Case T-151/16: Judgment of the General Court of 27 June 2017 — NC v Commission (Grants — OLAF investigation — Finding of irregularities — Commission decision imposing an administrative penalty — Exclusion from procurement and grant award procedures financed by the general budget of the European Union for a period of 18 months — Registration in the Early Detection and Exclusion System database — Temporal application of various versions of the Financial Regulation — Essential procedural requirements — Retroactive application of the more lenient law)
Date: 2017-06-27
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: EU aid, European Anti-fraud Office, award of contract, financial aid, general budget (EU), retroactivity of a law, sanction (EU), tendering








C_2017256EN.01002301.xml










7.8.2017   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 256/23





Judgment of the General Court of 27 June 2017 — NC v Commission
(Case T-151/16) (1)

((Grants - OLAF investigation - Finding of irregularities - Commission decision imposing an administrative penalty - Exclusion from procurement and grant award procedures financed by the general budget of the European Union for a period of 18 months - Registration in the Early Detection and Exclusion System database - Temporal application of various versions of the Financial Regulation - Essential procedural requirements - Retroactive application of the more lenient law))
(2017/C 256/25)
Language of the case: English

Parties


Applicant: NC (represented: initially by J. Killick, G. Forwood, Barristers, C. Van Haute and A. Bernard, lawyers, and subsequently by J. Killick, G. Forwood, C. Van Haute and J. Jeram, Solicitor)

Defendant: European Commission (represented: initially by F. Dintilhac and M. Clausen, and subsequently by F. Dintilhac and R. Lyal, acting as Agents)

Re:

Application pursuant to Article 263 TFEU seeking annulment of the decision of the Commission of 28 January 2016 imposing the administrative penalty of exclusion of the applicant from procurement and grant award procedures financed from the general budget of the European Union for a period of 18 months and consequently registering it in the Early Detection and Exclusion System database provided for in Article 108(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (OJ 2012 L 298, p. 1).

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1.


Annuls the decision of the Commission of 28 January 2016 imposing the administrative penalty of exclusion of NC from procurement and grant award procedures financed from the general budget of the European Union for a period of 18 months and consequently registering it in the Early Detection and Exclusion System database provided for in Article 108 (1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002;










2.


Orders the European Commission to pay the costs.






(1)  OJ C 279, 1.8.2016.