CELEX: C1995/208/71
Language: en
Date: 1995-08-12 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 5 June 1995 by Dumez SA against the Commission of the European Communities (Case T-126/95)

No C 208/34            EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                       12 . 8 . 95
The applicant claims that the Court should :                          — order the Commission to pay the costs.
— annul the decision by which the selection board in open
    competition COM/B/765 awarded the applicant marks                 Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
    falling short of the prescribed minimum and refused to
    enter him on the list of successful candidates,                   The applicant explains that, for nearly 15 years, the Greek
                                                                      Government has been considering the construction of a new
— order the defendant to pay the costs .                              international airport to serve Athens and replace the existing
                                                                      airport at Hellenikon. In view of the importance of that
                                                                      project for its economy, Greece expects to receive
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
                                                                      considerable financial aid from the Community, in the form
                                                                      of credit from the structural funds and loans from the
The applicant, a former member of the temporary staff of              European Investment Bank ( EIB ). After much political
the Commission, contests the decision of the selection board          debate, it was decided to locate the airport in the Spata area
in competition COM/B/765 to award him for the oral test               and to put out a restricted international invitation to
marks falling short of the prescribed minimum, resulting in           tender .
his not being included on the list of successful candidates for
that competition .
                                                                      From the nine consortia which took part in the invitation to
He alleges breach of the obligation to state reasons . The            tender, the Greek authorities selected two finalists : the first,
applicant specifically asked the selection board to inform            Athens Airport Associates ( AAA), led by Societe Auxiliaire
him of the reasons for its decision and of the criteria adopted       d'Entreprises ( SAE), comprised Aeroports de Paris, Siemens,
for evaluation of the oral test but there was no response to          the applicant company and four Greek partners ; the second,
his request.                                                          led by Hochtief, consisted exclusively of German
                                                                      untertakings .
The applicant was particularly entitled to seek an
explanation since the marks awarded in the oral test were             From then on, according to the applicant, the procedure —
astonishing having regard to the marks obtained in the                at the end of which the Greek authorities announced that the
written tests , which concerned the same subjects, and to the         Hochtief consortium had been selected — was vitiated in
applicant's experience . Such a discrepancy can be attributed         several respects . That led AAA to lodge a complaint on
only to a manifest error of assessment.                               26 August 1994 with the Commission, which was
                                                                      investigated by the relevant departments . On completion of
                                                                      that procedure , the Commissioner responsible for public
                                                                      contracts submitted a proposal to the other Commissioners
                                                                      collectively that the infringement procedure be initiated
                                                                      against the Hellenic Republic . However, at its meeting on
                                                                      29 March 1995 , the Commission as a body decided to reject
Action brought on 5 June 1995 by Dumez SA against the                 the complaint submitted by AAA. That decision is the
         Commission of the European Communities                       subject of the present action for annulment or, in the
                                                                      alternative, for failure to act.
                         ( Case T-126/95 )
                           ( 95/C 208/71 )
                                                                      First of all, the applicant submits that the Court's case-law,
                                                                      which disallows altogether actions by individuals against a
                 (Language of the case: French)                       refusal by the Commission to act on their complaints,
                                                                      cannot be applied in the present case , in so far as the purpose
An action against the Commission of the European                      of the infringement procedure, which the Commission had
Communities was brought before the Court of First                     been requested to set in motion, was to compel Greece to
Instance of the European Communities on 5 June 1995 by                adopt, not an act of general application, but an individual
                                                                      decision of direct concern to the two finalists in the
Dumez SA, whose registered office is at Nanterre ( France ),
represented by Alexandre Carnelutti and Jean-Pierre                   tendering procedure . Secondly, the case-law in question no
Spitzer, of the Paris Bar.                                            longer seems applicable in view of the following
                                                                      considerations :
The applicant claims that the Court should :                          ( a ) the national measure concerned is of a purely individual
                                                                            character;
— annul the Commission's decision of 29 March 1995 ,
— in the alternative, declare that the Commission                     ( b ) the EC provisions which have been infringed by a
    unlawfully omitted to initiate the procedure for failure                Member State belong to the category of fundamental
    to fulfil its obligations against the Hellenic Republic, on             principles of Community law;
    account of the serious and repeated infringements of
    Community law committed by the Greek Government in                 (c ) the infringements have occurred in procedures for the
    connection with the procedure for awarding the                          award of public contracts which are scheduled to
    contract for the new Athens airport,                                    receive    considerable    financial    aid     from       the
 ---pagebreak--- 12 . 8 . 95              EN                 Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 208 /35
       Communities, such aid being, moreover, a prerequisite           — order the Commission to pay the costs .
       for their performance .
