CELEX: C1996/247/40
Language: en
Date: 1996-08-24 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 18 June 1996 by Neue Maxhütte Stahlwerke GmbH against the Commission of the European Communities (Case T-97/96)

No C 247/ 18           EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                   24 . 8 . 96
     and that, by failing to initiate the consultative                 authority is thereby denying the applicant the right to a fair
     examination procedure under Article 93 ( 2 ) of the               hearing which is granted by the Treaty to complainants
     Treaty, the Commission has failed to fulfil its obligations       during the consultative examination procedure .
     under the Treaty,
— in the alternative, annul the decision of the Commission
     contained in the letter of the competent Head of Unit of
     DG [V, Claude Rouam , dated 20 February 1996 ,
                                                                       Action brought on 18 June 1996 by Neue Maxhiitte
— order the defendant to pay the costs .                               Stahlwerke GmbH against the Commission of the European
                                                                                                  Communities
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                                            ( Case T-97/96 )
                                                                                                 ( 96/C 247/40 )
The cause of this action is the Commission 's persistent
failure to take any steps with regard to the complaints                              (Language of the case: German)
lodged by the applicant company, the concessionnaire of a
private television channel, against the State aid received by
all the public television companies in Spain, with which it is         An action against the Commission of the European
in competition , both in the market for advertising market             Communities was brought before the Court of First
and in that for purchasing rights .                                    Instance of the European Communities on 18 June 1996 by
                                                                       Neue Maxhiitte Stahlwerke GmbH, Sulzbach-Rosenberg
The applicant points out in that respect that in Spain                 ( Federal Republic of Germany ), represented by Rainer M.
publicly-owned television is not very different in content             Bierwagen, Rechtsanwalt, Brussels, with an address for
from privately-owned television . No special public service            service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of Victor Elvinger
responsibilities and duties are placed on the public television        of Messrs Elvinger & Dessoy, 31 Rue d'Eich .
companies which are not borne by the private television
operators . On the other hand , the restrictions on                    The applicant claims that the Court should :
participating in the advertising field are now the same , and
have been since 1 994, as those imposed on private operators          — annul the Commission 's decision of 13 March 1996 , in
in Spain .                                                                 so far as it concerns the applicant,
After successive contacts with the Commission               staff     — order the defendant to pay the costs .
responsible for dealing with the complaint, the applicant
was informed that that procedure had been halted pending               Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
the production of research which an external consultant had
been instructed to carry out into the financing of television         The action concerns the classification of loans granted to the
undertakings throughout the Community .                                applicant undertaking in connection with its privatization as
                                                                       aid contrary to Article 4 ( c ) of the ECSC Treaty.
As a matter of law, the applicant claims that, in accordance
with the relevant case law, the Commission was obliged, in            The pleas in law and main arguments are the same as those
view of the particular difficulties which it seems to have             in Case T-2/96 Neue Maxhiitte Stahlwerke GmbH v.
encountered in carrying out an analysis of the                         Commission , which concerns the same privatization .
incompatibility with the Treaty of the aid complained of, to
initiate the consultative examination procedure provided
for in Article 93 ( 2 ) of the Treaty . From that viewpoint, the
excessive time which has elapsed since the complaints were
made ( more than four years in the case of the autonomous
television companies and more than two and a half years in
the case of the State-owned company ) is proof in itself that         Action brought on 27 June 1996 by Miguel Vicente Nunez
the Commission appears to be experiencing obvious                          against Commission of the European Communities
difficulties in deciding whether or not the aid is compatible                                ( Case T- 100/96 )
with the common market. Furthermore, the commissioning                                          ( 96/C 247/41 )
of the abovementioned report from an external consultant
bears that out .
                                                                                      (Language of the case: French)
So, in the applicant's view, by failing to initiate the
procedure laid down in Article 93 ( 2 ) of the Treaty, the            An action against the Commission of the European
Commission has plainly failed to fulfil its obligations under         Communities was brought before the Court of First
the Treaty and also clearly infringed the rights conferred by         Instance of the European Communities on 27 June 1996 by
Community law on the applicant in its position as                     Miguel Vicente Nunez, residing in Krainem ( Belgium ),
complainant. It is unacceptable that the defendant                    represented by Marc-Albert Lucas , of the Liege Bar, with an
institution should be able to continue a preliminary                  address for service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of
investigation for several years , since the Community                 Evelyne Korn , 21 Rue de Nassau .