CELEX: C2001/331/45
Language: en
Date: 2001-11-24 00:00:00
Title: Case T-222/01: Action brought on 20 September 2001 by SINAGA, Sociedade de Indústrias Agrícolas Açoreanas, SA against Commission of the European Communities

24.11.2001             EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                      C 331/27
Action brought on 21 September 2001 by ReiseBank AG                     In August 2001 the applicant made an application to inspect
  against the Commission of the European Communities                    the defendant’s files containing information on the fees and
                                                                        conditions applicable in the national investigations that were
                                                                        abandoned. The defendant refused that application in the
                         (Case T-216/01)                                contested decision.
                         (2001/C 331/44)                                In support of its claim the applicant submits that the defend-
                                                                        ant’s decision caused material and irreversible damage to its
                                                                        rights of defence. If it were not granted permission to carry
                  (Language of the case: German)
                                                                        out a search, the defendant — as it said it intended to do —
                                                                        would adopt a decision to impose a fine closing the procedure,
                                                                        which would adversely affect the applicant. Furthermore the
                                                                        applicant has not made submissions on the unequal treatment
                                                                        it received in the context of the investigation and the decision
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-               terminating the investigation would be adopted without the
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the              advisory committee and the College of Commissioners being
European Communities on 21 September 2001 by ReiseBank                  able to take advice on that unequal treatment. Even if the
AG, Frankfurt am Main (Germany), represented by Rechtsan-               financial penalty were to be annulled in court proceedings
wälte M. Klusmann and F. Wiemer.                                        subsequently, the applicant would still suffer irreversible
                                                                        damage.
The applicant claims that the Court should:
                                                                        The applicant submits that the defendant is under a duty to
                                                                        disclose to the undertakings to which the procedure relates all
—     annul the defendant’s decision of 14 August 2001                  documents both favourable and adverse. On the basis that
      in Case COMP/E-1/37.919 — bank fees for currency                  there must be equality of arms, the defendant must on no
      exchange in the Euro zone: Germany (Deutsche Ver-                 account be able to keep to itself information that is significant
      kehrsbank v Reisebank);                                           to the defence of the applicant. The documents which the
                                                                        applicant has asked to see are very likely to show that the
                                                                        applicant was treated unequally in comparison with other
—     order the defendant to pay the costs.                             banks concerned by the procedure to which the procedure
                                                                        relates to its detriment. Finally, the request to see the docu-
                                                                        ments cannot under any circumstances be refused on the
                                                                        ground that they relate to commercial secrets or are internal.
Pleas in law and main arguments
The applicant buys from and sells to the public foreign
currencies, inter alia. At the beginning of 1999 the defendant
opened an investigation into approximately 150 banks in
various Member States on suspicion that the banks had, in               Action brought on 20 September 2001 by SINAGA,
anticipation of the introduction of the euro, agreed on the             Sociedade de Indústrias Agrı́colas Açoreanas, SA against
structure and level of exchange fees for euro currencies during                  Commission of the European Communities
the transitional period from 1 January 1999. That investigation
was later divided into individual procedures at national level.
                                                                                                (Case T-222/01)
In August 2000 the defendant sent the applicant its objections                                  (2001/C 331/45)
to which the applicant responded.
                                                                                         (Language of the case: Portuguese)
In April and May 2001 the defendant announced that it had
abandoned the investigation into the Dutch, Belgian and some
of the German banks and justified that step by stating that             An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
those banks had lowered their fees beforehand. In May 2001              ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
the applicant sent the defendant an offer to bring the                  European Communities on 20 September 2001 by SINAGA,
investigation to a close by amicable agreement, which was               Sociedade de Indústrias Agrı́colas Açoreanas, SA, whose
similar to a decrease in fees proposed by another bank. The             registered office is at Ponta Delgada, Açores, Rua de Lisboa,
defendant declined that offer and further attempts to bring the         n.o 75, represented by Dr. Mário Marques Mendes Prof.
investigation to a close by consent failed.                             Doutora Maria Luı́sa Duarte, lawyers.
