Action brought on 16 February 2007 - IPK International - World Tourism Marketing Consultants v Commission

(Case T-41/07)

Language of the case: German

Parties

Applicant: IPK International - World Tourism Marketing Consultants GmbH (Munich, Germany) (represented by: C. Pitschas, lawyer)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should

annul the decision of the Commission of the European Communities of 4 December 2006 (C (2006) 6452) on the recovery of payments in the amount of EUR 318 000 together with default interest;

order the Commission to pay the costs of the proceedings.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant contests the Commission's decision C (2006) 6452 of 4 December 2006 on the recovery of advance payments received by the applicant for the ECODATA project before the cancellation of the decision to award the grant. The decision was made pursuant to Article 256 EC.

The cancellation of the decision to grant a subsidy for the creation of a databank on ecological tourism in Europe was made by decision of the Commission of 13 May 2005 and was challenged by the applicant before the Court of First Instance (see Case T-297/05).

The applicant argues in support of its claim that the contested decision is unlawful. It derives from an unlawful cancellation decision, the unlawfulness of which necessarily extends to the contested decision. Furthermore, the contested decision is a unilateral measure, although the legal claim arising from that decision is contractual in nature and can therefore be pursued only by means of a civil claim before the competent national courts of a Member State.

____________