Case T-236/25: Action brought on 13 April 2025 – Raficon Trade v Parliament and Council
Date: 2025-04-13
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: bulk product, container, delivery, legal basis, non-durable goods, packaging, principle of proportionality








C_202503066EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/3066


10.6.2025






Action brought on 13 April 2025 – Raficon Trade v Parliament and Council


(Case T-236/25)

(C/2025/3066)
Language of the case: English

Parties


Applicant: Raficon Trade SRL (Buzău, Romania) (represented by: R. van der Hout, V. Lemonnier, C. Wagner and S. Walter, lawyers)

Defendants: European Parliament, Council of the European Union

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:






—


Annul Regulation (EU) 2025/40 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2024 on packaging and packaging waste, amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and Directive (EU) 2019/904, and repealing Directive 94/62/EC (1) (‘PPWR’), in its entirety;










—


In the alternative, annul Article 29(1), (2), (3) and (4), point d) of the PPWR;










—


In the alternative, annul Article 29(1), (2) and (3), insofar as they address the packaging format ‘flexible intermediate bulk containers’, and










—


Order the defendants to bear the costs.





Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicant relies on five pleas in law.






1.


First plea in law, alleging that the Union legislator has based the PPWR, in particular Article 29(1) to (4) of the PPWR, on an incorrect legal basis by basing it on the internal market legal basis (Article 114 TFEU) instead of on the environmental legal basis (Article 192 TFEU), although the regulation and in particular Article 29 of the PPWR obviously has an environmental focus.










2.


Second plea in law, alleging that Article 29 of the PPWR violates the obligation to state reasons under Article 296(2) TFEU, as the PPWR and the legislative documents do not contain any reasons for this provision, although it is of considerable importance and, in particular Article 29(4), point d), of the PPWR, is contrary to the regulatory objectives of the PPWR.










3.


Third plea in law, alleging that Article 29(2) of the PPWR violates the principle of proportionality insofar as the use of ‘flexible intermediate bulk containers’ as single-use packaging for use in company-internal deliveries as transport packaging or sales packaging is prohibited, although this is not suitable for achieving the objective of the regulation and, in addition, milder means were available.










4.


Fourth plea in law, alleging that Article 29(3) of the PPWR violates the principle of proportionality insofar that it prohibits the use of ‘flexible intermediate bulk containers’ as single-use packaging for use as transport packaging or sales packaging, used for transporting products, in the case of deliveries within a Member State, although this is not suitable for achieving the objective of the regulation and, in addition, milder means were available.










5.


Fifth plea in law, alleging that Article 29(1) of the PPWR violates the principle of proportionality insofar that it imposes a minimum quota of 40 % for the use of ‘flexible inter-mediate bulk containers’ when used as transport packaging or sales packaging, used for transporting products, although this is not suitable for achieving the objective of the regulation.






(1)  OJ L, 2025/40.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/3066/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)