CELEX: C2000/102/54
Language: en
Date: 2000-04-08 00:00:00
Title: Order of the Court of First Instance of 16 December 1999 in Case T-153/99, Luciano Simonella v Commission of the European Communities (Officials — Non-promotion — Action for annulment and damages — Manifestly inadmissible)

8.4.2000              EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                    C 102/27
      ORDER OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE                              The applicants claim that the Court should:
                     of 16 December 1999
                                                                        — declare that the derogation provided for in Article 1(7) of
                                                                            Council Regulation No 1804/99 is severable in nature, and
in Case T-153/99, Luciano Simonella v Commission of the                     annul that derogation;
                  European Communities (1)
(Officials — Non-promotion — Action for annulment and                   — order the Council to pay all the costs.
            damages — Manifestly inadmissible)
                        (2000/C 102/54)
                                                                        Pleas in law and main arguments
                  (Language of the case: French)
                                                                        The applicants in the present case are professional bodies
In Case T-153/99, Luciano Simonella, official of the Com-               recognised by the French Ministry of Agriculture and compris-
mission of the European Communities, residing in Howald                 ing regional groups of organic farmers, with the object of
(Grand Duchy of Luxembourg), represented by Rosario Grasso,             defending and representing their interests and promoting
of the Luxembourg Bar, with an address for service in                   organic farming.
Luxembourg at his Chambers, 35 Rue Notre Dame, against
Commission of the European Communities (Agents: Christine
Berardis-Kayser and Alberto Dal Ferro) — application, first, for        The application is directed against Council Regulation (EC)
annulment of the decision implicitly rejecting the applicant’s          No 1804/1999 of 19 July 1999 supplementing Regulation
complaint lodged on 25 November 1998 and, second, for                   (EEC) No 2092/91 on organic production of agricultural
compensation for the material and non-material damage                   products and indications referring thereto on agricultural
suffered — the Court of First Instance (Second Chamber),                products and foodstuffs to include livestock production,
composed of J. Pirrung, President, and A. Potocki and                   inasmuch as it provides for the insertion in Article 5 of
A.W.H. Meij, Judges; H. Jung, Registrar, has made an order on           Regulation No 2092/91 of a derogation permitting the con-
16 December 1999, the operative part of which is as follows:            tinued use, until 1 July 2006, of trade marks referring to the
                                                                        organic production method in order to designate products
1. The action is dismissed as inadmissible.                             which are not produced by that method, provided that a clear
                                                                        indication is given of the fact that the products are not
2. The parties shall bear their own costs.
                                                                        produced according to the organic production method as
                                                                        prescribed by that regulation.
(1) OJ C 246 of 28.8.1999.
                                                                        In support of their claims, the applicants plead, first of all,
                                                                        infringement of the Community rules on competition, in that
                                                                        the derogation in issue will have the immediate effect of
                                                                        placing undertakings producing organic foodstuffs at a disad-
                                                                        vantage, by enabling undertakings which are not in any way
Action brought on 15 November 1999 by Fédération                        engaged in organic farming to use trade marks referring to the
Nationale d’Agriculture Biologique des Régions de France                organic production method.
(FNAB) and Others against the Council of the European
                               Union
                                                                        Moreover, the confusion created in the mind of the consumer
                        (Case T-268/99)                                 by the new Article 5 of Regulation No 2092/91 also violates
                                                                        the principle of consumer protection, as defined in Article
                        (2000/C 102/55)                                 3(t) of the Treaty. In the applicants’ view, a reasonably
                                                                        well-informed consumer is likely to treat products bearing an
                                                                        indication which refers to the organic production method as
                  (Language of the case: French)                        comparable to products which have in fact been produced by
                                                                        that method. Consequently, such trade marks, when applied
An action against the Council of the European Union was                 to products which have not in any way been produced by
brought before the Court of First Instance of the European              organic methods, will inevitably give rise to confusion in the
Communities on 15 November 1999 by the Fédération                       minds of consumers.
Nationale d’Agriculture Biologique des Régions de France
(FNAB) and the Syndicat Européen des Transformateurs et
Distributeurs de Produits de l’Agriculture Biologique (SETRAB),         The applicants further plead:
both established in Paris, and by SARL Est Distribution
Biogram, established at Château-Salins (France), represented
by Catriona Hatton and Dirk Leermakers, of the Brussels Bar,            — breach of an essential procedural requirement, in that the
with an address for service in Luxembourg at the latter’s                   Council failed to consult the Parliament with regard to the
Chambers, 5 Place du Théâtre.                                               derogation at issue in the present proceedings;