CELEX: C1997/295/17
Language: en
Date: 1997-09-27 00:00:00
Title: Appeal brought on 11 July 1997 by D. Coussios against the judgment delivered on 15 May 1997 by the Fourth Chamber of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities in Case T-273/94 between D. Coussios and the Commission of the European Communities (Case C-252/97 P)

C 295/ 10             EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                 27 . 9 . 97
Action brought on 10 July 1997 by the French Republic                    the reorganization of working time which the
  against the Commission of the European Communities                     undertakings concerned have had to accept, not
                                                                         the normal cost of such reorganization which
                       ( Case C-251 /97 )                                undertakings in other sectors or in other Member
                                                                         States would have to bear. The fact that a substantial
                         ( 97/C 295/ 16 )
                                                                         number of undertakings have declined to benefit from
                                                                         the measure for the reduction of social charges on the
                                                                         ground that what is required by the State in return is
                                                                         too burdensome sufficiently shows that the measures
An action against the Commission of the European                         do not bring the beneficiary undertakings any clear
Communities was brought before the Court of Justice of                   competitive advantage .
the European Communities on 10 July 1997 by the French
Republic, represented by Kareen Rispal-Bellanger,
Assistant Director in the Directorate for Legal Affairs,
                                                                     — The Commission made a manifest error of assessment
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Gautier Mignot, Secretary
for Foreign Affairs in that directorate, acting as Agents,               of the facts by failing to accept that the measures
with an address for service in Luxembourg at the French                  were financially and economically neutral for the
Embassy, 8 B Boulevard Joseph II .                                       beneficiary undertakings .
The Government of the French Republic claims that the
Court should :
                                                                     Appeal brought on 11 July 1997 by D. Coussios against
    annul Commission Decision C(97 ) 1162 final of                   the judgment delivered on 15 May 1997 by the Fourth
    9 April 1997 concerning aid granted by France to the             Chamber of the Court of First Instance of the European
                                                                     Communities in Case T-273/94 between D. Coussios and
    textile, clothing, leather and footwear sectors,
                                                                             the Commission of the European Communities
                                                                                            Case C-252/97 P )
    order the Commission to pay the costs.                                                    ( 97/C 295/ 17 )
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                  An appeal against the judgment delivered on 15 May
                                                                     1997 by the Fourth Chamber of the Court of First
                                                                     Instance of the European Communities in Case T-273/94
                                                                     between D. Coussios and the Commission of the European
Infringement of Article 92 ( 1 ) of the EC Treaty by the             Communities was brought on 11 July 1997 by D.
contested decision                                                   Coussios, represented by Xavier Magnee, Batonnier, of the
                                                                     Brussels Bar, with an address for service in Luxembourg at
                                                                     the Chambers of Louis Schiltz, 2 Rue Fort Rheinsheim.
— The Commission erred in law in classifying measures
    consisting of the grant of specific financial advantages
    to undertakings, in return for actions whose financial           The appellant claims that the Court of Justice should:
    cost balances the amount of that aid, as aid within the
    meaning of Article 92 ( 1 ) of the Treaty, in so far as
    they exceed the de minimis threshold set by the                  hold the present appeal admissible and well-founded, set
     Commission's communication of 24 January 1996 .                 aside the judgment under appeal and, as the Court of First
    The argument which the French Government presents                Instance should have done,
     in the present case is in fact analogous to an argument
     it put forward in the Kimberly Clark case ( Case
     C-241 /94, [ 1996] ECR 1-4551 ), which the Court
                                                                     — annul the Commission 's decision of 4 October 1993
     basically did not reject, namely that a financial
     advantage granted by the State to an undertaking in                  removing the appellant from his post and the decision
     return for optional action by that undertaking in                    of 2 May 1994 rejecting his complaint,
     favour of its employees does not constitute aid which
     distorts or is liable to distort competition within the
     meaning of Article 92 ( 1 ) of the Treaty, since the            — order the appellant's retroactive reinstatement with
     amount of that advantage does not exceed the cost to                 effect    from  1   December      1993 and  order     the
     the undertaking of that action, or exceeds it only by                Commission to pay arrears of salary without
     an amount below the de minimis threshold . In the                    interruption together with interest at the rate of 8 %
     present case, the measures for reducing social charges               p. a . from the date on each month when those arrears
     compensate only for the additional cost of                           became payable,
 ---pagebreak--- 27 . 9 . 97             I EN 1                Official Journal of the European Communities                                  C 295/ 11
— order the Commission to pay to the appellant as                              of interpreting the rules or of the fact that all the
      compensation for non-material damage the sum of                          sums relating to operations in which there were
      Bfrs 3 million, or any such sum as the Court of Justice                  found to be irregularities were recovered.
