CELEX: C1997/199/71
Language: en
Date: 1997-06-28 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 11 April 1997 by Molkerei Großbraunshain GmbH and Bene Nahrungsmittel GmbH against the Commission of the European Communities (Case T-109/97)

28 . 6 . 97            EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 199/25
with an address for service in Luxembourg at the Fidu­                 Action brought on 9 April 1997 by C. A. S. Succhi di
ciaire Myson, Sari, 30 Rue de Cessange, against European               Frutta S.p.a. against Commission of the European
Parliament (Agents : Manfred Peter and Norbert Lorenz )                                            Communities
— application for annulment of decisions of the European                                        ( Case T-106/97)
Parliament characterizing as irregular the absences of the
applicant from work from March to October 1995 — the                                              ( 97/C 199/70 )
Court of First Instance (Third Chamber), composed of B.
Vesterdorf, President, C. P. Briët and A. Potocki, Judges;                               (Language of the case: Italian)
H. Jung, Registrar, made an order on 26 March 1997, the
operative part of which is as follows:                                 An action against the Commission of the European
                                                                       Communities was brought before the Court of First
I. The application is dismissed as inadmissible.                       Instance of the European Communities on 9 April 1997
                                                                       by C. A. S. Succhi di Frutta S.p.a ., represented by Alberto
                                                                       Miele, of the Padua Bar, Antonio Tizzano and Gian
2 . The parties are to bear their own costs.                           Michele Roberti, of the Naples Bar, and Carlo Scarpa, of
                                                                       the Venice Bar, with an address for service in Brussels at
                                                                       Mr Tizzano's Chambers, 36 Place du Grand Sablon.
(') OJ No C 269 , 14 . 9 . 1996 .
                                                                       The applicant claims that the Court should:
                                                                       — annul the Commission decision of 22 July 1996 (No
                                                                            C(96 ) 1916 ) concerning the supply of fruit juices and
                                                                           jams for the peoples of Armenia and Azerbaijan,
     ORDER OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
                        ( Second Chamber)                              — order the Commission to pay the costs of the
                           of 2 May 1997                                   proceedings .
in Case T-136/96: Automobiles Peugeot SA v. Commission                 Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
              of the European Communities (*)
(Competition — Action for annulment — Objection of                     The applicant is the same as that which, in Case T-191/
                           inadmissibility)                            96 ( ] ), contests the ex post facto amendment of one of the
                            ( 97/C 199/69
                                                                       essential points in the notice of tender relating to the
                                                                       supply of fruit juices and jams for the peoples of Armenia
                                                                       and Azerbaijan. It points out in this regard that, while the
               (Language of the case: French)                          amendment contested in Case T-191 /96 consisted in the
                                                                       possibility of withdrawing from intervention stocks fresh
                                                                       products other than those specified in the notice of tender,
In Case T-136/96 : Automobiles Peugeot SA, having its                  in particular peaches, that challenged in the present action
registered office in Paris, represented by Xavier de Roux,             is an amendment, adopted by way of the contested
of the Paris Bar, with an address for service in                       decision, which extends this possibility of substitution to
Luxembourg at the Chambers of Jacques Loesch, 8 Rue                    nectarines .
Zithe , against Commission of the European Communities
( Agents: Giuliano Marenco and Guy Charrier ) —
                                                                       The pleas in law and main arguments are the same as
application for the annulment of the Commission's                      those relied on in Case T-191 /96 .
decision of 19 July 19 96 allegedly rejecting requests by the
applicant for confidential treatment of certain information
provided to the Commission in the context of Article 11                (>) OJ No C 94, 22 . 3 . 1997, p . 15 .
of Council Regulation No 17: First Regulation
implementing Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty ( OJ,
English Special Edition, 1959-62 ( I ), p. 87) — the Court
of First Instance ( Second Chamber), composed of C. W.
Bellamy, President, A. Kalogeropoulos and P. Lindh,
Judges; H. Jung, Registrar, made an order on 2 May 1997,               Action brought on 11 April 1997 by Molkerei
the operative part of which is as follows:                             Großbraunshain GmbH and Bene Nahrungsmittel GmbH
                                                                          against the Commission of the European Communities
1 . The application is dismissed as inadmissible.                                               ( Case T-109/97)
                                                                                                  ( 97/C 199/71 )
2 . The applicants shall bear their own costs.
                                                                                        (Language of the case: German)
(') OJ No C 318 , 26 . 10 . 1996 .
