CELEX: C1998/094/78
Language: en
Date: 1998-03-28 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 9 January 1998 by Carlo Chiappe and Others against the Council of the European Union and the Commission of the European Communities (Case T-13/98)

C 94/32                EN                Official Journal of the European Communities                                   28.3.98
Ð order, further, the defendants jointly to pay the costs.          Luigi Pecetti, Nicola Maria Spadaccino, Giovanni Tria,
                                                                    Vito Stefano Tria and Nicola Utzeri, represented by
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                 Gregorio Leone, of the Milan Bar, and Mark Clough, of
                                                                    the Bar of England and Wales, with an address for service
                                                                    in Luxembourg at the Chambers of Aloyse May, 31
The applicants, all of which are companies whose                    Grand-Rue.
principal business is that of customs forwarding services,
carried on either by the partners of the company or by
customs agents employed by them, seek compensation for              The applicants claim that the Court should:
what they claim to be the abrupt removal, with effect
from January 1993, of customs formalities for intra-                Ð declare the defendants liable, within the meaning of
Community trade, and from 1 January 1995 in respect of                  the second paragraph of Article 215 of the Treaty, for
the EFTA countries, the result of which was essentially the             the damage caused to the applicant companies by the
closure of customs posts and the dismissal of customs                   repercussions on their activities as authorised customs
officials.                                                              agent as a result of the provisions adopted by the
                                                                        Council when organising the free movement of goods
                                                                        within the single market from 1 January 1993 without
The applicants observe that Article 8 a of the Treaty of
                                                                        taking the measures necessary to protect the interests
Rome, introduced by the Single European Act, introduced
                                                                        of the applicants, as well as for the fact that the
the concept of the internal market into Community law
                                                                        Commission has not proposed, nor has the Council
and that as a result of the secondary legislation adopted in
                                                                        adopted, the measures necessary for the legitimate
order to organise the free movement of goods according to
                                                                        protection of the rights of the applicants,
the new guidelines, the intra-Community customs activity
was removed.
                                                                    Ð order, moreover, the defendants jointly to pay the
                                                                        costs.
The applicants point out, first, that the Commission failed
to propose, and the Council failed to adopt, transitional
measures which would have enabled those affected to                 Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
adapt gradually to the new situation and, secondly, that
the measures adopted by the Community bodies to                     The pleas-in-law and main arguments are identical with
overcome those difficulties were in no way compensatory             those relied on in Case T-12/98 Argon srl and Others v.
in nature.                                                          Council and Commission.
The applicants further state that, in the context of the
Community legislative action which caused the damage,
the Community authorities disregarded the acquired rights
of the customs and forwarding agents as well as the
principles of the protection of legitimate expectations and         Action brought on 14 January 1998 by Centre d'Action
non-discrimination.                                                 Culturelle du Sart-Tilman asbl against the Commission of
                                                                                    the European Communities
In the alternative, the applicants, in claiming no-fault                                   (Case T-15/98)
liability, also allege not only that the principle of equality                              (98/C 94/79)
in bearing public burdens has been breached but also that
the conduct of the Community bodies is tantamount to
                                                                                  (Language of the case: French)
depriving them of their acquired rights.
                                                                    An action against the Commission of the European
                                                                    Communities was brought before the Court of First
                                                                    Instance of the European Communities on 14 January
                                                                    1998 by Centre d'Action Culturelle du Sart-Tilman asbl,
                                                                    established in LieÁge (Belgium), represented by Bernadette
Action brought on 9 January 1998 by Carlo Chiappe and               Graulich, of the LieÁge Bar, with an address for service in
Others against the Council of the European Union and the            Luxembourg at the Chambers of Guy Arendt, 7 Val
          Commission of the European Communities                    Sainte-Croix.
                        (Case T-13/98)
                         (98/C 94/78)                               The applicant claims that the Court should:
                (Language of the case: Italian)                     Ð order the defendant to pay to the applicant BEF
                                                                        12 323 006,
An action against the Council of the European Union and
the Commission of the European Communities was                      Ð order the defendant to pay to the applicant interest at
brought before the Court of First Instance of the European              the rate of 8 % on that amount as from 18 October
Communities on 9 January 1998 by Carlo Chiappe, Giulio                  1990,
Comoglio, Sergio De Bona, Piero Luciano Galbiati,
Umberto Greco, Mario Malugani, Alessandro Michelucci,               Ð order the defendant to pay the costs.