CELEX: C1998/055/61
Language: en
Date: 1998-02-20 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 19 December 1997 by Swedish Match Advertising Products NV/SA against the Council of the European Union (Case T-599/97)

20.2.98               EN                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                    C 55/31
Action brought on 19 December 1997 by Swedish Match                 of Article 7(4)(a) of the basic anti-dumping Regulation
Advertising Products NV/SA against the Council of the               since respect for the right to a fair hearing is required of
                       European Union                               the Community authorities and not only of the parties.
                       (Case T-599/97)                              That refusal also constitutes an infringement of the
                                                                    requirement of transparency, which is laid down by
                         (98/C 55/61)                               implication in Articles 7(4)(a) and 8(2)(b). The
                                                                    Commission also infringed the applicant's right to a fair
                (Language of the case: English)                     hearing, as laid down in Article 7(4)(b) of the basic anti-
                                                                    dumping Regulation, by its omission of vital information
An action against the Council of the European Union was             relevant to the final amount of the anti-dumping duty
brought before the Court of First Instance of the European          imposed on a Japanese competitor.
Communities on 19 December 1997 by Swedish Match
Advertising Products NV/SA, represented by Francisco                The applicant also pleads infringement of Article 2 of the
Miguel Rodero López and Dorio Mutti, with an address                basic anti-dumping Regulation since the dumping
for service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of Lucy                   determination made by the Community institutions is
Dupong, 14a, rue des Bains.                                         vitiated by manifest error in the assessment of facts.
The applicant claims that the Court should:
                                                                    Finally, the applicant pleads infringement of Article 190 of
                                                                    the EC Treaty. The Council has limited itself to rejecting
Ð declare that Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC)                 the applicant's arguments merely on the ground that the
     No 2025/97 is partially void within the meaning of             investigation has disclosed something other than that
     the second paragraph of Article 174 of the EC Treaty,          alleged by the applicant. All that the applicant learns from
     since the aim of this action is not to have the current        the statement of the reasons for the contested Regulation
     anti-dumping duties declared void but to have them             is that its claims concerning the dumping determination
     replaced by more stringent measures fixing higher              have been rejected; it cannot ascertain the reasons which,
     anti-dumping duties on imports of advertising matches          in consequence of the rejection of the applicant's
     originating in Japan,                                          arguments, led the Council to impose upon a Japanese
                                                                    competitor a wholly ineffective anti-dumping duty based
Ð maintain the effects of the current anti-dumping                  on its incorrectly calculated dumping margin.
     duties, in accordance with the second paragraph of
     Article 174 of the EC Treaty, until the competent              (1) OJ L 284, 16.10.1997, p. 57.
     institutions adopt the new measures sought by this             (2) OJ L 209, 2.8.1988, p. 1.
     action, and
Ð order the defendant to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
                                                                    Action brought on 23 December 1997 by Onno Plug
On 15 October 1997 the Council adopted Regulation                      against the Commission of the European Communities
(EC) No 2025/97 (1) imposing definitive anti-dumping
                                                                                           (Case T-608/97)
duties on imports into the Community of advertising
matches originating in Japan and ordered to collect                                          (98/C 55/62)
definitively the provisional duty imposed. The rate of duty
applicable to the net, free-at-Community-frontier price,
before duty, is to be 43,2 %, with the exception of imports                         (Language of the case: French)
manufactured and exported by some specified companies.
The rates of duty for these companies ranges from 9,9 to            An action against the Commission of the European
27,8 %.                                                             Communities was brought before the Court of First
                                                                    Instance of the European Communities on 23 December
The applicant submits that the current anti-dumping                 1997 by Onno Plug, residing at Thôneux (Switzerland),
duties are not high enough in order to prevent the                  represented by Georges Vandersanden and Laure Levi, of
material injury that the Community industry, and in                 the Brussels Bar, with an address for service in
particular the applicant itself, is still suffering. The            Luxembourg at Fiduciaire Myson saÁrl, 30 rue de
applicant is therefore asking that the current anti-dumping         Cessange.
duties be replaced by more stringent (i.e. higher) duties by
the competent institutions.
                                                                    The applicant claims that the Court should:
The applicant pleads infringement of Articles 7(4)(a) and
8(2)(b) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 (2)                  Ð annul the decision contained in the letter from the
(hereinafter the basic anti-dumping Regulation') on the                 appointing authority of 14 January 1997 and, in so far
ground that the Commission refused to provide the                        as necessary, the express decision rejecting the
FeÂdeÂration EuropeÂenne des Fabricants d'Allumettes (FEFA)              applicant's complaint, adopted on 12 September 1997
with information. That refusal constitutes an infringement               and notified on 22 September 1997,