CELEX: C2000/355/70
Language: en
Date: 2000-12-09 00:00:00
Title: Case T-301/00: Action brought on 20 September 2000 by Groupe Fremaux and Palais Royal Inc. against the Council of the European Union and the Commission of the European Communities

C 355/32               EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                    9.12.2000
D.      Infringement of Articles 4(1) and 6(1)                         Action brought on 20 September 2000 by Groupe Fre-
        of Regulation No 17, together with                             maux and Palais Royal Inc. against the Council of the
        Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty                                 European Union and the Commission of the European
                                                                                                 Communities
        According to Article 4(1) of Regulation No 17, the
        exemption decisions provided for in Article 6(1) of                                    (Case T-301/00)
        that regulation may only be adopted in respect of
        agreements which have been notified. However, accord-
        ing to the applicant, the contested decision made the                                  (2000/C 355/70)
        exemption retrospective to a time prior to the last
        amendments made to the notified agreements, contrary
        to Articles 4(1) and 6(1) of Regulation No 17, together                           (Language of the case: French)
        with Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty.
                                                                       An action against the Council of the European Union and the
        It adds that the exemption was granted for an excess-
                                                                       Commission of the European Communities was brought
        ively long period and is unreasonable.
                                                                       before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities
                                                                       on 20 September 2000 by Groupe Fremaux, established in
                                                                       Paris, and Palais Royal Inc., established in Charlottesville
E.      Infringement of Article 233 of the EC                          (United States of America), represented by Claude Lazarus and
        Treat: failure to comply with the judg-                        Florent Prunet, of the Paris Bar.
        ment of the Court of First Instance of
        11 July 1996
                                                                       The applicants claim that the Court should:
        The applicant claims that the essential purpose of the         —     order the Council of the European Union and the
        Commission, following the judgment of the Court of
                                                                             Commission of the European Communities to pay Grou-
        First Instance, was to avoid the legal consequences of               pe Fremaux the sum of EUR 241 705 in respect of losses
        that judgment.                                                       sustained, or to make good those losses, on the basis of
                                                                             Article 288 of the EC Treaty;
F.      Misuse of powers                                               —     order the Council of the European Union and the
                                                                             Commission of the European Communities to pay Palais
        Faced with the requirements of Article 233 of the                    Royal Inc. the sum of EUR 446 071 in respect of losses
        Treaty, so far as concerns compliance with the judg-                 sustained, or to make good those losses, on the basis of
        ment of the Court of First Instance of 11 July 1996, the             Article 288 of the EC Treaty, and
        Commission used its powers under Regulation No 17
        not in order to ensure compliance with the judgment            —     order the Council of the European Union and the
        with regard to the assessment as to whether the                      Commission of the European Communities to pay the
        restriction of competition inherent in the EBU member-               costs.
        ship rules was indispensable but rather to circumvent
        and avoid the consequences of the judgment, by
        adopting a new exemption decision in which the matter
                                                                       Pleas in law and main arguments
        which led to the annulment of Decision 93/403/EEC is
        put to one side and deliberately ignored.
                                                                       The applicant Groupe Fremaux specialises in producing cotton
                                                                       bedlinen of which a significant proportion is exported to the
G.      Breach of the principle of the separ-                          American market through the intermediary of its distribution
        ation of powers                                                subsidiary Palais Royal. In the context of the commercial
                                                                       dispute involving bananas between the European Union and
                                                                       the African, Caribbean and Pacific States on the one hand and
        The Commission’s conduct in the present case —                 the United States and other banana producers on the other,
        inasmuch as it took it upon itself, in the contested           the American authorities decided that, from 3 March 1999
        decision, to proceed to a review of the judgment of the        onwards, European undertakings exporting certain products
        Court of First Instance — constitutes a serious breach         to American territory, including those manufactured and
        of the principle of the separation of powers in relations      distributed by the applicants, would be required to raise a bank
        between the executive branch and the judicial branch           guarantee in the sum of 100 % of the value of the products
        of the Community.                                              exported.
(1) OJ 1994 L 179, p. 23.                                              The object of the present action is to obtain compensation for
                                                                       the losses which the applicants estimate that they have incurred
                                                                       as a result of the commercial sanctions imposed by the United
                                                                       States authorities.
 ---pagebreak--- 9.12.2000               EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                        C 355/33
The pleas in law and principal arguments are similar to those             The applicant puts forward three pleas in law in support of his
relied on in Case T-297/00 (1).                                           application:
                                                                          —     Infringement of Articles 81 and 82 EC;
(1) See p. 30 of this Official Journal.
                                                                          —     Infringement of Council Directive 93/16/EEC of 5 April
                                                                                1993 to facilitate the free movement of doctors and the
                                                                                mutual recognition of their diplomas, certificates and
                                                                                other evidence of formal qualifications (1);
                                                                          —     Breach of the rules of assessment of the Community
                                                                                interest.
                                                                          (1) OJ 1993 L 165, p. 1.
Action brought on 21 September 2000 by Anthony
Goldstein against the Commission of the European Com-
                                munities
                           (Case T-302/00)
                           (2000/C 355/71)
                                                                          Action brought on 22 September 2000 by Marı́a Jesús
                                                                          Sáez Acevedo against Commission of the European Com-
                    (Language of the case: English)                                                   munities
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-                                          (Case T-304/00)
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 21 September 2000 by Anthony
                                                                                                   (2000/C 355/72)
Goldstein, represented by Raymond St John Murphy, Solicitor,
of Merriman White, London.
                                                                                            (Language of the case: Spanish)
The applicant claims that the Court should:
                                                                          An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
—     annul the decision of the Commission of 7 July 2000                 ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
      rejecting the complaint made pursuant to Regulation                 European Communities on 22 September 2000 by Marı́a Jesús
      No 17 by the applicant concerning infringement of                   Sáez Acevedo, residing in Brussels represented by Juan Ramón
      Articles 81 and 82 EC by the General Medical Council;               Iturriagagoitia.
—     order the Commission to pay the costs.                              The applicant claims that the Court should:
                                                                          —     annul the decision adopted on 13 December 1999 by the
                                                                                Commission’s Pensions Unit, in accordance with the
Pleas in law and main arguments                                                 earlier requests of 23 August 1999, 22 September 1999
                                                                                and 3 December 1999;
In 1993 the applicant, a Community medical specialist in
                                                                          —     review of the applicant’s file, in view of the transfer of her
rheumatology, submitted to the Commission under Article
                                                                                pension rights, by the Transfer of Pension Rights Section
3 (2) of Council Regulation No 17 an application for a finding
                                                                                of the Commission Pensions Unit following receipt of
that the General Medical Council, a statutory body which
                                                                                the interest arising from enforcement of a judgment,
regulates the medical profession in the territory of the United
                                                                                transferred by the Spanish social security;
Kingdom, had infringed Articles 85 and 86 of the EC Treaty
(now Articles 81 and 82 EC). By letter of 7 July 2000 the
Commission informed the applicant that his complaint had                  —     order any calculation necessary in respect of the above-
been rejected (the contested decision).                                         mentioned transfer;