Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 21 June 2012 —
Spain v Commission
(Cases T‑178/10, T‑263/10 and T‑265/10)
Operational programmes of the Cohesion Fund and of the ERDF managed by Spain — Request for interim payment — Evidence suggesting significant deficiency in functioning of management and control systems — Measures interrupting the period for payment — Action for annulment — Admissibility — Audit strategy — Legal certainty — Legitimate expectations — Proportionality
1. Actions for annulment — Actionable measures — Concept — Measures producing binding legal effects — Decision to interrupt the period for settlement of an interim payment application — Measure constituting the final conclusion of a distinct special procedure — Included (Art. 263 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1083/2006) (see paras 8‑11, 18)
2. Economic, social and territorial cohesion — Structural assistance — EU financing — Obligation on Member States to establish monitoring and control systems — Evidence suggesting significant deficiency in the functioning of management and control systems — Report of a national or Community audit body containing that evidence — Existence — Measures interrupting the period for payment (Art. 317 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1083/2006, Art. 91(1)(a); Commission Regulation No 1828/2006) (see paras 31‑33)
3. Economic, social and territorial cohesion — Structural assistance — EU financing — Obligation on Member States to establish monitoring and control systems — Audit of monitoring and control systems — Approval of audit strategies — Implementation of audit work made conditional on approval of audit strategies — Excluded (Council Regulation No 1083/2006, Art. 62(1)(a),(b), and (c)) (see paras 72‑74)
4. Acts of the institutions — Choice of legal basis — Legislation forming part of EU law — Requirements of clarity and foreseeability — Express indication of the legal basis — Included (see paras 86‑88)
5. EU law — Principles — Protection of legitimate expectations — Conditions — Specific assurances given by the authorities — Absence (Council Regulation No 1083/2006, Art. 62(1)(c), and (2)) (see paras 92, 94)
6. Economic, social and territorial cohesion — Structural assistance — EU financing — Obligation on Member States to establish monitoring and control systems — Evidence suggesting significant deficiency in the functioning of management and control systems — Measures interrupting the period for payment — Interim measures — Breach of principle of proportionality — None (Council Regulation No 1083/2006, Arts 72(2), and 91(1)) (see paras 99‑100, 103, 106)
Re:
| ACTIONS against the Commission decisions of 12 February 2010 (Case T‑178/10), 8 April 2010 (Case T‑263/10) and 15 April 2010 (Case T‑265/10) informing the Spanish authorities of the interruption of the period for the settlement of certain requests for interim payment submitted by the Kingdom of Spain. |
Operative part
The Court:
1. | | Orders that Cases T‑178/10, T‑263/10 and T‑265/10 be joined for the purposes of judgment; |
3. | | Orders the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs. |