Action brought on 18 June 2009 - Fedecom v Commission

(Case T-243/09)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: Fédération de l'Organisation Économique Fruits et Légumes (Fedecom) (Paris, France) (represented by: C. Galvez, lawyer)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

Form of order sought

Annul the contested decision on the basis of the fourth paragraph of Article 230 EC;

Order the Commission to pay all the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant seeks the annulment of Commission Decision C(2009) 203 final of 28 January 2009, ¹ by which the Commission had declared incompatible with the common market the State aid granted by the French Republic to fruit and vegetable producers in the context of 'contingency plans' aimed at facilitating the marketing of agricultural products harvested in France and had instructed the French Republic to recover the aid in question.

In support of its claim, the applicant raises three pleas in law alleging:

disregard of the concept of State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) EC, since the Commission took the view that the voluntary contributions paid by the producers in the context of contingency plans (sectoral contributions) constitute State aid;

disregard of the provisions of Article 87(3) EC, since, without carrying out an in-depth analysis of each contingency plan, the Commission took the view that the measures implemented as part of the contingency plans were not compatible with the common market;

breach of the principle of legitimate expectations, since the Commission's lack of action for a period of 10 years, when it must of necessity have been aware of the existence of the contingency plans, gave rise to expectations on the part of the producers as to the regularity of the contingency plans.

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¹ - OJ L 127, p. 11.