Case C-342/06 P: Appeal brought on 7 August 2006 by La Poste against the judgment of the Court of First Instance delivered on 7 June 2006 in Case T-613/97 Union française de l'express (Ufex) and Others v Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2006-10-14
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, France, General Court (EU), State aid, appeal, customs procedure suspending duties, postal service, stamp duty, subsidiary

14.10.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 249/5

Appeal brought on 7 August 2006 by La Poste against the
judgment of the Court of First Instance delivered on 7
June 2006 in Case T-613/97 Union française de l'express
(Ufex) and Others v Commission of the European Commu-
nities

(Case C-342/06 P)

(2006/C 249/10)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Appellant: La Poste (represented by: H. Lehman, avocat)

Other parties to the proceedings: Commission of the European
Communities, French Republic, Chronopost SA, Union fran-
çaise de l'express (Ufex), DHL International SA, Federal express
international (France) SNC, CRIE SA

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— set aside the judgment of the Court of First Instance of 7
June 2006 inasmuch as it annulled Commission Decision
98/365/EC of 1 October 1997 concerning alleged State aid
granted by France to SFMI-Chronopost (1) in so far as it
finds that neither the logistical and commercial assistance
provided by La Poste to its subsidiary, SFMI-Chronopost,
nor the transfer of Postadex constitute State aid to SFMI-
Chronopost;

— order Union française de l'express, DHL International,
Federal express international and CRIE to pay the costs
incurred by La Poste before the Court of First Instance and
the Court of Justice.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant puts forward three grounds of appeal.

By its first ground of appeal, the applicant alleges that the
Court of First Instance has infringed Article 6 EU and Article
6(1) of the European Convention on the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in so far as that Court did
not provide all of the necessary guarantees of impartiality as
the judge who acted as Rapporteur in the contested judgment
of 7 June 2006 was also the President of the Chamber which
adopted the judgment — set aside by the Court of Justice — in
Case T-613/97 Ufex and Others v Commission [2000] ECR II-
4055.

By its second ground of appeal, which is in two parts, the
applicant alleges that the Court committed several errors of law
and of procedure. First, the Court did not declare inadmissible
certain pleas in law which were not included in the initial
in infringement of Article
application and examined them,

48(2) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance.
Second, that Court committed an error of
law in wrongly
taking the view that the transfer of an economic activity to a
subsidiary constitutes, essentially, State aid. The Court more
particularly misconstrued that concept by not
taking into
account the particular situation of the transfer to a subsidiary
of an economic activity previously carried out by the State and
by not establishing the effects on the market of the measure
examined.

By its third ground of appeal, the applicant finally alleges that
the Court imposed on the Commission an obligation to state
reasons which was excessive, in infringement of Article 88 EC,
which confers on the Commission a broad discretion in the
making of complex economic assessments, and Article 253 EC,
which does not require the grounds of a decision rejecting a
complaint to be as detailed as an accountant's report.

(1) OJ 1998 L 164, p. 37.

Appeal brought on 17 August 2006 by the Commission of
the European Communities against the judgment of the
Court of First Instance (First Chamber) delivered on 6
June 2006 in Case T-10/02 Girardot v Commission

(Case C-348/06 P)

(2006/C 249/11)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Appellant: Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: D. Martin, F. Clotuche-Duvieusart, Agents)

Other party to the proceedings: Marie-Claude Girardot

Form of order sought

In its appeal, the appellant claims that the Court should:

— set aside the judgment of the Court of First Instance of 6

June 2006 in Case T-10/02;

— order the Commission to pay Ms Girardot the sum of

EUR 23 917,40;

— order that the parties should bear their own costs in the
appeal proceedings and in the proceedings before the Court
of First Instance of the European Communities