CELEX: C1996/064/37
Language: en
Date: 1996-03-02 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 21 December 1995 by Hamburger Stahlwerke GmbH against the Commission of the European Communities (Case T-234/95)

2 . 3 . 96          1 EN |                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 64/ 19
Action brought on 21 December 1995 by Hamburger                       from a commercial and entrepreneurial point of view, to
Stahlwerke GmbH against the Commission of the European                terminate a commitment when economic conditions are
                          Communities                                 good, rather than during a recession, and that the limited
                       ( Case T-234/95 )                              credit increase made in 1993 — with the express object of
                                                                      selling the applicant company — was therefore not merely
                           96/C 64/37
                                                                      the only economically appropriate measure to take but also
                                                                      the same measure as would have been taken by any private
              (Language of the case: German)                          entrepreneur in a comparable situation. The Commission
                                                                      did not dispute those arguments in its decision.
An action against the Commission of the European
Communities was brought before the Court of First                     Even on the incorrect assumption that the prolongation and
Instance of the European Communities on 21 December                   extension of the credit facility in December 1 993 constituted
1995 by Hamburger Stahlwerke GmbH, of Hamburg                         a grant of aid, it is clear in any event that this could only
( Federal Republic of Germany ), represented by Axel Lohde,           apply as regards an insignificant part.
Rechtsanwalt, Hamburg, with an address for service in
Luxembourg at the Chambers of Lucy Dupong of Messrs
Dupong & Associes, 14a Rue des Bains .
The applicant claims that the Court should :
                                                                      Action brought on 24 December 1995 by Dr Anthony
— annul the decision of the Commission of 31 October
                                                                      Goldstein against the Commission of the European
     1995 concerning the grant of State aid by the Free and                                     Communities
     Hanseatic City of Hamburg to the ECSC steel
     undertaking Hamburger Stahlwerke GmbH, Hamburg                                          ( Case T-235/95 )
     — SG(95 ) D/14318/K(95 ) 2754 final,                                                       ( 96/C 64/38 )
— order the Commission to pay the costs .                                             (Language of the case: English)
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
                                                                      An action against the Commission of the European
                                                                      Communities was brought before the Court of First
The claim is founded on infringement of essential                     Instance of the European Communities on 24 December
procedural requirements, in the form of the decision having           1995 by Dr Anthony Goldstein, represented by Raymond St
been based on incorrect facts and in the form of a breach of
                                                                      John Murphy of Merriman White, Solicitors, 3 King's
the principle of the right to a fair hearing, on infringement of      Bench Walk , Inner Temple , London .
the ECSC Treaty and of the legal rules applicable to its
implementation, and on an error of assessment.
                                                                      The applicant claims that the Court should:
In particular:
                                                                      — annul the Commission's Decision of 16 October 1995
The loan made in December 1992 increasing the credit                       refusing, inter alia, to reconsider the Decision of
facility by DM 20 million did not constitute aid . The                     20 January 1994 in the light of the factual and legal
applicant considers in that regard that the Free and                       information submitted for its assessment in accordance
Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the Hamburgische                             with the principles laid down by the Treaty as
Landesbank must have taken into account the fact that the                  interpreted by the judgments of the Court of Justice,
total loans made by the Hamburgische Landesbank to the
applicant would be treated, in the event of the bankruptcy of         — order the Commission to pay the costs .
the applicant, as having replaced equity capital . The
Commission's view that the prolongation and extension of
the credit facility in December 1993 also constituted aid,            Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
because the conduct of the Free and Hanseatic City of
Hamburg was not comparable with that of a normal                      On 10 August 1993 the applicant, a Community medical
commercial investor, is incorrect.                                    specialist in rheumatology submitted to the Commission
                                                                      under Article 3 ( 2 ) of Council Regulation No 17 an
By contrast, the Federal Government pointed out in its                application for a finding that the General Medical Council
communication to the Commission of 18 August 1995 that                ( GMC ), a statutory body which regulates the medical
the applicant's subsidiary company in Euskirchen, the                 profession in the territory of the United Kingdom, had
annual production capacity of which amounted to 80 000                infringed Articles 85 and 86 of the EC Treaty . According to
tonnes, had finally been closed down, and that that closure           the applicant's complaint, the GMC :
was to be taken into account as offsetting grants of aid, even
 outside the procedure laid down by Article 95 of the ECSC            — restricts persons holding a Community medical
Treaty, in accordance with the principle of equal treatment.               specialist diploma issued pursuant to Council Directive
In its communication of 7 February 1995 , the Federal                      93/1 6/EC from having their specialist status publicized
 Government further stated that it could only be reasonable,               in the medical register, and