CELEX: C2007/056/40
Language: en
Date: 2007-03-10 00:00:00
Title: Case C-13/07: Action brought on 18 January 2007 — Commission of the European Communities v Council of the European Union

10.3.2007   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 56/22
            
         Action brought on 18 January 2007 — Commission of the European Communities v Council of the European Union
   (Case C-13/07)
   (2007/C 56/40)
   Language of the case: English
   Parties
   
      Applicant: Commission of the European Communities (represented by: P.J. Kuijper and M. Huttunen, Agents)
   
      Defendant: Council of the European Union
   The applicant claims that the Court should:
   
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               annul the decision of the Council and the Member States establishing the Community's and the Member States' position within the General Council of the World Trade Organization on the accession of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to the World Trade Organization (COM/2005/0659 final-ACC 2006/0215);
            
         
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               declare that the effects of the annulled decision are definitive;
            
         
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               order Council of the European Union to pay the costs.
            
         Pleas in law and main arguments
   The proposal submitted by the Commission was based on article 133, paragraphs 1 and 5 of the EC Treaty in conjunction with the second subparagraph of article 300(2) thereof. The Council added article 133(6) to the legal basis and consequently a formally separate decision of the Representatives of the Governments of Member States meeting within the Council was adopted. Thus, the Council and the Member States adopted ‘jointly’ the position of the Community and its Member States as foreseen by the last sentence of article 133(6), second subparagraph.
   The Commission's choice of the legal basis was decided according to the parameters established by the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, which are the aim and the content of the act. In particular, it was based on the appreciation that the content of the act falls within article 133(1) and (5), which establishes an exclusive competence, and that consequently recourse to article 133(6) was not necessary. The Commission believes that the decision should be annulled as far as this aspect of its legal basis is concerned.