CELEX: C1999/174/17
Language: en
Date: 1999-06-19 00:00:00
Title: Case T-53/99: Action brought on 19 February 1999 by Nicolaos Progoulis against the Commission of the European Communities

C 174/8                 EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                     19.6.1999
Action brought on 19 February 1999 by Nicolaos Progoul-                   The applicant claims that the Court should:
is against the Commission of the European Communities
                                                                          — annul Articles 3 and 4 of the Commission Decision of
                          (Case T-53/99)                                       1 July 1998 concerning the Spanish Plan Renove Industrial
                                                                               system of aid for the purchase of commercial vehicles;
                         (1999/C 174/17)                                  — order the European Commission to pay the costs.
                   (Language of the case: English)                        Pleas in law and main arguments
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-                 By the present action, the applicant contests the decision of the
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the                European Commission by which it found that the agreement
European Communities on 19 February 1999 by Nicolaos                      concluded by the Comisión Delegada para Asuntos Econ-
Progoulis, represented by Mr Vassilis Akritidis and Mr Jonathan           ómicos (Executive Committee for Economic Affairs) concern-
Branton, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the                 ing a programme of measures to support the renewal of
Chambers of Arendt & Medernach, 8-10 rue Mathias Hardt.                   the commercial vehicle fleet (the ‘Plan Remove Industrial’)
                                                                          constitutes, in part, State aid. That programme is aimed at
                                                                          facilitating the financing of the purchase of new commercial
The applicant claims that the Court should:                               vehicles by natural persons and by small and medium-sized
1. annul the defendant’s decision failing to amend the appli-             enterprises (SMEs), subject to the condition that another
    cant’s staff report for the period 1 July 1995 to 30 June             commercial vehicle at least ten years old — other than a road
    1997                                                                  tractor — should be definitively scrapped. The contested
                                                                          decision stated that the only items which did not constitute
2. order that the costs of and occasioned by the proceedings              State aid were grants of aid to regional public bodies and
    be borne by the defendant                                             bodies providing local public services and to natural persons
                                                                          or SMEs engaged in activities other than transport on an
3. order that compensation for non-material damage suffered               exclusively local or regional scale.
    in a minimum amount of BFR 100 000 be awarded to the
    applicant.                                                            The application is based on the following claims:
                                                                          — Breach of the principle of the protection of legitimate
Pleas in law and main arguments                                                expectations. The applicant maintains in that regard that
                                                                               recipients of assistance under the Plan Renove, who did not
The applicant, an official in Directorate General XI.E.1 of the                receive any information from the Spanish administrative
Commission, seeks the amendment of his staff report for the                    authorities concerning the procedure followed before the
period from 1 July 1995 to 30 June 1997, on the ground                         Commission, were not in a position to appreciate factors
that his tasks, duties, responsibilities and performance were                  indicating the possible existence of any public subsidy or
misdescribed.                                                                  aid. Moreover, it was reasonable for those recipients to
                                                                               regard the Renove measures as being covered by the
                                                                               Community ‘de minimis’ rule.
The applicant submits in this regard that the contested decision
infringes general principles of law, Article 1 of the General             — Incorrect assessment of the existence of State aid, inasmuch
Provisions for implementing Article 43 of the Staff Regulations                as the plan in question is not intended to benefit any
and Article 3 (c) (ii) and (iii) of the Guide to Staff Reports. The            particular undertakings or the production of any particular
infringements concerned also involve a manifest error in the                   goods. In the applicant’s view, the present case concerns
assessment of the facts made by the AIPN, vitiating the                        provisions of a general nature which are applicable to any
assessment of his performance.                                                 natural person or SME, without distinction as to origin or
                                                                               nationality, and which do not favour any particular
                                                                               production sector, since no conditions whatever are
                                                                               imposed regarding the origin of the vehicle concerned.
                                                                          — Absence of a statement of reasons concerning distortion
                                                                               of competition and the effect on trade between Member
Action brought on 25 February 1999 by the Confedera-                           States. The applicant maintains in that connection that the
ción Española de Transporte de Mercancı́as against the                       plan in question is basically and primarily intended to
                     European Commission                                       cover vehicles which are not in competition with those in
                                                                               other Member States of the Community, since vehicles
                          (Case T-55/99)                                       which are engaged in such competition are renewed long
                                                                               before expiry of the period of ten years which must elapse
                         (1999/C 174/18)                                       under the plan. The applicant further states that, at most,
                                                                               the Plan Renove Industrial may prove to be less favourable
                                                                               to haulage contractors established outside Spain, inasmuch
                  (Language of the case: Spanish)                              as recourse to it would involve them in additional expense;
                                                                               nevertheless, such haulage contractors would then be in a
An action against the European Commission was brought                          more advantageous position than those established in
before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities                 Spain, on account of the much lower interest rates
on 25 February 1999 by the Confederación Española de                         prevailing in their respective countries. Moreover, the
Transporte de Mercancı́as, established in Madrid, Spain, rep-                  Plan Renove Industrial does not automatically exclude
resented by Jorge Pérez Villar, of the Madrid Bar.                             undertakings established in other Member States.