CELEX: C1998/327/52
Language: en
Date: 1998-10-24 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 3 August 1998 by ALCE s.r.l. against the Commission of the European Communities (Case T-120/98)

24.10.98              EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                  C 327/29
Ð order the Commission to pay the costs.                             The applicants further claim breach of the principle of
                                                                     non-discrimination, in that in the regulations adopted to
                                                                     combat the difficulties caused by tropical storms in the
                                                                     Caribbean the Commission stated that the purpose of
                                                                     increasing the tariff quota was not only to ensure an
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                  adequate supply for the Community market but also to
                                                                     compensate traders forming associations of or directly
                                                                     representing the producers of damaged bananas. Inasmuch
                                                                     as Somalian bananas have not been given similar
                                                                     consideration, it must be held that the applicants have
The applicants in these proceedings, two firms belonging             suffered blatant discrimination since as a result of
to the DE NADAI group and involved in importing                      comparable exceptional circumstances they have suffered
Somalian bananas, challenge the Commission's refusal to              the loss of a large proportion of the bananas needed for
adapt the tariff quota for the fourth quarter of 1997 and            their own normal imports which they cannot offset by
for each of the first two quarters of 1998, pursuant to              access to the dollar zone through the Commission's refusal
Article 16(3) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 (2),             to provide for an adequate increase to the tariff quota.
so as to take account of the fact that fewer Somalian
bananas were available as a result of the floods which at
that period affected the areas of Somalia where the
principal banana plantations are situated.                           Lastly, the applicants allege misuse of powers in that the
                                                                     Commission failed to consider the factual grounds.
                                                                     (1) OJ L 142, 12.6.1993, p. 6.
In the contested decision the defendant denies that                  (2) OJ L 47, 25.2.1993, p. 1.
Article 16(3) is applicable for two reasons. First, while
application of that article requires that there should be a
shortfall in supplies to the Community market, the
competent department of the Commission has not
established any reduction in banana imports. Second,
because of unstable conditions in the infrastructures
relating to the loading, transport and export of the
products, it is not possible to attribute with any certainty
the reduced availability of Somalian bananas to the floods.          Action brought on 3 August 1998 by ALCE s.r.l. against
                                                                            the Commission of the European Communities
                                                                                            (Case T-120/98)
In support of their claims, the applicants first of all allege                                (98/C 327/52)
infringement of Article 16(3) of Regulation (EEC) No 404/
93. They consider in this respect that the word import' in
this article is meant to refer to the effect of exceptional
circumstances on imports of traditional ACP bananas only                             (Language of the case: Italian)
and not on imports generally. In their view, by means of
the application of Article 16(3), the Commission can both
remedy the supply-side deficit which occurs whenever
Community or traditional ACP production is reduced
because of unforeseen events and also enable operators               An action against the Commission of the European
who habitually trade in the areas or countries affected by           Communities was brought before the Court of First
those events to have temporary access to dollar-zone                 Instance of the European Communities on 3 August 1998
bananas. In any event, even if the Commission intended to            by ALCE s.r.l., represented by Fabio De Ciuceis, of the
refer to Community or ACP bananas, it should be noted                Salerno Bar, with an address for service in Luxembourg at
that in accordance with Article 16(3) it is not necessary to         the Chambers of Franco Colussi, 36 Rue de Wiltz.
establish that imports have actually fallen but rather that
there are exceptional circumstances liable to affect
imports. So far as regards structural shortages of Somalian
exports, the applicants maintain that, contrary to the               The applicant claims that the Court should:
defendant's arguments, it is possible to distinguish how far
the floods were responsible for reducing possible exports
in comparison with the exports which might have been
achieved if those events had not occurred, by taking as a
basis exports from Somalia in 1996 before the floods took            Ð in the main, grant the application and consequently
place. Finally, they also allege infringement of Article 16(3)           declare the product called Lyostart' to be prepared
in that the procedure laid down in Article 27 was not used               culture media for developing micro-organisms' and
in this case.                                                            thus classify it under CN code 3821 00 00;
 ---pagebreak--- C 327/30              EN                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                   24.10.98
Ð in the alternative, accord the product favourable tariff          The applicant claims that the Court should:
    arrangements on the ground of its particular use;
                                                                    Ð annul the contested provisions and, primarily, the
                                                                        decision of 17 October 1997, whereby the
Ð order the Commission to pay the costs of these                        Commission transferred him of its own motion to
    proceedings.                                                        another division;
                                                                    Ð order the Commission to pay the applicant ECU
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                     10 000 by way of compensation for non-material
                                                                        damage;
The applicant is the importer of a product called                   Ð order the Commission to pay all expenses and costs
Lyostart', which is used exclusively as a culture medium               incurred in the proceedings.
and is thus classified under CN code 3821 00 00. In
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1160/98 of 2 June 1998
concerning the classification of certain goods in the               Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
Combined Nomenclature (1), the defendant classified
certain products, including the product in issue, under CN
code 0404 90 21, on the ground that they could not be               The applicant, who is an official on the scientific and
considered to be culture media for the development of               technical staff of the Joint Research Centre at Ispra
micro-organisms.                                                    contests a number of decisions by means of which he was
                                                                    transferred to another unit, removed from his duties as
                                                                    head of security for Buildings Nos 46, 46d and 32b and
                                                                    from the Centre's Committee for radioactive and fissile
The applicant submits that the contested decision was               material (hereinafter the Committee').
taken without its being heard and, moreover, without
seeking the opinion required by Article 190 of the EC
Treaty. Moreover, classification under CN code                      The applicant puts forward the following pleas in support
0404 90 21 expressly refers to agri-food products such as           of his claims:
milk and its by-products, while heading 3821 00 00 covers
prepared culture media in which micro-organisms required
for scientific purposes or in industry can find nourishment         Ð Failure to state adequate reasons for the contested
and multiply. On that point, it is important to stress that             measures. Despite the fact that the contested decisions
there is no alternative to the use of milk by-products for              had a considerable impact on the applicant's
the industrial development of lactic ferments.                          administrative situation, they consist only of an
                                                                        operative part, baldly stated. In particular, the reasons
                                                                        for removing the applicant from the Committee are
(1) OJ L 160, 4.6.1998, p. 20.
                                                                        obscure and incomprehensible.
                                                                    Ð Misuse of powers. The intention underlying the
                                                                        applicant's removal was to get rid of an official whose
                                                                        legitimate expectation Ð of being appointed head of
                                                                        the unit of which he had once been in charge Ð had
                                                                        been frustrated and who, through no fault of his own,
Action brought on 10 August 1998 by Enrico Sabbioni                     had become a source of embarrassment and a living
   against the Commission of the European Communities                   reproach.
                       (Case T-129/98)
                         (98/C 327/53)                              Ð Breach of the safety regulations. Closure of the
                                                                        laboratories in Buildings Nos 46, 46d and 32b and
                                                                        the applicant's removal from his duties as official
                                                                        responsible for security constitute a specific
                (Language of the case: Italian)                         infringement of the safety regulations governed by
                                                                        agreement and those in force at the Centre. Closure of
                                                                        those buildings took place without any advance
                                                                        notification and with absolutely no regard for the
An action against the Commission of the European                        research in progress; the standing closure systems were
Communities was brought before the Court of First                       replaced and it was thus impossible for security
Instance of the European Communities on 10 August                       officers to ensure that the operation was properly
1998 by Enrico Sabbioni, represented by Giuseppe                        monitored.
Marchesini, of the Vicenza Bar, with an address for service
in Luxembourg at the Chambers of Ernest Arendt, Rue
Mathias Hardt.