                                                                       Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
As regards the substance, the applicant puts forward the
following pleas in law :                                               The pleas in law and arguments are identical to those in Case
                                                                       T-126/95 .
( a ) Failure to state reasons : the contested decision does not
       state the reasons on which it is based, as required by
       Article 190 of the EC Treaty.
( b) Infringement of Article 155 of the EC Treaty: by failing
       to act in the present case , the Commission did not             Action brought on 3 June 1995 by Aeroports de Paris (ADP)
       discharge its duty under Article 155 of the Treaty to             against the Commission of the European Communities
       ensure that Greece applied Community law.
                                                                                             ( Case T-l 28/95 )
(c ) Error in law or manifest error of assessment: the                                          ( 95/C 208/73 )
       Commission has committed either an error in law, if it
       considered that there was no reason to take further                            (Language of the case: French)
       steps against Greece on the ground that Community
       law had not been infringed, or a manifest error of
                                                                       An action against the Commission of the European
       assessment, if it considered that the infringements in          Communities was brought before the Court of First
       question were not sufficient to justify the initiation of       Instance of the European Communities on 3 June 1995 by
       the infringement procedure against the Hellenic                 Aeroports de Paris (ADP ), whose registered office is in Paris,
       Republic . It can scarcely be disputed , in the applicant's
                                                                       represented by Hugues Calvet of the Paris Bar, with an
       view, that the principle of equal treatment of tenderers        address for service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of
       has been infringed in several respects and that the Greek       Aloyse May, 31 Grand-Rue.
       authorities have manifestly disregarded Articles 30 and
       59 of the EC Treaty and the Council directives on the
       award of public contracts.                                      The applicant claims that the Court should :
                                                                       — annul the Commission 's decision of 29 March 1995
                                                                           refusing to take further steps against the Hellenic
                                                                           Republic for failure to fulfil its obligations under
                                                                           Community law with respect to the award of the public
                                                                           contract for Athens airport,
Action brought on 5 June 1995 by Societe Auxiliaire
                                                                       — in the alternative, declare that the Commission failed to
d'Entreprises ( SAE ) against the Commission of the
                                                                           act,
                       European Communities
                          ( Case T-127/95 )                            — order the Commission to pay the whole of the costs
                            ( 95/C 208/72 )                                incurred by ADP in connection with the present
                                                                           application for annulment.
                   (Language of the case: French)
                                                                       Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
An action against the Commission of the European                       The pleas in law and arguments are similar to those in Case
 Communities was brought before the Court of First                     T-126/95 .
 Instance of the European Communities on 5 June 1995 by
 Societe Auxiliaire d'Entreprises ( SAE ), whose registered
 office is at Issy-les-Moulineaux ( France ), represented by
 Alexandre Carnelutti, of the Paris Bar .
The applicant claims that the Court should :                           Action brought on 9 June 1995 by Lars Bo Rasmussen
                                                                         against the Commission of the European Communities
— annul the Commission's decision of 29 March 1995 ,                                          ( Case T-130/95 )
                                                                                                 ( 95/C 208/74 )
 — in the alternative, declare that the Commission
      unlawfully omitted to initiate the procedure for failure
      to fulfil its obligations against the Hellenic Republic, on                     (Language of the case: French)
      account of the serious and repeated infringements of
      Community law committed by the Greek Government in               An action against the Commission of the European
      connection with the procedure for awarding the                   Communities was brought before the Court of First
      contract for the new Athens airport,                             Instance of the European Communities on 9 June 1995 by