CELEX: C2002/044/47
Language: en
Date: 2002-02-16 00:00:00
Title: Case T-306/01: Action brought on 10 December 2001 by Abdirisak Aden and Others against the Council of the European Union and the Commission of the European Communities

16.2.2002                EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                       C 44/27
On 1 December 1999, the applicant informed the Commission                  The applicant claims that the Court of First Instance should:
of those facts, requesting it to order the Spanish Government
not to implement the decision relating to the Solución Sur
Alternativa B (Southern Solution, Option B) route and to opt               —     annul Commission Regulation (EC) No 2199/2001 of
for the ‘Northern Alternative’, and to warn it that, if it failed to             12 November 2001 (1);
comply, the Community assistance received was to be returned
(Complaint No 1999/5330). As a result of that complaint, the
Commission invited the Spanish Government to make its                      —     annul Council Regulation (EC) No 467/2001 of 6 March
views known and, after examining the reply — to which the                        2001 (2), or in the alternative declare that Council Regu-
applicant has not had access, despite repeatedly requesting it                   lation (EC) No 467/2001 of 6 March 2001 is not
— the Commission decided to take no action on the case.                          applicable;
The applicant claims that, contrary to the view taken by the
Commission, the Spanish Government’s measures amount to                    —     order the defendant to pay the costs of the proceedings
an infringement of Community law, namely of:                                     in an amount to be specified later.
—      Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the
       conservation of wild birds (2);
—      Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the
       conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and
                                                                           Pleas in law and main arguments
       flora (3); and
—      legislation on the use of Community funding, in particular
       Council Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 of 16 May 1994
       establishing a Cohesion Fund (4).                                   Three of the applicants are Swedish citizens of Somali origin
                                                                           and the fourth is a non-profitmaking association registered
                                                                           under Swedish law, which inter alia provides support for
The applicant is of the view that, in the face of such flagrant            refugees and has assisted with financial transactions between
infringement of Community law by the Spanish authorities as                residents of Sweden and residents of Somalia.
pointed out in its complaint, the Commission should have
taken steps to defend Community law and that its decision not
to take action must accordingly be annulled.
                                                                           On 15 October 1999 the United Nations Security Council
( 1) OJ 1998 C 153, p. 172.                                                adopted UNSCR Resolution 1267 (1999), calling for inter alia
( 2) OJ 1979 L 103, p. 1.                                                  sanctions against the Taliban, which were extended by UNSCR
( 3) OJ 1992 L 206, p. 7.                                                  Resolution 1333 (2000) to cover Osama Bin Laden and
( 4) OJ 1994 L 130, p. 1.                                                  persons and bodies associated with him. On 6 March 2001
                                                                           the Council adopted Regulation (EC) No 467/2001. Under
                                                                           Article 2 of that regulation all funds and other financial
                                                                           resources belonging to any natural or legal person, entity or
                                                                           body listed in Annex I are to be frozen. On the basis of
                                                                           Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 467/2001 the Commission
                                                                           adopted Regulation (EC) No 2199/2001. As a result of the
Action brought on 10 December 2001 by Abdirisak Aden                       amendment of its list by the Taliban Sanctions Committee of
and Others against the Council of the European Union                       the Security Council, the Commission decided to add a number
     and the Commission of the European Communities                        of other persons and bodies to Annex I to Regulation (EC)
                                                                           No 467/2001, including the applicants.
                          (Case T-306/01)
                           (2002/C 44/47)                                  The applicants submit that Council Regulation (EC)
                                                                           No 467/2001 — which provides that the applicants’ funds are
                     (Language of the case: Swedish)                       to be frozen and that resources are not to be made available to
                                                                           them — exceeds the powers which the Council has under
                                                                           Article 60 and 301 EC and is in breach of Article 249 EC. The
                                                                           Council does not have the power to adopt sanctions against
An action against the Council of the European Union and the                individuals and organisations and has misused its powers.
Commission of the European Communities was brought                         Moreover, in practice, the Council and Commission have
before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on                 delegated decisions as to which persons or organisations
10 December 2001 by Abdirisak Aden and Others represented                  should be included in Annex I to the Taliban Sanctions
by Leif Silbersky and Thomas Olsson.                                       Committee.
 ---pagebreak--- C 44/28                 EN                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                       16.2.2002
The applicants submit further that the Council and Com-                     —     annul the measure of 22 May 2001 adversely affecting the
mission have not examined the reasons why the Taliban                             applicant and the implied rejection of her administrative
Sanctions Committee included the applicants in its list. Nor                      complaint;
were the applicants given any opportunity to apprise them-
selves of and refute the allegations on which the decision to               —     require the defendant to pay to the applicant 85 % of the
include them in Annex I was based. The applicants have                            cost of surgery on her of BEF 200 234;
thus had onerous sanctions imposed on them without any
opportunity to defend themselves. The fundamental legal                     —     order the defendant to pay the costs.
principle of the right to a fair and equitable hearing has thus
been disregarded.
                                                                            Pleas in law and main arguments
Moreover, Regulation (EC) No 2199/2001 is marred by
significant flaws, which points clearly to the need to consider
each individual case separately. At the same time, there are                1.    The applicant challenges the adverse decision of the
good reasons to doubt whether it is appropriate to impose                         Claims Office of the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme of
sanctions on the applicants.                                                      22 May 2001 relating to meeting the costs of operating
                                                                                  on the applicant.
(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2199/2001 of 12 November
    2001 amending, for the fourth time, Council Regulation (EC)             2.    (a)   Infringement of Articles 24 and 72 of the Staff
    No 467/2001 prohibiting the export of certain goods and services                    Regulations, and of the Rules on sickness insurance
    to Afghanistan, strengthening the flight ban and extending the                      for officials of the European Communities (in par-
    freeze of funds and other financial resources in respect of the                     ticular of Article 1 and Annexes I and II).
    Taliban of Afghanistan and repealing Regulation (EC)
    No 337/2000 (OJ 2001 L 295, p. 16).                                           (b) Infringment of the principles of good adminstration
(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 467/2001 of 6 March 2001 pro-                            and of transparency.
    hibiting the export of certain goods and services to Afghanistan,
    strengthening the flight ban and extending the freeze of funds and
    other financial resources in respect of the Taliban of Afghanistan,           (c)   Manifest error as to the facts and clear error of
    and repealing Regulation (EC) No 337/2000 (OJ 2001 L 67, p. 1).                     assessment.
                                                                                  (d) Inadequate statement of grounds.
Action brought on 17 December 2001 by R against the
         Commission of the European Communities                             Action brought on 27 December 2001 by José Marı́a Pujals
                                                                            Gomis against Commission of the European Communities
                          (Case T-313/01)
                                                                                                      (Case T-332/01)
                           (2002/C 44/48)
                                                                                                       (2002/C 44/49)
                     (Language of the case: Greek)
                                                                                               (Language of the case: Spanish)
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the                  An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
European Communities on 17 December 2001 by R, a                            ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
Commission official, represented by K. Tagaras, Lawyer, with                European Communities on 27 December 2001 by José
an address for service in Athens.                                           Marı́a Pujals Gomis, residing in Cerdanyola del Vallés (Spain),
                                                                            represented by Javier Pujals Gomis, lawyer.
The applicant claims that the Court should:                                 The applicant claims that the Court should:
—     grant the application in its entirety and in respect of all           —     Annul the decision of the selection board for Competition
      its claims;                                                                 COM/B/1/0 of 28 September 2001;