CELEX: C1998/312/48
Language: en
Date: 1998-10-10 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 12 August 1998 by Groupe Perry SA and Isibiris against Commission of the European Communities (Case T-132/98)

C 312/20              EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                     10.10.98
Action brought on 7 August 1998 by AeÂroports de Paris               as the present case manifestly concerns the air transport
     against Commission of the European Communities                  sector and the transport sector as a whole has been
                       (Case T-128/98)                               removed from the scope of Regulation No 17. According
                                                                     to ADP, the misapplication of that Regulation constitutes
                         (98/C 312/47)                               a serious procedural defect vitiating the decision.
                (Language of the case: French)                       Secondly, ADP alleges infringement of the rights of the
                                                                     defence, since the contested decision is wholly at variance
                                                                     with the position expressly stated by the Commission
An action against the Commission of the European                     throughout the administrative procedure.
Communities was brought before the Court of First
Instance of the European Communities on 7 August 1998
by AeÂroports de Paris (ADP), a public corporation whose             Thirdly, ADP submits that the contested decision falls
registered office is in Paris, represented by Hugues Calvet,         seriously short of fulfilling the obligation to state reasons.
of the Paris Bar, with an address for service in
Luxembourg at the Chambers of Aloyse May, 31 Grand-
                                                                     Fourthly, ADP maintains that the Commission misapplied
Rue.
                                                                     the provisions of Article 86 of the EC Treaty: ADP is not
                                                                     an undertaking within the meaning of Article 86; the
The applicant claims that the Court should:                          Commission's definition of the market is seriously
                                                                     inaccurate; ADP does not enjoy a dominant position; its
                                                                     conduct does not meet the conditions laid down in
Ð annul the Commission's decision of 11 June 1998                    Article 86 and no discrimination may properly be
    which states that ADP has infringed Article 86 of the            attributed to it.
    EC Treaty and must put an end to the infringement
    within two months of the date of notification of the
    decision,                                                        Fifthly, ADP argues that the competition rules cannot be
                                                                     applied to it in the present case pursuant to Article 90(2)
                                                                     of the EC Treaty.
Ð order the Commission to pay the whole of the costs
    incurred by the applicant in these proceedings.
                                                                     Lastly, ADP claims that the Commission has infringed
                                                                     Article 222 of the EC Treaty and, by misapplying
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                  Article 86 of the EC Treaty, has misused its powers.
The applicant is a public corporation with responsibility
for the planning, administration and development of all
the civil air transport installations which are centred in the
Paris region and which seek to facilitate the arrival and
departure of aircraft, to control traffic and to load, unload        Action brought on 12 August 1998 by Groupe Perry SA
and groundhandle passengers, goods and mail carried by               and Isibiris against Commission of the European
air. In 1995 Alpha Flight Services, a company which                                            Communities
supplies airport catering services at Paris-Orly Airport,                                   (Case T-132/98)
lodged a formal complaint against ADP alleging that the
latter was imposing discriminatory fees on the suppliers of                                   (98/C 312/48)
catering services in breach of Article 86 of the EC Treaty.
                                                                                    (Language of the case: French)
By the contested decision, the Commission found that
ADP had infringed the provisions of Article 86 of the EC             An action against the Commission of the European
Treaty by using its dominant position as manager of the              Communities was brought before the Court of First
Paris airports to impose discriminatory commercial fees in           Instance of the European Communities on 12 August
the Paris airports of Orly and Roissy-Charles de Gaulle on           1998 by Groupe Perry SA and Isibiris, whose registered
suppliers or users engaged in groundhandling or self-                offices are in Luxembourg, represented by Fernand
handling activities relating to catering (including the              Entringer, of the Luxembourg Bar, with an address for
loading and unloading of food and beverages on aircraft),            service in Luxembourg at his Chambers, 34a Rue Philippe
to the cleaning of aircraft and to the handling of cargo.            II.
Under Article 2 of the decision, ADP is required to put an
end to the infringement by applying to the suppliers of
groundhandling services concerned a non-discriminatory               The applicants claim that the Court of First Instance
scheme of commercial fees within two months of the date              should:
of notification of the contested decision.
                                                                     Ð declare that the Commission acted improperly,
ADP maintains that the contested decision is vitiated by a
procedural defect, on which ground it must be annulled.              Ð declare that that improper conduct gives rise to non-
The application of Regulation No 17 is unlawful in so far                contractual liability on the part of the Union,
 ---pagebreak--- 10.10.98              EN                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                 C 312/21
Ð declare that the applicants suffered loss as a result of          point out that the Commission was judge and party in the
    that improper conduct,                                          case and conclude that the defendant institution thus
                                                                    infringed Article 6 of the European Convention on Human
                                                                    Rights.
Ð declare that the Union is required to compensate that
    loss,
                                                                    The applicants submit that, as a result of that unlawful
Ð take formal note that Groupe Perry estimates that loss            conduct, Groupe Perry can no longer continue to work
    to be ECU 10 000 000,                                           with the Commission, which was its only customer, nor is
                                                                    it able to find other customers because of the negative
                                                                    publicity received by it in the international press. Its
Ð take formal note that Isibiris estimates its loss to be           business is therefore ruined and it claims the sum of ECU
    ECU 500 000,                                                    10 000 000 in respect of material and non-material loss.
Ð order the Union to pay all the costs of the
    proceedings.                                                    Isibiris is seeking the sum of ECU 500 000 by way of
                                                                    compensation for non-material loss, together with a
                                                                    declaration that it is not required to repay the sum of
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                 ECU 540 000 claimed by the Commission.
The applicants are seeking compensation for the loss they
consider they suffered as a result of the steps taken against
them by the Commission because of alleged irregularities
committed by them in the performance of certain
contracts entered into in the context of the European
Union humanitarian aid programmes for Bosnia and the                       Removal from the register of Case T-285/97 (1)
Great Lakes region of Africa. According to the applicants,                                  (98/C 312/49)
the Commission penalised the two companies by failing to
pay the invoices due, by ordering its departments not to
enter into contracts with them, by assigning employees of                          (Language of the case: English)
the Perry Group to other companies and by requiring
Isibiris to repay a large sum of money.
                                                                    By order of 7 July 1998, the President of the Second
The applicants submit that the Commission's action was              Chamber of the Court of First Instance of the European
based on a report drawn up by the Unit for the                      Communities has ordered the removal from the register
Coordination of Fraud Prevention (UCLAF) following an               of Case T-285/97: Kuljetusliike R. Pynnönen Oy v.
enquiry carried out by that body, without first hearing the         Commission of the European Communities.
companies in question, to which it even refused to provide
a copy of the aforementioned reports. Furthermore, they             (1) OJ C 7, 10.1.1998.