CELEX: C2003/146/78
Language: en
Date: 2003-06-21 00:00:00
Title: Case T-139/03: Action brought on 28 April 2003 by Nuova Agricast S.r.l. against the Commission of the European Communities

21.6.2003             EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                          C 146/43
Pleas in law and main arguments                                           Action brought on 28 April 2003 by Nuova Agricast S.r.l.
                                                                            against the Commission of the European Communities
In support of her action, the applicant pleads failure to state
reasons, breach of Article 45 of the Staff Regulations and                                          (Case T-139/03)
infringement of the principle of non-discrimination, manifest
errors of assessment, breach of the duty of care and infringe-
ment of the principle of sound administration, infringement                                         (2003/C 146/78)
of the principle of equality of opportunity and, finally, misuse
of powers.
                                                                                              (Language of the case: Italian)
                                                                          An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
                                                                          ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
Action brought on 22 April 2003 by Robert Charles                         European Communities on 28 April 2003 by Nuova Agricast
  Schochaert against the Council of the European Union                    S.r.l., represented by Michele Arcangelo Calabrese, avvocato.
                         (Case T-136/03)
                                                                          The applicant claims that the Court should:
                        (2003/C 146/77)
                                                                          —      Annul the contested measures;
                   (Language of the case: French)
                                                                          —      Order the European Commission to pay the costs.
An action against the Council of the European Union was
brought before the Court of First Instance of the European
Communities on 22 April 2003 by Robert Charles Schochaert,                Pleas in law and main arguments
residing in Brussels, represented by Jean A. Martin, avocat.
                                                                          By its action, the applicant company is challenging:
The applicant claims that the Court should:
—      order the Council to pay to the applicant EUR 225 702,94           1.     the Commission’s letter *D/50721, COMP/G1 D(03)142/
       by way of compensation, and order it to pay the costs.                    PI/cpb dated 3 February 2003 (concerning consultations
                                                                                 with the authorities of the Member State which had
                                                                                 drawn up the documents);
Pleas in law and main arguments                                           2.     Commission document SG.B.2/MM D(2003) sent by fax
                                                                                 on 14 March 2003;
The applicant, a former Council official, seeks by way of the
present action to recover compensation in respect of the                  3.     the Commission’s letter *D/51652, COMP/G1/PI/
damage which he claims to have suffered through the defend-                      cpb D(03) dated 12 March 2003.
ant’s refusal to promote him to Grade B 1 during the course of
promotions from 1978 to 2000.
                                                                          In support of its claims, the applicant submits as follows:
The applicant contends that the defendant has refused, since
1978, to promote him on the ground that his duties did not                —      by consulting the authorities of the Member State which
involve the exercise of responsibilities justifying promotion                    had drawn up the documents requested, and in so doing
vis-à-vis other candidates for such promotion, this being a                      even though it was already clear to it that the documents
ground which, in the applicant’s view, is unlawful and amounts                   in issue were excluded from the right of access as being
to a misuse of power for which the Council must incur                            ‘covered’ by the exception ‘inspections and investigations’,
liability.                                                                       the Commission breached the procedural guarantees
                                                                                 conferred on individuals by Article 4(4) of Regulation
                                                                                 (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of
The applicant further alleges that he has been the victim of                     the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
exclusion and non-physical harassment by a number of his                         European Parliament, Council and Commission docu-
hierarchical superiors.                                                          ments (OJ 2001 L 145 of 31 May 2001, p. 43) and the
                                                                                 similarly-worded Article 5(2) of the relevant updating
                                                                                 provisions. The Commission thus infringed its own
 ---pagebreak--- C 146/44               EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                           21.6.2003
     ‘Code of Good Administrative Behaviour’, specifically the             2.     Order the Commission to pay the costs.