                                                                       An action against the Commission of the European
                                                                       Communities was brought before the Court of First
                                                                       Instance of the European Communities on 11 April 1997
 ---pagebreak--- No C 199/26            EN                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                    28 . 6 . 97
by Molkerei Großbraunshain GmbH, whose registered                    In this action, the applicants challenge the entry
office is at Harta bei Altenburg, Thüringen ( Germany),              of the designation 'Altenburger Ziegenkäse ', with an
and Bene Nahrungsmittel GmbH, whose registered office                excessively widely-drawn geographical area pursuant to
is at Lumpzig bei Altenburg, Thüringen ( Germany ),                  the notification given by the Federal Republic of Germany,
represented by Michael Loschelder, Rechtsanwalt,                     in the register of designations which are protected
Cologne, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the            designations of origin under Article 17 of Regulation
Chambers of Marc Loesch, 11 Rue Goethe .                             ( EEC ) No 2081/92 . Such registration would lead to
                                                                     undertakings not established in the Altenburg Land being
The applicants claim that the Court should :                         able to use that designation for their products, thereby
                                                                     causing continual damage to the applicants such as to
— annul Commission Regulation ( EC ) No 123/97 of                    threaten their existence . Through the use of the simplified
     23 January 1997 supplementing the Annex to                      procedure under Article 17 of Regulation ( EEC ) No 2081 /
     Commission Regulation ( EC ) No 1107/96 on the                  92 , which the applicants maintain was an erroneous
     registration of geographical indications and                    choice in both substantive and procedural law, the
     designations of origin under the procedure laid down            applicants were unlawfully deprived of their right to a
     in Article 17 of Regulation ( EEC ) No 2081 /92 in so           proper hearing. They were also unlawfully discriminated
     far as, in respect of the product 'Altenburger                  against, since the facts in this case reveal similar treatment
     Ziegenkäse ( PDO )' referred to in Part A of the Annex          being unjustifiably given to dissimilar situations and also a
     to the regulation, the notification by the Federal              misleading of consumers incompatible with Article 2 ( 1 )
     Republic of Germany of 26 January 1994, as                      ( a ) of Directive ( EEC ) No 79/ 112 .
     supplemented on 7 August 1 996 , includes in the
     designation of the relevant geographical area under
     para . 5 (c ) of such notification the Landkreise ( rural       The applicants maintain that the question at issue is not
     districts ) of Gera, Zeitz, Geithain, Grimma, Wurzen,           whether the designation ' Altenburger Ziegenkäse ' had
     Borna and the City of Gera ( or, to use the                     become ' normal' for the competition 'through use', since
     nomenclature arising from the redrawing of                      that designation was not registered under the trade mark
     boundaries and renaming of districts pursuant to                law of the former German Democratic Republic.
     administrative reforms in the relevant Bundesländer of           Regulation ( EEC ) No 2081 /92 protected only designations
     Thüringen, Sachsen and Sachsen-Anhalt, in so far as              or statements of geographical origin and not trademarks
     it includes the Landkreise Greiz and Muldentalkreis,             or generic names .
     parts of the Kreise Leipziger Land and Burgenlandkreis
     and the City of Gera );
                                                                      Finally, the applicants argue that the adoption of
     or, in the alternative                                           Regulation ( EC ) No 123/97 constitutes a misuse of powers
                                                                      by the Commission, since, by simply adopting the
     annul Commission Regulation ( EC ) No 123/97 of                  notification by the Federal Republic of Germany, the
     23 January 1997 supplementing the Annex to                       Commission thereby adopted the extraneous consideration
     Commission Regulation ( EC ) No 1107/96 on the                   in that notification, allowing an undertaking outside the
     registration     of geographical       indications    and        area to use the designation. The decision was also legally
     designations of origin under the procedure laid down             erroneous since the Commission clearly made no use of its
     in Article 17 of Regulation ( EEC ) No 2081 /92 in so            discretion provided for in Article 15 of Regulation ( EEC )
                                                                      No 2081 /92 .
      far as the product 'Altenburger Ziegenkäse ( PDO )' is
      named in Part A of the Annex to the regulation, with
     the proviso that, until such time as the register is
      altered pursuant to an application by the Federal
      Republic of Germany to alter the designation on
      account of a fresh delimination of the geographical
      area, the description of the geographical area in the
      notification by the Federal Republic of Germany of              Action brought on 14 April 1997 by Kneissl Dachstein
      26 January 1994, as supplemented on 7 August 1996,              Sportartikel AG against the Commission of the European
      is to be retained in relation to the Landkreise of                                         Communities
      Altenburg and Schmolln ( or, under the new
                                                                                                Case T-l 10/97 )
      nomenclature, in relation to the Landkreis Altenburger
      Land ) and in relation to the description of the product                                  ( 97/C 199/72 )
      in other respects,
 — order the Commission to pay the costs.                                             (Language of the case: German)
 Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
                                                                       An action against the Commission of the European
 Großbraunshain GmbH is the only undertaking in the                    Communities was brought before the Court of First
 Altenburger Land region which produces 'Altenburger                   Instance of the European Communities on 14 April 1997
 Ziegenkäse' ( Altenburg goats' cheese ) on an industrial              by Kneissl Dachstein Sportartikel AG, whose registered
 basis . Bene Nahrungsmittel GmbH holds all the shares in              office is at Molln, Austria, represented by Georg Diwok,
 Großbraunshain GmbH .                                                 Rechtsanwalt, Vienna .