Action brought on 21 January 2009 - Biocaps v Commission

(Case T-24/09)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: Biocaps (Orsay, France) (represented by: Y.-R. Guillou, H. Speyart and T. Verstraeten, lawyers)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

Forms of order sought

annul the constested decision; and

order the Commission to bear its own costs and to pay those of the applicant.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant, a legal entity responsible for running the Laboratoire Champagnat Desmoulins Philippakis, seeks the annulment of Commission Decision C(2008) 6524 of 29 October 2008 in which the Commission, pursuant to Article 20(4) of Regulation No 1/2003, ¹ ordered that laboratory, and all of the entities controlled directly or indirectly by it, to submit to an inspection concerning their possible participation in and/or implementation of agreements or concerted practices contrary to the provisions of Articles 81 EC and/or 82 EC.

That conduct took the form in particular of decisions aimed at preventing pharmacists and/or legal persons from gaining access to the market in bio-medical analysis services, to restrict their activities on that market, or to exclude them from that market.

In support of its action, the applicant puts forward a single plea in law alleging breach of the principle that the decisions of the Community institutions must be addressed to entities having legal personality, as the addressee of the contested decision no longer existed on the date when the decision was adopted.

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¹ - Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 of 16 December 2002 on the implementation of the rules on competition laid down in Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty (OJ 2003 L 1, p. 1).