Case T-154/06: Action brought on  5 June 2006  — Italian Republic v Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2006-07-29
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, European Social Fund, Italy, Sicily, action for annulment (EU), coordination of financing, operational programme

C 178/38

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

29.7.2006

Finally, the applicant invokes an infringement of the duty to
state reasons, as well as an infringement of the general prin-
ciple of sound administration in that the duration of the preli-
minary investigation would have been excessive.

parallel trade. The contested decision informs the complainant
that the Greek Competition Authority is dealing with the case
and rejects the complaints pursuant to Article 13 of Council
Regulation No 1/2003 (1).

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 of 22 March 1999 laying
down detailed rules for the application of Article 93 of the EC
Treaty (OJ L 83, p. 1).

Action brought on 13 June 2006 — European Association
of Euro-Pharmaceutical Companies v Commission

(Case T-153/06)

(2006/C 178/68)

Language of the case: English

Parties

In support of its application, the applicant submits that the
Commission has infringed the obligation to give a sufficient
statement of reasons. According to the applicant, a mere refer-
ence to the wording of Article 13 of Regulation No 1/2003 is
not sufficient to allow the complainant to assess whether the
Commission has taken into account all facts and circumstances
and the judiciary to exercise its power of review.

The applicant furthermore submits that the Commission has
infringed Article 211 and 85 EC and Regulation No 1/2003 by
not taking back the responsibility of a case from the Greek
Competition Authority under Article 11(6) of Regulation
1/2003. According to the applicant, the Commission failed to
take into account that the national procedure takes too long to
achieve a sufficient result, that the complaints raised new and
fundamental questions of EC competition law and addressed
problems that exist in more than one Member State, and that
the Commission has to assure the efficient enforcement of EC
competition law.

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 of 16 December 2002 on the
implementation of the rules on competition laid down in Articles
81 and 82 of the Treaty (Text with EEA relevance) (OJ L 1, p. 1).

European Association

Euro-Pharmaceutical
Applicant:
Companies (Brussels, Belgium) (represented by: W. Rehmann,
M. Hartmann-Rüppel, lawyers)

of

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

Action brought on 5 June 2006 — Italian Republic v
Commission of the European Communities

Form of order sought

— Declare the application for annulment admissible;

— annul Commission Decision D/201953, dated 10 April
2006, rejecting three complaints of EAEPC against GlaxoS-
mithKline for infringement of Article 82 EC;

— order the Commission to pay the costs.

(Case T-154/06)

(2006/C 178/69)

Language of the case: Italian

Pleas in law and main arguments

Parties

The applicant seeks the annulment of the Commission's deci-
sion in cases COMP/38.181, 38.274 and 38.275 — EAEPC/
Glaxo Greece (Imigran, Lamictal, Severent) relating to three
complaints of the applicant arguing that the Greek subsidiary
of GlaxoSmithKline would infringe Article 82 EC by refusing to
supply the three products Imigran, Lamictal and Severent to
Greek pharmaceutical wholesalers and therewith limiting

Applicant: Italian Republic (represented by: P. Gentili, Avvocato
dello Stato)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

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)