Case T-312/08: Action brought on 13 August 2008 — Ellinikos Niognomon v Commission
Date: 2008-08-13
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, Greece, action for annulment (EU), maritime safety, maritime transport, roadworthiness tests, vessel

25.10.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 272/33

Action brought on 13 August 2008 — Ellinikos
Niognomon v Commission

Finally, the applicant claims that the contested decision infringes
the principles of proportionality as well as the principle of good
administration.

(Case T-312/08)

(2008/C 272/60)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: Ellinikos Niognomon AE (Piraeus, Greece)
sented by: S. Pappas)

(repre-

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

(1) Council Directive 94/57/EC of 22 November 1994 on common
rules and standards for ship inspection and survey organizations and
for the relevant activities of maritime administrations (OJ 1994
L 319, p. 20).

(2) Commission Decision of 13 December 2001 on the recognition of
the ‘Hellenic Register of Shipping’ in accordance with Article 4(3) of
Council Directive 94/57/EC (notified under document number
C(2001) 4218) (OJ 2001 L 329, p. 72).

(3) Commission Decision of 3 August 2005 on the extension of the
limited recognition of the Hellenic Register of Shipping (notified
under document number C(2005) 2940) (OJ 2005 L 219, p. 43).

Form of order sought

Action brought on 12 August 2008 — Veromar di Tudisco
Alfio & Salvatore v Commission

— Declare the contested decision null and void;

— Condemn the defendant to pay the costs of the proceedings.

Pleas in law and main arguments

By way of its application pursuant to Article 230 EC, the appli-
the Commission's decision of
cant seeks the annulment of
24 July 2008, by which it decided not to extend the applicant's
limited recognition which it was granted under Directive
94/57/EC (1) by Commission Decision 2001/890/EC (2) and
which was
by Commission Decision
further
2005/623/EC (3) of 3 August 2005.

extended

(Case T-313/08)

(2008/C 272/61)

Language of the case: Italian

Parties

Applicant: Veromar di Tudisco Alfio & Salvatore Snc (Catania,
Italy) (represented by: A. Maiorana, A. De Matteis and A. De
Francesco, lawyers)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

The applicant, first, claims that the contested decision infringes
an essential procedural requirement by not having followed the
comitology procedure provided for in Articles 4 and 9 of Direc-
tive 94/57/EC.

Form of order sought

Second, the applicant submits that the refusal to grant extension
of the limited recognition is based on assessments carried out
exclusively by the Commission and not jointly with the respec-
tive Member States according to Articles 4, 9 and 11 of Direc-
tive 94/57/EC.

Third, the applicant argues that the contested decision does not
respect the applicant's rights of defence and is contrary to its
legal expectations.

the applicant contends that

Fourth,
the contested decision
infringes the Directive by misinterpreting it in so far as the
applicable criteria are concerned (safety and prevention perfor-
mance records), by omitting the gradual steps that the Commis-
sion should have undertaken before reaching a negative decision
the inspections and
and by not having taken into account
reports produced by the Member States concerned,
thus
adopting unlawful reasoning.

— Annul Commission Regulation (EC) No 530/2008 of
12 June 2008, published in Official Journal L 155 of 13 June
2008.

— Order the Commission to pay the costs of the proceedings.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The pleas in law and main arguments are similar to those relied
on in Case T-305/08 Italian Republic v Commission. In particular,
infringement of Article 12 of the EC Treaty is alleged. In that
regard,
the contested regulation
discriminates in favour of the Kingdom of Spain, the quota for
which was deemed to be exhausted on 23 June 2008 and not
16 June 2008.

the applicant submits that