CELEX: C2004/251/39
Language: en
Date: 2004-10-09 00:00:00
Title: Case T-258/04: Action brought on 28 June 2004 by the Republic of Poland against the Commission of the European Communities

9.10.2004   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 251/21
            
         Action brought on 28 June 2004 by the Republic of Poland against the Commission of the European Communities
   (Case T-258/04)
   (2004/C 251/39)
   Language of the case: Polish
   An action against the Commission of the European Communities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 28 June 2004 by the Republic of Poland, represented by Jarosław Pietras, acting as Agent.
   The applicant claims that the Court should:
   
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               declare invalid Articles 5, 6(1), (2) and (3), 7(1) and 8(2)(a) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 60/2004 of 14 January 2004 laying down transitional measures in the sugar sector by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia (OJ 2004 L 9, p. 8);
            
         
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               order the Commission of the European Communities to pay the costs of the proceedings.
            
         Pleas in law and main arguments
   With regard to Article 5 of Regulation No 60/2004 the applicant raises the following heads of complaint:
   
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               infringement of the principle of the free movement of goods through the introduction of customs duties in the amount of a customs rate applicable erga omnes and exceeding the level of customs rates in force during the period prior to Poland's accession to the European Union;
            
         
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               lack of competence on the Commission's part and breach of Articles 22 and 41, first paragraph, and Part 5 of Annex IV to the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded (1) through the adoption of measures altering the conditions defined in that Act for the adoption by the Republic of Poland of the rules governing the customs union and through the inclusion by the contested provision of products that are not covered by the Common Agricultural Policy;
            
         
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               infringement of the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of nationality by reason of the adoption of measures providing for treatment of persons from Poland that differs from that of persons from the Community of 15 States who are in a comparable position;
            
         
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               breach of a fundamental procedural requirement by virtue of the inadequate reasoning of the measures adopted;
            
         
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               infringement of the principle of the protection of legitimate expectations by reason of the introduction of a method, at variance with the conditions laid down in the abovementioned Act of Accession, of dealing with products which were in temporary storage on 1 May 2004, were covered by customs procedures or were in transit within the enlarged Community, and in particular by reason of the introduction of customs duties exceeding the level of customs rates in force during the period prior to Poland's accession to the European Union.
            
         With regard to Article 6(1) and (2) of Regulation No 60/2004, the applicant argues that the Commission lacked competence and that there has been a breach of Article 22, the first paragraph of Article 41 and Part 4 of Annex IV to the abovementioned Act of Accession, in conjunction with Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001 of 19 June 2001 on the common organisation of the markets in the sugar sector (2) — to the extent to which the contested provisions provide for account to be taken by the Commission of processed products containing sugar (sugar equivalent) when determining the existence of surplus quantities of sugar and isoglucose and impose a prohibition on the elimination of surplus quantities of sugar and isoglucose by way of exportation of processed products containing sugar (sugar equivalent).
   With regard to Articles 6(3), 7(1) and 8(2)(a) of Regulation No 60/2004, the applicant alleges infringement of the principles of solidarity and good faith in relations between the Member States and the Community institutions (Article 10 EC) by reason of the imposition on Poland, through the contested measures, of obligations with which it is in practice not possible to comply, and by reason of the refusal to cooperate with a view to overcoming difficulties which have arisen.
   With regard to all of the contested provisions of Regulation No 60/2004, the applicant argues that the Commission abused its powers by adopting measures the real objective of which is not to facilitate Poland in adopting the rules of the Common Agricultural Policy but rather to protect the market of the Community of 15 States against competition from Polish agricultural producers.
   
      (1)  OJ 2003 L 236, p. 33.
   
      (2)  OJ 2001 L 178, p. 1, as subsequently amended.