Action brought on 14 November 2013 –Léon Van Parys v Commission
(Case T-606/13)
Language of the case: Dutch
Parties
Applicant: Firma Léon Van Parys NV (Antwerp, Belgium) (represented by: P. Vlaemminck, B. Van Vooren and R. Verbeke, lawyers)
Defendant: European Commission
Form of order sought
The applicant claims that the General Court should:
annul the letter of the Commission in which it requests supplementary information from the Belgian Administration of Customs and Excise pursuant to Article 907 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93; and the letter of the European Commission of 16 September 2013 in which it informs Firma Léon Van Parys of that request and the suspension of the treatment period pursuant to Article 907 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93;
declare that Article 909 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 has fully taken effect to the benefit of the applicant after the Court’s judgment in Case T-324/10 of 19 March 2013 relating to File REM/REC 07/07;
order the Commission to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
In support of the action, the applicant relies on two pleas in law.
First plea in law, alleging breach by the Commission of Articles 907 and 909 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93,1 as well as Article 266(1) TFEU. The applicant argues that the decision deadline of nine months, in accordance with the first-named provisions, had expired, and that the Commission as a result no longer had the competence to decide on the application for remission. As a result, the Commission is no longer competent in so far as it acts in a manner which goes beyond the pure regularisation of the decision partly annulled by the judgment of 19 March 2013 in Case T-324/10 Firma Léon Van Parys v Commission.
Second plea in law, alleging breach of Article 907 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 and of Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, concerning the right to good administration. The applicant claims that the Commission makes unlawful use of the possibility of requesting information, and thus suspending the deadline of nine months, in order to avoid a future application of Article 909 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93, or at least to postpone it. It also constitutes breach of the principle of good administration for the Commission – as regards an issue for which a deadline of nine months in principle applies – to have conferred upon itself the right to institute a full investigation in 2013 into an application for remission that was submitted at the end of 2007 relating to imports from 1999.
________________________1 Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code (OJ 1993 L 253, p. 1).