CELEX: 62003TN0030
Language: en
Date: 2003-01-30 00:00:00
Title: Case T-30/03: Action brought on 30 January 2003 by The General Workers Union in Denmark (Specialarbejderforbundet i Danmark "SID") against the Commission of the European Communities

C 70/32                EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                        22.3.2003
In support of its application, the applicant contests the                  The applicant claims that the Court should:
economic approach adopted in relation to the facts by the
Commission which, on the one hand, defined as the relevant                 —     annul the decision of 11 November 2002 of the Director
market the Italian geographic market but which, on the other                     General of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) which,
hand, completely overlooked the fact that the average price of                   as an internal service of the Commission of the European
reinforced concrete in Italy has always been, on average, less                   Communities, declares inadmissible the complaint lodged
than that in the other States.                                                   by the Junta de Andalucía.
Furthermore, S.P. contests the use of documents by the
Commission to substantiate its charges, in particular the                  Pleas in law and main arguments
memorandum of a partner undertaking which, in the Com-
mission’s view, provided useful information to understand the
way in which the accused undertaking operated, without such                The applicant in the present proceedings contests the rejection
documents having been notified to the applicant during the                 of the complaint submitted by Counsellor for Agriculture and
proceeding. Moreover, although the Commission was in                       Fisheries to the Director General of the Anti-Fraud Office
possession of them, it failed to mention that it had made use              (OLAF) after becoming aware of the existence of Report IO/
of such cooperation, preventing the applicant from adopting a              2000/7057 concerning the investigations carried out by OLAF
position in good time in relation to the charges made against              into possible irregularities in the olive oil sector in Spain,
it. In that respect also, the applicant seeks the annulment of             concentrating in particular on the territory of the Comunidad
the decision on the ground of a serious breach of the rights of            Autónoma de Andalucía.
defence.
                                                                           In support of its arguments, the applicant alleges:
S.P. further alleges error of law, in particular the misapplication
of Article 65 ECSC, claiming that the contested objections do              —     infringement of the principles of legality, in that OLAF’s
not contain sufficient evidence to support the existence of an                   activities covered areas over which there is no judicial
agreement or concerted practices.                                                oversight, and of equality, inasmuch as such conduct
                                                                                 discriminated against any legal or natural person who is
                                                                                 not an official, agent or staff of the Community insti-
Finally, S.P. further contests the methods adopted by the                        tutions, who alone may lodge administrative complaints
Commission when determining the fines to be imposed, in                          against OLAF’s conduct.
particular the multiplier and the increment linked to the
allegedly uninterrupted duration of the alleged infringements              —     infringement of the fundamental right of defence.
and to the alleged extreme seriousness, which has not been
proven, of the infringements.
                                                                           —     that OLAF must accept the complaint in issue by analogy
                                                                                 with the provisions of Article 14 of Regulation No 1073/
                                                                                 1994, and reply to the substantive questions raised in the
                                                                                 aforementioned complaint.
Action brought on 27 January 2003 by Comunidad
Autónoma de Andalucía against Commission of the Euro-
                        pean Communities
                                                                           Action brought on 30 January 2003 by The General
                                                                           Workers Union in Denmark (Specialarbejderforbundet i
                          (Case T-29/03)                                   Danmark ‘SID’) against the Commission of the European
                                                                                                     Communities
                          (2003/C 70/51)
                                                                                                    (Case T-30/03)
                   (Language of the case: Spanish)
                                                                                                    (2003/C 70/52)
                                                                                              (Language of the case: English)
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 27 January 2003 by Comunidad
Autónoma de Andalucía, Seville (Spain), represented by Car-                An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
men Carretero Espinosa de los Monteros, lawyers.                           ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
 ---pagebreak--- 22.3.2003              EN                       Official Journal of the European Union                                         C 70/33
European Communities on 30 January 2003 by The General                  The applicant finally invokes a manifest error of assessment.
Workers Union in Denmark (Specialarbejderforbundet i Dan-               The applicant alleges that the Commission should have made
mark ‘SID’), Copenhagen, Denmark, represented by Philip                 an assessment of the effect of the tax exemptions have on the
Bentley QC, Mr Anders Worsøe and Mr Filip Ragolle, Lawyers.             employment of seafarers residing in a Member State and
                                                                        employed on terms and conditions which meet the high
                                                                        standards prevailing in the Community.
The applicant claims that the Court should:
                                                                        (1 ) Community guidelines on State aid to maritime transport (OJ
                                                                             C 205 of 1997, p. 5.
—     annul Commission decision C(2002)4370fin of 13 Nov-
      ember 2002 in so far as it is decided not to raise any
      objections to fiscal measures that have been applied since
      1 January 1989 to seafarers on board vessels registered
      in Denmark, either in the DAS or in the DIS registers;
—     order that the costs of the proceedings be borne by the
      Commission.
                                                                        Action brought on 31 January 2003 by GRUPO SADA,
                                                                        P.A., S.A. against Office for Harmonisation in the Internal
                                                                                  Market (trade marks and designs) (OHIM)
Pleas in law and main arguments
                                                                                                  (Case T-31/03)
The applicant, the General Workers Union in Denmark, lodged                                       (2003/C 70/53)
a complaint with the Commission regarding the tax regime
applied to seafarers employed on board ships registered in the
Danish International Shipping register (DIS). In the contested                            (Language of the case: Spanish)
decision, the Commission decided not to raise objections to
the fiscal measures and considered that they constituted state
aid, but that they were and still are compatible with the
common market on the basis of Article 87 (3)(c) EC Treaty.
                                                                        An action against Office for Harmonisation in the Internal
                                                                        Market (trade marks and designs) (OHIM) was brought before
                                                                        the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on
                                                                        31 January 2003 by GRUPO SADA, P.A., S.A., whose regis-
The fiscal measures in question grant tax exemptions to all             tered office is in Madrid, represented by Álvaro Aguilar De
seafarers employed on board ships registered in the DIS
                                                                        Armas and José María Marrero Ortega.
register. The Commission considered that this was in conform-
ity with the Community guidelines on state aid to maritime
transport (1) according to which reduced rates of income tax
for EC seafarers on board ships registered in a Member State            The applicant claims that the Court should:
are compatible with the common market.
                                                                        —      annul the decision of the OHIM of 20 November 2002
                                                                               in so far as it refuses to register ‘GRUPO SADA’ as a
                                                                               Community trade mark; and
In support of its application, the applicant invokes an infringe-
ment of essential procedural requirements and the principle of
good administration. The applicant alleges that the case                —      order OHIM to pay the costs.
involved serious difficulties and that the Commission therefore
should have opened an investigation pursuant to Article 88(2)
EC Treaty.
                                                                        Pleas in law and main arguments
The applicant furthermore submits a violation of
Article 87(3)(c) EC Treaty in conjunction with the Community            Applicant for the Com-        The applicant
guidelines on state aid to maritime shipping and the principle          munity trade mark:
of legitimate expectations. According to the applicant, the
Commission erred by interpreting the notion of ‘EC seafarers’           The Community trade           GRUPO SADA — Application
as meaning any seafarer employed on board a vessel registered           mark concerned:               No 157545 for goods in Class-
in a Member State.                                                                                    es 29, 31 and 35