CELEX: C2000/047/56
Language: en
Date: 2000-02-19 00:00:00
Title: Case T-317/99: Action brought on 11 November 1999 by Franz Lemaître against the Commission of the European Communities

C 47/32               EN                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                           19.2.2000
Action brought on 11 November 1999 by Franz Lemaître                      Industrie Navali Meccaniche Affini, SpA (in liquidation) and
  against the Commission of the European Communities                      Itainvest SPA, represented by Antonio Tizzano, Gian Michele
                                                                          Roberti and Francesco Sciaudone, of the Naples Bar, with an
                        (Case T-317/99)                                   address for service at 36 Place du Grand Sablon, Brussels.
                         (2000/C 47/56)                                   The applicant claims that the Court should:
                                                                          — annul Commission decision C(1999) 2532 final of 20 July
                   (Language of the case: French)                              1999;
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-                 — order the Commission of the European Communities to
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the                     pay the costs.
European Communities on 11 November 1999 by Franz
Lemaître resident in Céroux-Mousty, Belgium, represented by
Georges Vandersanden, of the Brussels Bar, with an address
for service in Luxembourg at Société de Gestion Fiduciaire                Pleas in law and main arguments
SARL, 2-4 Rue Beck.
                                                                          The applicants in the present case seek the annulment of
The applicant claims that the Court should:                               Commission decision C(1999) 2532 final of 20 July 1999
                                                                          concerning aid granted by Italy to the INMA shipyard through
— annul the Commission’s decisions dated 16 February 1999,                Itainvest (formerly GEPI) public holding company, notified by
    12 March 1999 and 24 March 1999, respectively refusing                the Italian Government to the Commission on 3 September
    to award him the expatriation and installation allowances             1999.
    and determining his place of origin at the time of his
    recruitment to be Luxembourg;
                                                                          By that decision the Commission declared unlawful the action
— order the defendant to pay all the costs.                               of the public group Itainvest in respect of:
                                                                          — guarantees for the construction of vessels for ‘Corsica
Pleas in law and main arguments                                                Ferries’, ‘Pugliola’, ‘Tirrenia’ and ‘Stolt Nielsen’; and
The action concerns, first, the defendant’s refusal to award the          — compensation to the tune of LIT 120,4 thousand million
applicant the expatriation allowance and, secondly, its refusal                for losses made by the INMA shipyard in 1997-1998.
to award him the installation allowance. In support of his
claims the applicant argues that his habitual residence was
outside Belgium when he entered the Commission’s service in               The Commission came to that conclusion on the basis of the
Brussels and that he was therefore entitled to the expatriation           following:
allowance. It follows that it was also appropriate to award him
the installation allowance.                                               — guarantees for construction of the vessels should have
                                                                               been set, in accordance with Article 4(4) of Directive
                                                                               90/684/EEC and Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC)
                                                                               No 1540/98, below the ceiling for aid for individual
                                                                               contracts under Article 4(1) of the directive, expressed as a
                                                                               percentage of the annual turnover of the recipient of the
                                                                               aid itself;
Action brought on 15 November 1999 by INMA, Industrie                     — cover for loss constitutes operating aid which, according
Navali Meccaniche Affini, SpA (in liquidation) and Itain-                      to Article 5 of Directive 90/684/EEC, should also be below
vest SPA against Commission of the European Communi-                           that ceiling. In the absence therefore of a restructuring
                               ties                                            plan, operating aid in the form of loss compensation
                                                                               is also incompatible with Article 5 of Regulation (EC)
                        (Case T-323/99)                                        No 1540/98 and cannot be considered to be rescue aid
                                                                               under Community law.
                         (2000/C 47/57)
                                                                          In support of their claims, the applicants allege:
                   (Language of the case: Italian)                        — infringement of Article 7 of the EC Treaty, of Article 1(d)
                                                                               of Directive 90/684/EEC of 21 December 1990 on aid to
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-                      shipbuilding (1), and of Article 2(1) and (2) of Regulation
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the                     1540/98 on aid to shipbuilding (2). The applicants are of
European Communities on 15 November 1999 by INMA,                              the view in this regard in particular that the defendant