CELEX: C2001/289/74
Language: en
Date: 2001-10-13 00:00:00
Title: Case T-178/01: Action brought on 31 July 2001 by Di Lenardo Adriano s.r.l. against Commission of the European Communities

C 289/34                EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                   13.10.2001
Action brought on 31 July 2001 by Di Lenardo Adriano                            —     introducing ex novo the condition set forth at
 s.r.l. against Commission of the European Communities                                Article 6(c) of Regulation No 896/200 of not being
                                                                                      related to another traditional operator;
                          (Case T-178/01)                                       —     using Article 143 of the Customs Code as a pre-
                                                                                      sumption juris et de jure in order to prevent new
                                                                                      operators gaining access to the market in bananas.
                          (2001/C 289/74)
                                                                           —    infringement of the first and third paragraphs of
                    (Language of the case: Italian)                             Article 3b (now Article 5) of the EC Treaty, as well as
                                                                                breach of the fundamental principles of legal certainty
                                                                                and legitimate expectations, and infringement of the first
                                                                                and second paragraphs of Article F (now Article 6) of the
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-                       Treaty on European Union. The applicant argues in this
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the                      respect that the Commission has infringed the applicant’s
European Communities on 31 July 2001 by Di Lenardo                              property rights and the right to pursue a professional
Adriano s.r.l., represented by Aldo Bozzi, Claudia M.R. Gatti                   activity, having gone beyond what is necessary to achieve
and Bruno Telchini, lawyers.                                                    the objectives of the Community. Moreover, the prin-
                                                                                ciples of legal certainty and legitimate expectations have
                                                                                been infringed inasmuch as the new category of operators
                                                                                applies ex tunc.
The applicant claims that the Court should:
                                                                           —    breach of the principle of non-discrimination, guaranteed
—     annul Commission Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 of                           under Article 34(2) of the EC Treaty
      7 May 2001 laying down detailed rules for applying
      Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 as regards the                    —    infringement of Article 85 (now Article 81) and Article 86
      arrangements for importing bananas into the Com-                          (now Article 82) of the EC Treaty, inasmuch as the
      munity;                                                                   contested regulation prevents competition between tra-
                                                                                ditional operators, creating a situation in the banana
                                                                                market which amounts to a de facto derogation from
—     order the Commission to pay the costs.                                    Article 82.
Pleas in law and main arguments
For over 20 years the applicant company has been marketing                 Action brought on 30 July 2001 by Dilexport s.r.l. against
third-country bananas, having been recognised as a traditional                     Commission of the European Communities
operator A/B since the entry into force of Regulation
No 404/93. However, from 1 July 2001 it has been refused,                                          (Case T-179/01)
on the basis of the contested regulation, the chance to operate
in the banana importing sector either in respect of the quota
reserved for traditional operators (83 %) or of the quota                                          (2001/C 289/75)
reserved for non-traditional operators (17 %).
                                                                                              (Language of the case: Italian)
In support of its arguments, the applicant alleges:
                                                                           An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
                                                                           ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
—     infringement of Regulation No 404/93, as well as of                  European Communities on 30 July 2001 by Dilexport s.r.l.,
      Article 4 (now Article 7) of the EC Treaty. The applicant            represented by Aldo Bozzi, Claudia M.R. Gatti and Bruno
      claims in this respect that the Commission encroached                Telchini, lawyers.
      on the competencies which properly belong to the
      Council by:
                                                                           The applicant claims that the Court should:
      —     introducing ex novo a category of banana operator
            altogether foreign to the Council regulations;                 —    annul Commission Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 (1) of
                                                                                7 May 2001 laying down detailed rules for applying
                                                                                Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 as regards the
      —     introducing the concept of ‘primary imports’ as the                 arrangements for importing bananas into the Com-
            test for traditional operators;                                     munity;