Judgment of the General Court of 1 February 2017 — Kendrion v European Union

(Case T-479/14) ¹

(Non-contractual liability — Precision in the application — Admissibility — Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights — Reasonable period within which a judgment must be delivered — Material damage — Interest on the amount of the unpaid fine — Bank guarantee charges — Non-material damage — Causal link)

Language of the case: Dutch

Parties

Applicant: Kendrion NV (Zeist, Netherlands) (represented by: initially, P. Glazener and T. Ottervanger, and, subsequently, T. Ottervanger, lawyers)

Defendant: European Union, represented by the Court of Justice of the European Union (represented by: initially, A. Placco and, subsequently, J. Inghelram and E. Beysen, acting as Agents)

Intervener in support of the defendant: European Commission (represented by: T. Christoforou, S. Noë and P. Van Nuffel, acting as Agents)

Re:

Action based on Article 268 TFEU and seeking compensation for the damage allegedly suffered by the applicant as a result of the duration of the proceedings, before the General Court, in the case that gave rise to the judgment of 16 November 2011, Kendrion v Commission (T-54/06, not published, EU:T:2011:667).

Operative part of the judgment

The General Court:

Orders the European Union, represented by the Court of Justice of the European Union, to pay damages of EUR 588 769.18 to Kendrion NV for the material damage suffered by that company as a result of the failure to adjudicate within a reasonable time in the case which gave rise to the judgment of 16 November 2011, Kendrion v Commission (T-54/06, not published, EU:T:2011:667);

Orders the European Union, represented by the Court of Justice of the European Union, to pay damages of EUR 6 000 to Kendrion for the non-material damage suffered by that company as a result of the failure to adjudicate within a reasonable time in Case T-54/06;

Orders that each of the heads of damages referred to in points 1 and 2 above be increased by default interest, to be calculated as from the delivery of the present judgment until payment in full, at the rate set by the European Central Bank (ECB) for its main refinancing operations, increased by three and a half percentage points;

Dismisses the action as to the remainder;

Order the European Union, represented by the Court of Justice of the European Union, to pay, in addition to its own costs, the costs incurred by Kendrion in connection with the plea of inadmissibility which gave rise to the order of 6 January 2015, Kendrion v European Union (T-479/14, not published, EU:T:2015:2);

Orders Kendrion, on the one hand, and the European Union, represented by the Court of Justice of the European Union, on the other, to bear their own respective costs relating to the action which has given rise to the present judgment;

Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs.

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¹ OJ C 253, 4.8.2014.