Case T-146/03: Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 12 December 2006 — Asociaciόn de Estaciones de Servicio de Madrid and Federaciόn Catalana de Estaciones de Servicio v Commission (State aid — Spanish law providing for measures in favour of the agricultural sector following the increase in fuel prices — Formal examination procedure provided for by Article 88(2) EC — Decision declaring that certain measures did not constitute aid — Action for annulment — Admissibility — Standing to bring proceedings — Duty to state reasons)
Date: 2006-12-30
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, State aid, action for annulment (EU), agricultural cooperative, distributive trades, motor fuel, tax relief

C 331/32

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.12.2006

Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 12 December
2006 — Asociaciόn de Estaciones de Servicio de Madrid
and Federaciόn Catalana de Estaciones de Servicio v
Commission

Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 13 December
2006 — FNCBV and Others v Commission

(Joined Cases T-217/03 and T-245/03) (1)

(Case T-146/03) (1)

(State aid — Spanish law providing for measures in favour of
the agricultural sector following the increase in fuel prices —
Formal examination procedure provided for by Article 88(2)
EC — Decision declaring that certain measures did not consti-
tute aid — Action for annulment — Admissibility —
Standing to bring proceedings — Duty to state reasons)

(2006/C 331/70)

Language of the case: Spanish

Parties

Applicants: Asociaciόn de Empresarios de Estaciones de Servicio
de la Comunidad Autόnoma de Madrid (Madrid, Spain) and
Federaciόn Catalana de Estaciones de Servicio (Barcelona, Spain)
(represented by: R. Ortega Bueno and M. Delgado Echevarría,
lawyers)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: originally by J.L. Buendía Sierra, and subsequently by
J.R. Vidal Puig)

Intervener in support of the defendant: Kingdom of Spain (repre-
sented by: E. Braquehais Conesa, lawyer, and M. Muñoz Pérez,
Agent)

Re:

Application for partial annulment of Commission Decision
2003/293/EC of 11 December 2002 on the measures imple-
mented by Spain in the agricultural sector following the increase
in fuel prices (OJ 2003 L 111, p. 24)

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

finds that

1. Declares that Article 1 of Commission Decision of 11 December
2002 on the measures implemented by Spain in the agricultural
sector following the increase in fuel prices is annulled in so far that
the measures to support agricultural cooperatives
it
provided for by Royal Decree Law 10/2000 de medidas urgentes
de apoyo a los sectores agrario, pesquero y del transporte (Decree
Law on emergency support for agriculture, fisheries and transport)
do not constitute aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) EC.

2. Orders the Commission to bear its own costs and to pay those

incurred by the applicants.

3. Orders the Kingdom of Spain to bear its own costs.

(1) OJ C 171, of 19.7.2003.

(Competition — Article 81(1) EC — Beef and veal — Suspen-
sion of imports — Fixing of a trade union price scale —
Regulation No 26 — Associations of undertakings — Restric-
tion of competition — Trade union action — Affecting of
trade between Member States — Duty to state reasons —
Guidelines on the method of setting fines — Principle of
proportionality — Gravity and duration of the infringement
— Aggravating and mitigating circumstances — Non-aggre-
gation of penalties — Rights of the defence)

(2006/C 331/71)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicants: in Case T-217/03, Fédération nationale de la coop-
ération bétail et viande (FNCBV) (Paris, France) (represented by:
R. Collin, M. Ponsard and N. Decker, lawyers), and in Case T-
245/03, Fédération nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agri-
coles (FNSEA) (Paris); Fédération nationale bovine (FNB) (Paris);
Fédération nationale des producteurs de lait (FNPL) (Paris); and
Jeunes agriculteurs (JA) (Paris) (represented by: B. Neouze and
V. Ledoux, lawyers)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: P. Oliver, A. Bouquet and O. Beynet, Agents)

Intervener in support of the applicants: French Republic (represented
by: initially G. de Bergues, F. Million and R. Abraham, subse-
quently G. de Bergues, E. Belliard and S. Ramet, lawyers)

Re:

for

annulment

Applications
Commission Decision
2003/600/EC of 2 April 2003 relating to a proceeding pursuant
to Article 81 of the EC Treaty (Case COMP/C.38.279/F3 —
French beef) (OJ 2003 L 209, p. 12) and, in the alternative, for
cancellation or reduction of the fines thereby imposed.

of

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1. Sets the amount of the fine imposed on the Fédération nationale de
la coopération bétail et viande, the applicant in Case T-217/03, at
EUR 360 000;

2. Sets the amount of the fines imposed on the applicants in Case T-
245/03 at EUR 9 000 000 for the Fédération nationale des
syndicats d'exploitants agricoles, EUR 1 080 000 for the Fédéra-
tion nationale bovine, EUR 1 080 000 for the Fédération natio-
nale des producteurs de lait and EUR 450 000 for the Jeunes
agriculteurs;

3. Dismisses the remainder of the application;