, secondly, the contested decision was
based on only some of the documents produced by the
national authorities in the course of that procedure and
disregarded the most relevant of those documents.

(1) OJ L 374, 31.12.1998, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 290, 23.10.1997, p. 1.

The present action is brought against Commission Decision
C(2006)1171 of 23 March 2006 concerning a reduction in
assistance from the European Social Fund (ESF) granted by
Decision C(95) 2194 of 28 September 1995, subsequently
amended by Decision C(2000) 2862 of 26 January 2001, for
an operational programme in the Region of Sicily forming part
of the Community support framework for structural assistance
under Objective 1 in Italy for the period 1994 to 1999. In that
decision, the defendant decided to reduce the financing of that
programme by approximately EUR 115 million because the
national authorities had failed to provide adequate clarification
on certain aspects of their request for final payment.

In support of its claims, the applicant submits:

the activities of

— Infringement of Article 24 of Council Regulation (EEC) No
4253/88 of 19 December 1988, laying down provisions for
implementing Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards
coordination of
the different Structural
Funds between themselves and with the operations of the
European Investment Bank and the other existing financial
instruments, (1) on the basis that the Commission did not
reduce the funding following a ‘suitable examination of the
case’, as required under that provision. It merely adopted
the conclusions of an internal control body in the Sicilian
regional administration, which had raised doubts as to
whether certain projects were being properly managed.

— Infringement of the same provision of the abovementioned
regulation in that the defendant based its decision merely
on the fact that the national authorities did not deal with
its requests for observations in detail and did not ascertain
whether there were in fact any actual irregularities.

— Infringement of Articles 23 and 24 of the abovementioned
Regulation No 4253/88 and Article 8 of Commission Regu-
lation (EC) No 2064/97 of 15 October 1997 establishing
detailed arrangements for the implementation of Council
Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 as regards the financial
control by Member States of operations co-financed by the
Structural Funds. (2) The applicant submits that, in essence,
the Commission adopted the conclusions set out by the
national
internal control body in the statement required
under Article 8 of Regulation No 2064/97, even though
that statement was merely an indicatory summary. The
Commission should, instead, have carried out its own inde-
pendent inquiries.

Action brought on 5 June 2006 — Regione Siciliana v
Commission of the European Communities

(Case T-156/06)

(2006/C 178/70)

Language of the case: Italian

Parties

Applicant: Regione Siciliana (represented by: P. Gentili, Avvo-
cato dello Stato)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

Form of order sought

— Annul the contested decision;

— order the defendant to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The present action is brought against Commission Decision
C(2006)1171 of 23 March 2006 concerning a reduction in
assistance from the European Social Fund (ESF) granted by
Decision C(95) 2194 of 28 September 1995, subsequently
amended by Decision C(2000) 2862 of 26 January 2001, for
an operational programme in the Region of Sicily forming part
of the Community support framework for structural assistance
under Objective 1 in Italy for the period 1994 to 1999. This
matter is also the subject of a challenge in Case T-154/06 Italy
v Commission. (1)

C 178/40

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

29.7.2006

The pleas in law and main arguments are similar to those relied
on in that case.

Order of the Court of First Instance of 1 June 2006 —
Port Support Customs Rotterdam v Commission

(1) Not yet published in the OJ.

(Case T -319/04) (1)

(2006/C 178/73)

Language of the case: Dutch

The President of the Second Chamber has ordered that the case
be removed from the register.

Order of the Court of First Instance of 31 May 2006 —
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena v Commission

(1) OJ C 262, 23.10.2004.

(Case T -42/02) (1)

(2006/C 178/71)

Language of the case: Italian

The President of the Fourth Chamber (Extended Composition)
has ordered that the case be removed from the register.

(1) OJ C 109, 4.5.2002.

Order of the Court of First Instance of 13 June 2006 —
Deutsche Telekom v OHIM (Telekom Global Net)

(Case T -72/05) (1)

(2006/C 178/74)

Language of the case: German

The President of the Fifth Chamber has ordered that the case be
removed from the register.

(1) OJ C 115, 14.5.2005.

Order of the Court of First Instance of 31 May 2006 —
Compagnia di San Paolo v Commission

(Case T -121/02) (1)

(2006/C 178/72)

Language of the case: Italian

The President of the Fourth Chamber (Extended Composition)
has ordered that the case be removed from the register.

Order of the Court of First Instance of 31 May 2006 —
Stradeblu v Commission

(Case T -179/05) (1)

(2006/C 178/75)

Language of the case: Italian

(1) OJ C 144, 15.6.2000.

The President of the Second Chamber has ordered that the case
be removed from the register.

(1) OJ C 155, 25.6.2005.