 ---pagebreak--- C 331/28               EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                   24.11.2001
The applicant claims that the Court should:                              The applicant claims that the Court should:
—     declare the action to be admissible;
                                                                         —     annul the whole of the Commission’s decision of 11 July
—     annul the annex to Commission Regulation (EC)                            2001 relating to the system of State aid applied by Spain
      No 1281/2001 (1) in so far as it fixes the quantities                    to certain newly-created undertakings in Navarra (Spain),
      of sugar considered necessary to supply the Azores,
      maintaining in force the preceding situation;
                                                                         —     in the alternative, annul Article 3 of the decision on the
—     order the Commission of the European Communities to                      ground that repayment of the aid is unjustified,
      pay all the costs.
                                                                         —     order the Commission to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
Infringement of Article 190 of the EC Treaty (now Article 253
EC): manifestly inadequate and inconsistent statement of
reasons,                                                                 Pleas in law and main arguments
Infringement of Articles 2, 3 and 8 of Council Regulation
(EEC) No 1600/92 of 15 June 1992: the forecast supply
balance, drawn up by the Commission, does not take account               The applicant is challenging Commission Decision
of traditional trade flows,                                              C(2001)1762 final of 11 July 2001 in so far as it characterises
                                                                         as State aid incompatible with the common market the tax
                                                                         reductions under Articles 52 to 56 of the Ley Foral (Regional
Infringement of Article 227 of the EC Treaty (now, after                 Law) 24/1996 del impuesto sobre sociedades (Regional Law
amendment, Article 299 EC): failure to take account of the               on corporation tax) of 30 December 1996 (Boletı́n Oficial de
said provision when interpreting and applying legislative                Navarra No 159 of 31 December 1996) which provide for a
provisions applicable to the outermost regions,                          reduction of 50 % on the aforementioned tax for undertakings
                                                                         which take up business in the Autonomous Community of
Infringement of Article 4(1) of the EC Treaty (now Article 7(1)          Navarra after the entry into force of that Law, provided they
EC): the Commission has exercised its executive powers in a              invest a minimum of ESP 100 million (EUR 601 012 ) and
manifestly abusive and unlawful manner,                                  create more than 10 new jobs.
Breach of the principle of proportionality: the effects of the
forecast made in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1281/2000                 According to the applicant, the contested decision wrongly
are unfair and unreasonable.                                             finds that the fiscal regime in question provides for aid within
                                                                         the meaning of Community law, given that they do not
(1) OJ L 176, 29.6.2001, p. 12.                                          comply with the requirements of Article 87 of the EC Treaty:
                                                                         (a)   State resources are not involved. A measure granting a
                                                                               fiscal reduction does not entail a reduction in State
                                                                               revenue, since that would imply that there is a homo-
                                                                               geneous tax debt for which all tax payers are liable.
Action brought on 24 September 2001 by Gobierno
Foral de Navarra against Commission of the European
                          Communities                                    (b) So far as concerns the charge that competition and trade
                                                                               are affected, there are a number of reasons for the view
                         (Case T-225/01)                                       that the Commission has not given an adequate reason
                                                                               for its finding:
                         (2001/C 331/46)
                                                                               —     The Commission has not given the reasons on which
                   (Language of the case: Spanish)
                                                                                     its decision is based. Despite having in the file full
                                                                                     details regarding the undertakings concerned, the
                                                                                     decision contains no analysis whatever either of the
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-                            competitive situation of the only two undertakings
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the                           to which the reduction has been applied and the
European Communities on 24 September 2001 by Gobierno                                extent to which they are involved in intra-Com-
Foral de Navarra (Navarra Regional Government), Navarra                              munity trade or even of the economic sectors in
(Spain), represented by Marcos Araujo Boyd, lawyer.                                  which they operate.