Case C-137/12: Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 22 October 2013 — European Commission v Council of the European Union (Action for annulment — Council Decision 2011/853/EU — European Convention on the legal protection of services based on, or consisting of, conditional access — Directive 98/84/EC — Legal basis — Article 207 TFEU — Common commercial policy — Article 114 TFEU — Internal market)
Date: 2013-10-22
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: access to information, common commercial policy, legal basis, payable service, single market, telematics








C_2013367EN.01000802.xml










14.12.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 367/8





Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 22 October 2013 — European Commission v Council of the European Union
(Case C-137/12) (1)

(Action for annulment - Council Decision 2011/853/EU - European Convention on the legal protection of services based on, or consisting of, conditional access - Directive 98/84/EC - Legal basis - Article 207 TFEU - Common commercial policy - Article 114 TFEU - Internal market)
2013/C 367/13
Language of the case: French

Parties


Applicant: European Commission (represented by: E. Cujo, I. Rogalski, R. Vidal Puig and D. Stefanov, Agents)

Defendant: Council of the European Union (represented by: R. Liudvinaviciute-Cordeiro, J.-P. Hix and H. Legal, Agents)

Intervener in support of the applicant: European Parliament (represented by: D. Warin and J. Rodrigues, Agents)

Interveners in support of the defendant: French Republic (represented by: G. de Bergues, D. Colas and N. Rouam, Agents); Kingdom of the Netherlands (represented by: C. Wissels, M. Bulterman and M. de Ree, Agents); Republic of Poland (represented by: M. Szpunar and B. Majczyna, Agents); Kingdom of Sweden (represented by: A. Falk and C. Stege, Agents); United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (represented by: A. Robinson, Agent, assisted by G. Facenna, Barrister)

Re:

Action for annulment — Council Decision 2011/853/EU of 29 November 2011 on the signing, on behalf of the Union, of the European Convention on the legal protection of services based on, or consisting of, conditional access (OJ 2011 L 336, p. 1) — Choice of legal basis — Replacement of the proposed legal basis, in the field of common commercial policy, with another legal basis, linked to the establishment and functioning of the internal market — Objective of promoting trade in services based on conditional access between the European Union and other European countries — Infringement of the European Union’s external competence

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1.


Annuls Council Decision 2011/853/EU of 29 November 2011 on the signing, on behalf of the Union, of the European Convention on the legal protection of services based on, or consisting of, conditional access;










2.


Maintains the effects of Decision 2011/853 until the entry into force, within a reasonable period which is not to exceed six months, of a new decision based on the appropriate legal bases;










3.


Orders the Council of the European Union to pay the costs;










4.


Orders the French Republic, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Poland, the Kingdom of Sweden and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to bear their own costs.






(1)  OJ C 151, 26.5.2012.