CELEX: C2000/006/48
Language: en
Date: 2000-01-08 00:00:00
Title: Case T-224/99: Action brought on 7 October 1999 by the European Council of Transport Users ASBL against the Commission of the European Communities

C 6/26                EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                       8.1.2000
Action brought on 7 October 1999 by the European                        It still submits that the exemption in question cannot satisfy
Council of Transport Users ASBL against the Commission                  the condition that shippers should enjoy a fair share of the
                of the European Communities                             alleged economic benefits since the clear intention of the
                                                                        revised TACA provisions is to increase prices for through
                                                                        transport and, in particular, maritime transport. Even if
                        (Case T-224/99)                                 the exempted provisions were indispensable for the alleged
                                                                        stability benefit, they would have the effect of eliminating
                                                                        effective competition on through transport rates.
                         (2000/C 6/48)
                                                                        Moreover, the Multi-modal Group Report makes it clear,
                                                                        according to the applicant, that the Commission has to
                  (Language of the case: English)                       investigate a number of crucial issues and, in particular,
                                                                        ensure that there are sufficient safeguards for shippers before
                                                                        considering authorising any not-below-cost rule. However, the
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-               Commission has failed to consider these relevant issues and
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the              therefore, its reasoning in the contested decision is to be
European Communities on 7 October 1999 by the European                  considered as defective.
Council of Transport Users ASBL, represented by Mark Clough
QC, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the office of          The applicant further claims that the defendant institution has
Aloyse May, 31 Grand Rue.                                               misused its powers or acted outside its competence by
                                                                        effectively granting an exemption under Regulation
                                                                        Nos 4056/86 for a form of price fixing intended to enhance
The applicant claims that the Court should:                             the price fixing in the maritime transport, when inland
                                                                        transport should fall outside that regulation.
— annul the Commission Decision;
                                                                        Finally, the contested decision should not have followed the
                                                                        procedure applicable to complaints under Articles 10 and
— order the Commission to pay the applicant’s costs;                    11(3) of Regulations 1017/68 and 4056/86.
— take any measures of preliminary enquiry that the Court
     may consider necessary.
Pleas in law and main arguments
                                                                        Action brought on 8 October 1999 by Comafrica SpA
                                                                        and Dole Fresh Fruit Europe Ltd & Co. against the
The present application concerns the Commission’s decision                        Commission of the European Communities
not to raise serious doubts under Article 12(3) of Regulation
No 1017/68 in respect of the provisions in the revised                                            (Case T-225/99)
Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement (TACA) falling within
the scope of Regulation No 1017/68. As a consequence of this
act, the not-below-cost rule in Article 10 and related provisions                                  (2000/C 6/49)
of the revised TACA enjoy an individual exemption for three
years until 5 May 2002. The exemption authorises the TACA
lines to agree not to resell the inland transport services which                           (Language of the case: English)
they purchase in Europe below the out-of-pocket ‘costs’ of
purchasing that transport.
                                                                        An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
                                                                        ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
                                                                        European Communities on 8 October 1999 by Comafrica SpA
The applicant submits first at all that the contested act does          and Dole Fresh Fruit Europe Ltd & Co., represented by Bernard
not satisfy any of the conditions for individual exemption              O’Connor, Solicitor, and Bonifacio Garcı́a Porras, with an
contained in Article 5 of Regulation Nos 1017/68 and their              address for service in Luxembourg at the office of Arsene
equivalent in Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty. In particular, the        Kronshagen, 22 rue Marie Adelaide.
Commission’s decision is contrary to previous decisions and
to the conclusions of the 1997 Multi-modal Group report
presented to Commissioner Van Miert. These should have                  The applicants claim that the Court should:
made clear that the liner Conference inland transport price
fixing provides no economic benefits (in particular, the alleged        — declare void, pursuant to Articles 230 and 231 EC, Com-
stability of maritime transport liner conference tariffs) and                mission Regulation (EC) No 1586/99 fixing the reduction
that, even if there were to be such a benefit, the restrictions of           coefficient for the determination of the quantity of bananas
competition would not be indispensable to its achievement.                   to be allocated to each operator for 1999;