Case T-358/08: Action brought on 3 September 2008 — Spain v Commission
Date: 2008-09-03
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: EU financing, European Commission, Spain, access to information, action for annulment (EU), award of contract, works contract

25.10.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 272/45

that

there is no proof

marks and that
the applicant acted
without due cause when adopting the registered Community
trade mark subject of the application for a declaration of inva-
infringement of Article 73 of Council Regulation
lidity;
No 40/94 as the contested decision does not state the reasons
on which it is based.

Action brought on 3 September 2008 — Spain v
Commission

(Case T-358/08)

(2008/C 272/88)

Language of the case: Spanish

Parties

Applicant: Kingdom of Spain (represented by:
Cárcamo)

J. Rodríquez

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

Form of order sought

— annul Decision C(2008) 3249 of 25 June 2008 relating to
the reduction of assistance granted the Cohesion Fund to
Project No 96/11/61/018 — ‘Saneamiento de Zaragoza’.

— order the Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

This action is brought against the decision to reduce the finan-
cial assistance initially granted by the Commission to various
projects in the three phases of the ‘Proyecto de saneamiento de
Zaragoza’. That decision results in a financial correction of
25 % of the co-financed expenditure with respect to the second
and third phases of the project, which gives rise to an obligation
to repay EUR 3 106 966. The Commission take the view that
the Municipality of Zaragoza failed to comply with Community
rules on public contracts by artificially splitting the works and
failing to publish the contracts in the O.J.E.C,
in accordance
with the provisions of Council Directive 93/38/EEC of 14 June
1993 coordinating the procurement procedures of entities oper-
ating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications
sectors, publishing it only in the Boletín Oficial de Aragón.

to the basic definition of ‘works’ by denying the existence of
technical or economic differences between the various
projects since, it argues, the description of the works to be
undertaken was similar and pursued the same economic
function: the overall improvement of the network for the
benefit of its users. To the contrary, the contracts concerned
are technically distinct works, with clearly distinct functions
and which require the performance of a variety of tasks.

— infringement of the principle of the protection of legitimate
expectations and the principle patere quam ipse legem fecisti, in
so far as the Commission approved the projects as they were
submitted and that, both the original application in 1996
and the
application in 1997 contain a
description of each and every one of the projects included in
each phase, together with the express mention of the fact
that it was no necessary to publish the tender notices in the
O.J.E.C.

subsequent

— inadequacy of the reasons set out in the contested decision.

— expiry of the limitation period for the Commission to bring
proceedings in accordance with the provisions of Article 3
of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of
18 December 1995 on the protection of
the European
Communities financial interests

— expiry of

of

18

the period prescribed,

in accordance with the
provisions in Article H.2 of Annex II to Regulation 1164/94
and Article
(EC)
No 1386/2002 of 29 July 2002 laying down detailed rules
implementation of Council Regulation (EC)
for
No 1164/94 as
the management and control
systems for assistance granted from the Cohesion Fund and
the procedure for making financial corrections.

Commission

Regulation

regards

the

In the alternative, the applicant alleges infringement of the prin-
ciple of proportionality.

Action brought on 3 September 2008 — Spain v
Commission

(Case T-359/08)

(2008/C 272/89)

Language of the case: Spanish

In support of its form of order the applicant claims:

Parties

— infringement of Article H of Annex II to Council Regulation
(EC) No 1164/94 of 16 May 1994 establishing a Cohesion
Fund and Article 14(13) of Directive 93/38/EEC. In that
connection, the applicant takes the view that the defendant
has committed a manifest error of assessment with respect

Applicant: Kingdom of Spain (represented by:
Cárcamo)

J. Rodríguez

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities