Notice for the OJ

 

Action brought on 25 January 2002 by Giuseppe Atzeni and Others against the Commission of the European Communities

    (Case T-21/02)

    Language of the case: Italian

An action against the Commission of the European Communities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 25 January 2002 by the applicants specified above, represented by Giovanni Dore and Fabio Ciulli, lawyers.

The applicants claim that the Court should:

(pursuant to Article 230 of the Treaty, declare unlawful, and consequently annul in its entirety, Commission Decision 612/97, alternatively annul the same in so far as it provides for the recovery of the aid granted to the applicants by the Italian State, and order the Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments:

This action is directed against the same decision as that contested in Case T-4/02 Arca Delio eredi and Others v Commission¹

In support of their claims, the applicants plead:

(lack of competence on the part of the defendant, inasmuch as the competition rules are not in principle applicable in the agriculture sector. As regards the provisions of Regulation No 26/62, the applicants maintain that, in the present case, no aid was granted, either for production or for trade in the agricultural sector; instead, what was intended was merely the re-establishment of the necessary liquidity for agricultural undertakings facing objective difficulties, as expressly identified by the Region of Sardinia. Moreover, that regulation provides that the rules concerning aid are applicable only in relation to the matters covered by Article 88(1) and the first sentence of Article 88(3);

(the aid in question must be regarded as having been in existence ever since 1928. In adopting the contested decision, the Commission omitted the entire procedure provided for by the first paragraph of Article 88;

(infringement of the Community rules concerning improvements in the efficiency of agricultural structure and of the "Community guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty".

The applicants also plead failure to comply with the obligation to provide a statement of reasons.

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¹ - OJ C 56 of 2.3.2002, p. 20.