CELEX: C2000/355/82
Language: en
Date: 2000-12-09 00:00:00
Title: Case T-324/00: Action brought on 16 October 2000 by CDA Datenträger Albrechts GmbH against the Commission of the European Communities

9.12.2000             EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                      C 355/39
—     Errors in the assessment of the legal consequences to be          The present action is for compensation for the damage which
      derived from the wrongful use of the aid granted                  the applicant has suffered, or has yet to suffer in the future, as
                                                                        a result of those penal tariffs.
—     Infringement of Article 87(1) EC in conjunction with
      Article 88(2) EC                                                  In the applicant’s submission, by issuing Regulation (EC)
                                                                        No 1637/98 (1) and Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 (2) otherwise
                                                                        than in conformity with the WTO and by not adapting the
                                                                        Community organisation of the market in bananas, the
                                                                        defendants have infringed the law of the World Trade Organis-
                                                                        ation. Those infringements must be taken into account in
                                                                        Community law. That follows, first, from the fact that the
                                                                        reformed organisation of the market in bananas is intended to
                                                                        transpose WTO law, and, secondly, from the very nature of
Action brought on 12 October 2000 by CD Cartondruck                     WTO law and the compulsory disputes resolution mechanism
GmbH & Co. KG against the Council of the European                       itself. The applicant further maintains that the defendants’
Union and the Commission of the European Communities                    conduct infringes the principle of the protection of legitimate
                                                                        expectations, the right to engage freely in economic activity,
                                                                        the right to property and the prohibition of discrimination.
                        (Case T-320/00)                                 The applicant maintains that, in relation to all those infringe-
                                                                        ments, the Commission and the Council acted negligently.
                        (2000/C 355/81)                                 Finally, in the alternative, the applicant also makes a claim for
                                                                        compensation in respect of lawful Community conduct.
                  (Language of the case: German)                        (1) Council Regulation (EC) No 1637/98 of 20 July 1998 amending
                                                                            Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 on the common organisation of the
                                                                            market in bananas (OJ 1998 L 210, p. 28).
An action against the Council of the European Union and                 (2) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 of 28 October 1998
the Commission of the European Communities was brought                      laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council
before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities              Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 regarding imports of bananas into
on 12 October 2000 by CD Cartondruck GmbH & Co. KG,                         the Community (OJ 1998 L 293, p. 32).
Obersulm (Germany), represented by H.-J. Niemeyer and
W. Berg, Rechtsanwälte, Brussels.
The applicant claims that the Court should:
—     order the defendants jointly and severally to pay
      the applicant damages of DEM 1 693 727,75 (EUR
      865 989,22) plus 8 % interest from 13 July 2000;                  Action brought on 16 October 2000 by CDA Datenträger
                                                                        Albrechts GmbH against the Commission of the European
—     declare the defendants jointly and severally liable for the                                 Communities
      damage which the applicant will suffer subsequently to
      the bringing of its action by virtue of the fact that the                                  (Case T-324/00)
      competent authorities of the United States of America
      levy higher duties on the applicant’s products than those
      which they would have been entitled to levy if, through                                    (2000/C 355/82)
      the organisation of the market in bananas, the Council
      had not infringed the law of the World Trade Organis-
      ation;                                                                               (Language of the case: German)
—     order the defendants to pay the costs.                            An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
                                                                        ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
                                                                        European Communities on 16 October 2000 by CDA Daten-
Pleas in law and main arguments                                         träger Albrechts GmbH, of Albrechts, Germany, represented
                                                                        by Dr Thomas Schmidt-Kötters, Rechtsanwalt, of Hengeler
                                                                        Mueller Weitzel Wirtz, Düsseldorf, Germany.
The applicant manufactures printed and processed collapsible
cardboard cartons for proprietary products, largely intended
for the US market. As a result of the trade dispute between the         The applicant claims that the Court should:
European Community and the USA as to the compatibility of
the EC organisation of the market in bananas with the law of            —      annul Articles 1 and 2 of the Commission’s decision of
the World Trade Organisation, the USA imposed penal tariffs,                   21 June 2000 on aid by Germany to CDA Compact Disc
which also affect the products of the applicant.                               Albrechts GmbH, Thuringia;
 ---pagebreak--- C 355/40               EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                       9.12.2000
      in the alternative:                                                applicant was not granted aid, did not actually receive aid, and
                                                                         was not benefited in any other way. Moreover, the applicant
      annul Articles 1 and 2 of the Commission’s decision of             complains that the contested decision orders recovery also
      21 June 2000 on aid by Germany to CDA Compact Disc                 from all those undertakings to which assets or infrastructure
      Albrechts GmbH, Thuringia, in so far as it declares aid            are transferred from undertakings specified by name. Since the
      incompatible with the EC Treaty and orders the recovery            applicant has in the past acquired such assets from LCA
      of aid with respect also to CDA Datenträger Albrechts              Logistik Center Albrechts GmbH, the effect of that order is a
      GmbH and all other undertakings to which assets and/or             corresponding prohibition on sale affecting the applicant. This
      infrastructure are transferred from R.E. Pilz GmbH &               is unlawful because even the decision itself finds that the
      Co. Beteiligungs KG, Pilz & Robotron GmbH & Co.                    applicant acquired the assets on usual market terms.
      Beteiligungs KG or Pilz Albrechts GmbH;
                                                                         The applicant puts forward the following pleas in law in
—     order the Commission to pay the costs.                             particular:
                                                                         —     Breach of essential procedural requirements
Pleas in law and main arguments
                                                                         —     Errors in establishing the facts
The contested decision of the Commission concerns a number               —     Defective statement of reasons
of alleged cases of aid received by various undertakings in
connection with the establishment and operation of a CD                  —     Infringement of Article 87(1) EC in conjunction with
factory in Albrechts, Thuringia. In the decision the Com-                      Article 88(2) and of the first sentence of Article 14(1) of
mission finds that part of that aid was misused. It states that                the aid procedure regulation (1)
that wrong use constitutes an abuse of aid, which is therefore           —     Lack of competence of the Commission to order recovery
incompatible with the EC Treaty. In Article 2 of the contested                 of aid in this way
decision the Federal Republic of Germany is ordered to recover
the aid from more precisely specified recipients, including the          —     Breach of fundamental Community rights and other
applicant.                                                                     fundamental principles of Community law.
The applicant complains that the Commission wrongly ident-               (1) Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 of 22 March 1999 laying
ified the applicant as a recipient of aid in the operative part of           down detailed rules for the application of Article 93 of the EC
the decision. It appears even from the decision itself that the              Treaty (OJ No L 83 of 27.3.1999, p. 1).