     section on ‘Consistency’ under the heading of ‘General
     Principles of Good Administration’. The illegality of the
     consultation also gives rise, in the applicant’s view, to the
     illegality of the partial refusal of access, which is specifi-        Pleas in law and main arguments
     cally based on the reply by which the Italian authorities
     refused disclosure;
                                                                           The applicant seeks annulment of Commission Decision
—    the applicant further alleges discriminatory treatment vis-           2003/82/EC of 29 January 2003 ( 1). The contested decision
     à-vis a separate request (made by another individual) for             authorises Belgium to impose within its territory higher
     access to documents coming within the same category as                recycling and recovery targets than those laid down in Directive
     those to which the applicant is seeking access;                       94/62/EC (2).
—    the applicant also submits that, in particular by treating
     as adequate the ostensible reasoning of the senior official           The applicant is a non-profit-making association which is the
                                                                           only organisation recognised in Belgium for the purpose of
     who signed the documents, who refers to a measure of a
     national court applying national legislation which is                 collecting, recycling and valorising domestic packaging waste.
     generally recognised as being less transparent than the               It assumes responsibility for accepting domestic packaging
                                                                           waste from those who are affiliated to it. Members of the
     provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, the Com-
     mission committed a manifest error of assessment and                  applicant represent the producers and importers of packaging,
     breached at the same time Article 4(5) of Regulation (EC)             packaged products or packaging materials, distribution com-
     No 1049/2001, the principle of sound administration                   panies and trade federations.
     and the obligation to ensure that decisions taken by the
     institutions are adequately reasoned;
                                                                           The applicant first of all alleges that there has been a breach of
                                                                           Article 253 EC and of Article 6(6) of Directive 94/62/EC. The
—    finally, the applicant submits that there has been a breach           applicant claims that the Commission, when adopting the
     of its rights of defence in so far as access to the documents         contested decision, based itself on inaccurate or incomplete
     in question is the only avenue open to it to assess the               facts. By so doing, it argues, the Commission committed errors
     legality of the decision authorising a State aid scheme.              of fact in its assessment of the criteria set out in Article 6(6) of
                                                                           Directive 94/62/EC.
                                                                           The applicant also claims that there has been a breach of
                                                                           Article 253 EC. The Commission has, in its view, failed to set
                                                                           out sufficient reasons as to why Belgium has, within its
                                                                           territory, adequate recycling capacity for metal packaging,
                                                                           non-ferrous metals, and the mechanical recycling of plastics,
                                                                           paper and cardboard. The applicant further contends that the
Action brought on 28 April 2003 by Fost Plus VZW
                                                                           Commission fails in its decision to examine the effect which
  against the Commission of the European Communities
                                                                           an increase in the minimum recycling targets may have for
                                                                           each type of packaging material.
                         (Case T-142/03)
                                                                           The applicant concludes by submitting that there has been an
                         (2003/C 146/79)                                   infringement of the general duty of care and a breach of
                                                                           Directive 94/62/EC inasmuch as the Commission assumed
                                                                           certain matters, such as incineration with energy recovery and
                    (Language of the case: Dutch)                          available capacity, to be factually valid without examining
                                                                           whether this was possible or in accordance with Directive 94/
                                                                           62/EC.
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-                  (1 ) Decision 2003/82/EC: Commission Decision of 29 January 2003
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the                      confirming measures notified by Belgium pursuant to Article 6(6)
European Communities on 28 April 2003 by Fost Plus VZW,                         of Directive 94/62/EC of the European Parliament and the Council
having its registered office in Brussels, represented by Peter                  on packaging and packaging waste (Text with EEA relevance)
Wytinck, Jan Bouckaert and Hendrik Viane, advocaten.                            (notified under document number C(2003) 361) (OJ 2003 L 31,
                                                                                p. 32).
                                                                           (2 ) Directive 94/62/EC of the European Parliament and the Council
                                                                                of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste (OJ
The applicant claims that the Court should:                                     1994 L 365, p. 10).
1.   Annul Article 1 of the Decision;