Appeal — Actions for damages — Second paragraph of Article 340 TFEU — Excessive duration of the proceedings in two cases before the General Court of the European Union — Damage allegedly suffered by the applicants — Material damage — Bank guarantee charges — Causal link — Default interest — Non-material damage.
Date: 2018-12-13
24


In that regard, it must be observed that, in an action for damages brought against the Commission, for the purposes, in particular, of reimbursement of the guarantee charges incurred by the applicants in order to obtain the suspension of the decisions to recover the refunds at issue in the main proceedings, decisions which were subsequently withdrawn, the Court held that, when a decision requiring the payment of a fine is coupled with the option of lodging a security intended to ensure that payment along with interest on late payment, pending the outcome of an action brought against that decision, the loss consisting of the guarantee fees results, not from that decision, but from the interested party’s own choice to lodge a security rather than to fulfil its repayment obligation immediately. In those circumstances, the Court established that there is no direct causal link between the conduct complained of and the damage alleged (see, to that effect, judgment of 28 February 2013, Inalca and Cremonini v Commission, C‑460/09 P, EU:C:2013:111, paragraphs 118 and 120).
34


Although, in its judgments of 26 November 2013, Gascogne Sack Deutschland v Commission (C‑40/12 P, EU:C:2013:768, paragraph 102), and of 26 November 2013, Groupe Gascogne v Commission (C‑58/12 P, EU:C:2013:770, paragraph 96), the Court of Justice found that the General Court failed to have regard to the requirement that the case be dealt with within a reasonable time in Cases T‑72/06 and T‑79/06, the fact remains that, as the Advocate General observed in point 60 of his Opinion, and contrary to what the respondents contend, in those judgments, the Court of Justice did not however acknowledge the existence of any damage deriving from such a breach.
35


On the contrary, the Court of Justice held that a claim for compensation for the damage caused by the failure by the General Court to adjudicate within a reasonable time has to be brought before the General Court itself, and that it is for the General Court to assess both the actual existence of the harm alleged and the causal connection between that harm and the excessive length of the legal proceedings in dispute by examining the evidence submitted for that purpose (see, to that effect, judgments of 26 November 2013, Gascogne Sack Deutschland v Commission, C‑40/12 P, EU:C:2013:768, paragraphs 90 and 94, and of 26 November 2013, Groupe Gascogne v Commission, C‑58/12 P, EU:C:2013:770, paragraphs 84 and 88).
45


In that regard, it should be borne in mind that, according to settled case-law, arguments directed against grounds included in a decision of the General Court purely for the sake of completeness cannot lead to the decision being set aside and are therefore ineffective ab initio (judgment of 14 December 2016, SV Capital v ABE, C‑577/15 P, EU:C:2016:947, paragraph 65 and the case-law cited).
59


As regards, in the second place, the complaint intended to dispute paragraph 165 of the judgment under appeal, it should be borne in mind that, according to settled case-law, the statement of the reasons on which a judgment is based must clearly and unequivocally disclose the General Court’s reasoning, so that the persons concerned can ascertain the reasons for the decision taken and the Court of Justice can exercise its power of review (judgment of 2 April 2009, France Télécom v Commission, C‑202/07 P, EU:C:2009:214, paragraph 29 and the case-law cited).
60


Moreover, it should be recalled that, in the particular context of actions for damages, the Court has repeatedly held that, once the General Court has found the existence of damage, it alone has jurisdiction to assess, within the confines of the claim, the means and extent of compensation for the damage. However, in order for the Court of Justice to be able to review the judgments of the General Court, those judgments must be sufficiently reasoned and, as regards the assessment of the damage, indicate the criteria taken into account for the purposes of determining the amount decided upon (see judgment of 30 May 2017, Safa Nicu Sepahan v Council, C‑45/15 P, EU:C:2017:402, paragraphs 50 and 51 and the case-law cited).
67


In that regard, it should be recalled that, in accordance with settled case-law, the European Union may incur non-contractual liability under the second paragraph of Article 340 TFEU only if a number of conditions are fulfilled, namely the unlawfulness of the conduct alleged against the EU institution, the fact of damage and the existence of a causal link between the conduct of the institution and the damage complained of (judgment of 20 September 2016, Ledra Advertising and Others v Commission and ECB, C‑8/15 P to C‑10/15 P, EU:C:2016:701, paragraph 64 and the case-law cited).
68


As the General Court pointed out in paragraph 53 of the judgment under appeal, if any one of those conditions is not satisfied, the action must be dismissed in its entirety and it is unnecessary to consider the other conditions for non-contractual liability on the part of the European Union (judgment of 14 October 1999, Atlanta v European Community, C‑104/97 P, EU:C:1999:498, paragraph 65 and the case-law cited). Moreover, the EU judicature is not required to examine those conditions in any particular order (judgment of 18 March 2010, Trubowest Handel and Makarov v Council and Commission, C‑419/08 P, EU:C:2010:147, paragraph 42 and the case-law cited).