Case T-245/17: Judgment of the General Court of 10 March 2021 — ViaSat v Commission (Action for failure to act and for annulment — Electronic communications networks and services — Harmonised use of the 2 GHz frequency spectrum — Pan-European systems providing mobile satellite services (MSS) — Decision 2007/98/EC — Harmonised operator selection procedure — Authorisations granted to the selected operators — Decision No 626/2008/EC — Request for action to be taken — No formal notice — Adoption of a position by the Commission — Inadmissibility — Refusal to take action — Measure not actionable — Inadmissibility — Powers of the Commission)
Date: 2021-03-10
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: EU Member State, admissibility, competence of the institution, regulation of telecommunications, satellite communications, single market, tendering, transmission network








C_2021163EN.01002301.xml










3.5.2021   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 163/23






Judgment of the General Court of 10 March 2021 — ViaSat v Commission
(Case T-245/17) (1)

(Action for failure to act and for annulment - Electronic communications networks and services - Harmonised use of the 2 GHz frequency spectrum - Pan-European systems providing mobile satellite services (MSS) - Decision 2007/98/EC - Harmonised operator selection procedure - Authorisations granted to the selected operators - Decision No 626/2008/EC - Request for action to be taken - No formal notice - Adoption of a position by the Commission - Inadmissibility - Refusal to take action - Measure not actionable - Inadmissibility - Powers of the Commission)
(2021/C 163/28)
Language of the case: English

Parties


Applicant: ViaSat, Inc. (Carlsbad, California, United States) (represented by: E. Righini, J. Ruiz Calzado, P. de Bandt, M. Gherghinaru and L. Panepinto, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: G. Braun, L. Nicolae and V. Di Bucci, acting as Agents)

Interveners in support of the applicant: Kingdom of the Netherlands (represented by: M. Bulterman, acting as Agent), Eutelsat SA (Paris, France) (represented by: L. de la Brosse and C. Barraco-David, lawyers)

Interveners in support of the defendant: EchoStar Mobile Ltd (Dublin, Ireland) (represented by: A. Robertson, QC), Inmarsat Ventures Ltd (London, United Kingdom) (represented by: C. Spontoni, B. Amory, É. Barbier de La Serre, lawyers, and A. Howard, Barrister)

Re:

Application under Article 265 TFEU for a declaration that the Commission unlawfully failed to take certain measures in the context of the harmonised application of rules concerning the provision of mobile satellite services (MSS) in the 2 GHz frequency band and, in the alternative, under Article 263 TFEU for the annulment of the Commission’s letters of 14 and 21 February 2017 by which it responded following the applicant’s request for action to be taken.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1.


Dismisses the action;










2.


Orders ViaSat, Inc. to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission;










3.


Orders Eutelsat SA, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, EchoStar Mobile Ltd and Inmarsat Ventures Ltd to bear their own costs.






(1)  OJ C 213, 3.7.2017.