Christoph Klein v European Commission.
Date: 2018-09-06
49


Pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 61 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, where a case is referred back to the General Court, that Court is to be bound by the decision of the Court of Justice on points of law.
60


According to the settled case-law of the Court of Justice, the European Union’s non-contractual liability under the second paragraph of Article 340 TFEU is subject to the satisfaction of a number of conditions, namely the unlawfulness of the conduct alleged against the EU institution, the establishment of actual damage and the existence of a causal link between the conduct of the institution and the damage complained of (judgment of 14 October 2014, Giordano v Commission, C‑611/12 P, EU:C:2014:2282, paragraph 35 and case-law cited).
61


As regards the first condition, the Court of Justice has already stated on many occasions that a sufficiently serious breach of a rule of law intended to confer rights on individuals must be established (see, to that effect, judgments of 4 July 2000, Bergaderm and Goupil v Commission, C‑352/98 P, EU:C:2000:361, paragraph 42, and of 10 July 2014, Nikolaou v Court of Auditors, C‑220/13 P, EU:C:2014:2057, paragraph 53).
124


It follows from the second subparagraph of Article 256(1) TFEU and the first paragraph of Article 58 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union that the General Court has exclusive jurisdiction, first, to find the facts, except where the substantive inaccuracy of its findings is apparent from the documents submitted to it, and, second, to assess those facts (judgments of 6 April 2006, General Motors v Commission, C‑551/03 P, EU:C:2006:229, paragraph 51, and of 8 March 2016, Greece v Commission, C‑431/14 P, EU:C:2016:145, paragraph 30).
125


Therefore, the appraisal of the facts by the General Court does not constitute, save where the clear sense of the evidence produced before it is distorted, a question of law which is subject, as such, to review by the Court of Justice (judgments of 18 May 2006, Archer Daniels Midland and Archer Daniels Midland Ingredients v Commission, C‑397/03 P, EU:C:2006:328, paragraph 85, and of 8 March 2016, Greece v Commission, C‑431/14 P, EU:C:2016:145, paragraph 31).
126


Where an appellant alleges distortion of the evidence by the General Court, he must, under Article 256 TFEU, the first paragraph of Article 58 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union and Article 168(1)(d) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice, indicate precisely the evidence alleged to have been distorted by the General Court and show the errors of appraisal which, in its view, led to such distortion. In addition, the Court of Justice has consistently held that that distortion must be obvious from the documents in the Court’s file, without there being any need to carry out a new assessment of the facts and the evidence (judgments of 17 June 2010, Lafarge v Commission, C‑413/08 P, EU:C:2010:346, paragraph 16, and of 8 March 2016, Greece v Commission, C‑431/14 P, EU:C:2016:145, paragraph 32).
147


As regards the damage alleged, it should be recalled that the damage for which compensation is sought in an action to establish non-contractual liability on the part of the European Union, under the second paragraph of Article 340 TFEU, must be actual and certain, which it is for the appellant to prove. It is for the latter to adduce conclusive proof as to both the existence and the extent of the damage he alleges (see, to that effect, judgment of 16 July 2009, SELEX Sistemi Integrati v Commission, C‑481/07 P, not published, EU:C:2009:461, paragraph 36 and the case-law cited).
152


Nevertheless, the appellant cannot be entirely excused from the obligation to adduce proof of the damage he claims to have suffered. It falls to him, in relation to that type of material damage, to adduce evidence both of the existence of the damage and of the data on which he has based his assessment of that damage, given that such an assessment may not be performed merely on an equitable basis (see, to that effect, judgment of 16 July 2009, SELEX Sistemi Integrati v Commission, C‑481/07 P, not published, EU:C:2009:461, paragraph 37).