CELEX: C2000/079/68
Language: en
Date: 2000-03-18 00:00:00
Title: Case T-340/99: Action brought on 1 December 1999 by Arne Mathisen AS against the Council of the European Union

18.3.2000             EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                      C 79/31
Action brought on 1 December 1999 by Arne Mathisen                          in essence transfer prices between related companies.
       AS against the Council of the European Union                         Moreover, it acted in good faith and did not intend to
                                                                            mislead the Commission.
                         (Case T-340/99)
                                                                        — The principle of proportionality has been breached. The
                                                                            regulation was not absolutely necessary to protect the
                          (2000/C 79/68)                                    Community market since the applicant discontinued the
                                                                            contested business practice.
                  (Language of the case: English)                       — It was entitled to compensation payments under
                                                                            Article 288 EC since the regulation was unlawful and it
An action against the Council of the European Union was                     incurred economic loss by being commercially excluded
brought before the Court of First Instance of the European                  from taking part in the salmon-export trade with the EC.
Communities on 1 December 1999 by Arne Mathisen AS,
represented by Sigurd Knudtzon, with an address for service
in Luxembourg at the Chambers of Bonn, Schmitt & Steichen,
7 Val Ste-Croix.
The applicant claims that the Court should:
— annul, in so far as it relates to the applicant, Council
    Regulation (EC) No 1895/1999 of 27 August 1999                      Action brought on 2 December 1999 by Airtours PLC
    amending Regulation (EC) No 722/1999 imposing defini-                 against the Commission of the European Communities
    tive anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports of
    farmed Atlantic salmon originating in Norway;
                                                                                                (Case T-342/99)
— award the applicant compensation to be paid by the
    Council on the basis of the commercial losses incurred as                                    (2000/C 79/69)
    a consequence of the said Council regulation;
— interest at a rate of 12 % annually on such amounts as are                               (Language of the case: English)
    found to be due;
— order the Council to pay the costs of this proceeding.                An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
                                                                        ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
                                                                        European Communities on 2 December 1999 by Airtours PLC,
Pleas in law and main arguments                                         represented by John Swift, QC, Rupert Anderson, Malcolm
                                                                        Nicholson, Jacqueline Holland and Andrea Gomes da Silva,
                                                                        with an address for service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of
The applicant is a Norwegian fish trading company, that, with           Elvinger Hoss & Prussen, 2 Place Winston Churchill, L-2014.
other Norwegian exporters, signed an undertaking not to sell
Norwegian salmon in the Community below a specified
minimum price and to report the quarterly sale of salmon to             The applicant claims that the Court should:
the Commission. Moreover, it undertook not to circumvent the
undertaking by compensatory arrangements with customers in              — declare the Commission Decision of 22 September 1999
the Community or by misleading declarations or reports.                     relating to the notification of a concentration pursuant to
Following allegations that the applicant had sent hypothetical              Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 in Case
sales reports, and misled the Commission as to its true function            No. IV/M.1524 — Airtours/First Choice void and annul it
and its capability of respecting the undertaking, the Council               in its entirety;
adopted the contested regulation.
                                                                        — order the Commission to pay Airtours’ costs.
In support of its case, the applicant puts forward the following
pleas in law:
                                                                        Pleas in law and main arguments
— Its business practice was not in breach of the undertaking
    since the undertaking did not cover triangular trading
    arrangements before it was amended in December 1998.                The contested decision prohibits the proposed merger between
                                                                        Airtours and First Choice Holidays PLC on the ground that the
— The business practice did not constitute a circumvention              concentration would lead to a situation of collective domi-
    of the undertaking. The applicant rejects the assertion that        nance in the UK short-haul foreign package holiday market.
    the prices and money-flows between its trading partners,            The collectively dominant firms would be the merged Air-
    that formed the basis of the applicant’s reports to the             tours/First Choice entity, and two other tour operators,
    Commission, were only of notional character and were                Thomson Travel Group PLC and Thomas Cook Group Limited.