      shall determine,
                                                                         ( B) Removal of land from production on multiannual
— in the alternative, failing a decision ordering the                          basis
      appellant's reinstatement, declare that the removal
      from his post was unfounded and accordingly order
      the Commission to pay him Bfrs 57 443 399 as                             The dispute is based on a 'linguistic' ambiguity with
      compensation for financial damage and the sum of                         regard to the interpretation be given to the term
      Bfrs 20 000 000 as compensation for non-material                         'fallowing', which, according to EAGGF officials
      damage , or any such sum as the Court of Justice shall                   means 'traditional fallowing' whereas agricultural
      determine,                                                               producers and those in charge of inquiries understood
                                                                               it to mean 'dressed fallowing combined with green
                                                                               manuring'.
— order the Commission to pay all the costs .
                                                                               In view of this, the financial adjustment at issue is
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                            unlawful inasmuch as the technical term used in the
                                                                               abovementioned legislation is ambiguous .
— Irregularity of the procedure before the Court of First
     Instance as regards, in particular, the findings of fact.                 There is another aspect to be borne in mind : even if
                                                                               traditional fallowing had been intended, since it is
— Breach of Community law. In this respect the                                 practised in rotation it would have affected only part
     appellant maintains the arguments put forward at first                    of the area of farms and not necessarily that in
     instance (').                                                             respect of which the premium was granted.
(>) OJ C 275 , 1 . 10 . 1994, p . 32 .                                   ( C ) Reimbursement of sugar storage expenditure
                                                                               The adjustment concerned is in respect of the period
                                                                               between 15 October 1992 and 31 December 1992 .
                                                                               According to the Commission, the fact that there was
Action brought on 10 July 1997 by Italian Republic                             no monitoring presented a high risk for the EAGGF' s
      against Commission of the European Communities                           resources, which authorized an adjustment of 10% .
                           ( Case C-253 /97 )
                             ( 97/C 295/18 )                                   There was a system of administrative checks on
                                                                               specialized traders which was particularly close and
                                                                               efficient with regard to sugar stocks. That monitoring
An action against the Commission of the European                               system, backed up by heavy penalties in the event of
Communities was brought before the Court of Justice of                         breaches, is believed to be such as to guarantee the
the European Communities on 10 July 1997 by the Italian                        almost complete absence of irregularities. This is
Republic, represented by Professor Umberto Leanza,                             indirectly confirmed by checks put in place
acting as Agent, assisted by Gianni De Bellis, Avvocato                        subsequently by the AIMA, which found there to
dello Stato, with an address for service in Luxembourg at                      have been no infringements in the preceding period
the Italian Embassy, 5 Rue Marie Adelaide .                                    either.
The applicant claims that the Court should annul the                           Finally, the adjustment should be annulled or, in the
Commission's decision of 23 April 1997 C(97) 1180                              alternative, appropriately reduced .
final (') to the extent to which, in clearing the accounts
submitted by the Italian Republic for expenditure for
1993 , it declares the sum in issue in the present case is not           ( D ) Reimbursement of storage costs ( sugar)
chargeable to the EAGGF.
                                                                               The dispute is similar to the preceding one, but
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                            relating to the period between 1 January 1993 and
                                                                               30 June 1993 , for which a fixed-rate adjustment of
                                                                               2 % was determined .
( A ) Prepayment of refund for beef
                                                                         ( E ) Aid to consumption of olive oil
       The Italian Government requests an appropriate
       reduction of the fixed-rate adjustment, inasmuch as it
       is excessive with respect to the risk run by the                        The Commission unilaterally carried out two
       EAGGF and does not take account of the difficulties                     adjustments : one which was geometrically progressive