CELEX: C2000/006/19
Language: en
Date: 2000-01-08 00:00:00
Title: Case C-373/99: Action brought on 7 October 1999 by the Hellenic Republic against the Commission of the European Communities

C 6/10                 EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                       8.1.2000
     of the Directive, even adopting draft directives in that field    — infringement of Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No
     which it communicated to the Member States. The sudden                 729/70 (2), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1287/95 (3);
     change of mind by the Commission, now considering that
     compensation schemes for non-commercial prices and the            — overstepping by the Commission of the limits of its
     ‘sistemas insulares y extrapeninsulares’ in the electricity            discretion;
     sector cannot fall within the scope of Article 24 because
     they do not involve formal derogations from the obli-             — defective or no statement of grounds;
     gations imposed by the Directive, damages the expectations
     of both Spain and the economic operators which the
                                                                       — infringement of an essential procedural requirement for
     Commission itself had raised.
                                                                            imposing the corrections;
— Breach of the duty to provide a statement of reasons.                — infringement/misinterpretation of Article 12(6) of Regu-
                                                                            lation (EEC) No 2677/85; (4)
                                                                       — lack of competence ratione temporis for the Commission
(1) OJ No L 27, p. 20 of 30.1.1997.
                                                                            to impose penalties.
                                                                       ( 1) Decision 99/596/EC, OJ No L 226, 27.8.1999, p. 26.
                                                                       ( 2) OJ, English Special Edition 1970 (I), p. 218.
                                                                       ( 3) OJ No L 125, 8.6.1995, p. 1.
                                                                       ( 4) OJ No L 254, 25.9.1985, p. 5.
Action brought on 7 October 1999 by the Hellenic
Republic against the Commission of the European Com-
                             munities
                         (Case C-373/99)                               Action brought on 7 October 1999 by the Federal
                                                                       Republic of Germany against the Commission of the
                          (2000/C 6/19)                                                      European Communities
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-                                         (Case C-376/99)
ties was brought before the Court of Justice of the European
Communities on 7 October 1999 by the Hellenic Republic,                                             (2000/C 6/20)
represented by Vasilios Kontolaimos, Legal Adviser in the State
Legal Service, and Ioannis-Konstantinos Khalkias, Member of
that Service, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the         An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
Greek Embassy, 117 Val Sainte-Croix.                                   ties was brought before the Court of Justice of the European
                                                                       Communities on 7 October 1999 by the Federal Republic of
                                                                       Germany, represented by Wolf-Dieter Plessing, Ministerialrat in
The applicant claims that the Court should: annul or, in the           the Federal Ministry of Financial Affairs, 108 Graurheindorfer
alternative, amend Commission Decision C (1999) 2476 of                Straße, D-53117 Bonn, and Holger-Friedrich Wissel, Rechtsan-
28 July 1999 amending Decision 99/187/EC on the clearance              walt, c/o Pünder, Volhard, Weber & Axster, 6 Cecilienallee,
of the accounts presented by the Member States in respect of           D-40474 Düsseldorf.
the expenditure for 1995 of the Guarantee Section of the
European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund                      The applicant claims that the Court should:
(EAGGF) (1), as regards the chapters thereof specifically contest-
ed, which concern the financial corrections to fruit and
                                                                       1. Annul the Commission decision of 8 July 1999 concerning
vegetables, to arable crops, to the 2 % deduction for adminis-
                                                                            a measure taken by the Federal Republic of Germany in
trative expenditure, to cotton and to olive oil.
                                                                            favour of Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale, refer-
                                                                            ence COM (1999) 2265 fin., notified on 4 August 1999;
Grounds for annulment and main arguments                               2. Order the defendant to pay the costs.
The main grounds for annulment advanced by the Hellenic                Pleas in law and main arguments
Republic are as follows:
                                                                       — Irregular composition of the Commission [see Case
— incorrect assessment by the Commission of the facts;                      C-334/99 (1)].