Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 16 April 2013 - Kingdom of Spain and Italian Republic v Council of the European Union
(Joined Cases C-274/11 and C 295/11)
(Unitary patent - Decision authorising enhanced cooperation under Article 329(1) TFEU - Actions for annulment on grounds of lack of competence, misuse of powers and infringement of the Treaties - Conditions laid down in Article 20 TEU and in Articles 326 TFEU and 327 TFEU - Non-exclusive competence - Decision adopted 'as a last resort' - Preserving the interests of the Union)
Languages of the case: Spanish and Italian
Parties
Applicants: Kingdom of Spain (represented by: N. Díaz Abad, Agent), Italian Republic (represented by: G. Palmieri, Agent, assisted by S. Fiorentino, avvocato dello Stato)
Intervener in support of Kingdom of Spain: Italian Republic (represented by: G. Palmieri, Agent, assisted by S. Fiorentino, avvocato dello Stato)
Intervener in support of Italian Republic: Kingdom of Spain (represented by: N. Díaz Abad, Agent)
Defendant: Council of the European Union (represented by: initially by T. Middleton, F. Florindo Gijón and A. Lo Monaco, and subsequently by T. Middleton, F. Florindo Gijón, M. Balta and K. Pellinghelli, Agents)
Interveners in support of the defendants: Kingdom of Belgium (represented by: C. Pochet, J.-C. Halleux and T. Materne, Agents), Czech Republic (represented by: M. Smolek, D. Hadroušek and J. Vláčil, Agents), Federal Republic of Germany (represented by: T. Henze and J. Kemper, Agents), Ireland (represented by: D. O'Hagan, Agent, assisted by N.J. Travers, BL), French Republic (represented by: E. Belliard, G. de Bergues and A. Adam, Agents), Hungary, represented by: M. Z. Fehér and K. Molnár, Agents), Kingdom of the Netherlands (represented by: C. Wissels and M. de Ree, Agents), Republic of Poland (represented by: B. Majczyna, E. Gromnicka and M. Laszuk, Agents), Kingdom of Sweden (represented by: A. Falk and C. Meyer-Seitz, Agents), United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (represented by: L. Seeboruth, Agent, assisted by T. Mitcheson, Barrister), European Parliament (represented by: I. Díez Parra, G. Ricci and M. Dean, Agents), European Commission, (represented by: I. Martínez del Peral, T. van Rijn, B. Smulders, F. Bulst and L. Prete, Agents)
Re:
Annulment of Council Decision 2011/167/EU of 10 March 2011 authorising enhanced cooperation in the area of the creation of unitary patent protection (OJ 2011 L 76, p. 53) Misuse of powers - Failure to respect the judicial system of the European Union
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Dismisses the actions;
Orders the Kingdom of Spain to bear, in addition to its own costs, those incurred by the Council of the European Union in Case C-274/11;
Orders the Italian Republic to bear, in addition to its own costs, those incurred by the Council of the European Union in Case C-295/11;
Orders the Kingdom of Belgium, the Czech Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, the French Republic, the Republic of Latvia, Hungary, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Polish Republic, the Kingdom of Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the European Parliament and the European Commission to pay their own costs.
____________1 - OJ C 219, 23.7.2011. OJ C 232, 6.8.2011.