CELEX: C1997/054/36
Language: en
Date: 1997-02-22 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 8 November 1996 by Società Eridania SpA and Others against the Council of the European Union (Case T-178/96)

No C 54/22              EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                      22 . 2 . 97
Action brought on 8 November 1996 by Societa Eridania                  areas in which production is less than consumption , sugar
SpA and Others against the Council of the European                     manufacturers pay a higher minimum price for beet than
                                 Union                                 that paid by manufacturers in non-deficit areas . The scope
                          ( Case T-178/96 )                            of the original system was to enable producers in countries
                                                                       where there is a surplus to supply deficit countries, most
                             ( 97/C 54/36 )                            of the essential transport costs being covered.
                (Language of the case: Italian)
                                                                       The applicants reject the view that Italy should continue
An action against the Council of the European Union was                to be considered a deficit area . According to the
brought before the Court of First Instance of the European             applicants , during the last marketing years taken as a
Communities on 8 November 1996 by Societa Eridiana                     whole, production exceeded consumption by five ninths
SpA, whose registered office is at Genoa ( Italy ), and                while average production per marketing year and average
Societa ISI ( Industria Saccarifera Italiana Agroindustriale           consumption per marketing year was perfectly balanced .
SpA ), whose registered office is at Padua ( Italy ), of the           However, during the last three marketing years, average
Eridania Group, Societa Sadam Zuccherifici, a division of              production has exceeded average consumption by some
SECI ( Societa Esercizi Commerciali Industriali SpA ),                 30 000 tonnes . In view of this, the fact that regional prices
whose registered office is at Bologna ( Italy ), Societa               are applied to Italy means, according to the applicants,
Sadam Castiglionese SpA, whose registered office is at                 that the system no longer has its original function, having
Bologna ( Italy ), and Societa Sadam Abruzzo SpA, whose                become a gratuitous award paid to beet producers charged
registered office is at Bologna ( Italy ), of the Sadam                totally and exclusively to Italian sugar manufacturers .
Zuccherifici Group, Societa Zuccherificio del Molise SpA,
whose registered office is at Termoli ( Italy ), and Societa           The pleas and main arguments are analogous to those
SFIR ( Societa Fondiaria Industriale Romagnola SpA ),                  relied on in Case T-l 68 /95 Eridiana and Others . More in
whose registered office is at Cesena ( Italy ), represented by         particular, the contested Regulation is unlawful on the
Bernard O'Connor, Solicitor of the High Court of Ireland,              grounds of belated adoption, inadequate statement of
Ivano Vigliotti and Paolo Crocetta , of the Genoa Bar, with            reasons, arbitrary classification of Italy as a deficit area
an address for service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of                and misuse of powers .
Arsene Kronshagen, 12 boulevard de la Foire .
                                                                       The inapplicability of the abovementioned provisions of
The applicants claim that the Court should :                           Regulation ( EEC ) No 1785/81 is relied upon only in so far
                                                                       as the grounds set out above should not be sufficient for
— declare the action admissible,                                       the annulment of the contested Regulation and, in
                                                                       particular, if it should be held that Italy is a deficit area .
— declare void or annul, pursuant to Articles 173 and
    174 of the EC Treaty, Regulation ( EC ) No 1580/96 of
    30 July 1996 in so far as it concerns the applicants or,
    in the alternative, declare void or annul that
    Regulation erga omnes, in particular as regards
    Article 1 ( f),                                                    Action brought on 14 November 1996 by Juana de la
                                                                       Cruz Elena Vela Palacios against the Economic and Social
— declare inapplicable, pursuant to Article 1 84 of the EC                                          Committee
    Treaty, Regulation ( EEC ) No 1785/81 of 30 June 1981
    and subsequent amendments thereto, in so far as it                                         ( Case T-183 /96 )
    concerns the applicants, in particular as regards                                             ( 97/C 54/37 )
    Articles 3 ( 1 ), 5 ( 3 ) and 6 ( 2 ),
                                                                                       (Language of the case: Spanish)
— order the Council, pursuant to Article 178 and the
    second paragraph of Article 215 of the EC Treaty, to               An action against the Economic and Social Committee
    make good all the damage caused to the applicants,                 was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
    taking into account accrued interest and currency                  European Communities on 14 November 1996 by Juana
    fluctuations,                                                      de la Cruz Elena Vela Palacios, residing in Brussels,
                                                                       represented by Guy San Bartolome Sarrey, of the Brussels
— take any other measure which the Court deems                         Bar, with an address for service at 174 , avenue Louise ,
    necessary in order to determine the damage caused to               Brussels .
    the applicants,
— order the Council to pay the costs of the proceedings .              The applicant claims that the Court should:
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                    — declare the application admissible and well founded,
A number of Italian sugar manufacturing companies                      — annul Decision 27/96A of the Secretary-General , the
challenge the new system relating to the sugar sector                       final decision in disciplinary procedure 1 /1995
inasmuch as it continues to consider Italy to be a deficit                  concerning the content of the note dated 10 January
country and, consequently, maintains the regional system                    1995 sent to her assessor, and in particular annul the
of prices for the marketing year 1996/97. It is observed in                 measure of relegation in step ( three steps ), with
this regard that in those ' deficit' areas, that is in those                restitution of the portion of her salary withheld, and