Order of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 4 June 2012 —
Azienda Agricola Bracesco v Commission
(Case T‑440/09)
Non‑contractual liability — Agriculture — Bird flu — Exceptional market support measures in the eggs and poultry sector — Non‑inclusion of quails among the poultry types for which compensation is available — Equal treatment and non‑discrimination — No causal link — Action manifestly devoid of any basis in law
1. Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Damage — Causal link — Cumulative conditions (Art. 288, second para., EC) (see paras 9-11)
2. Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Regulation No 1010/2006 — Economic support measures — Exclusion of quail producers — Regulation No 2777/75 — Scope — Non-inclusion of quail — Independent extension of the measures to other types of poultry — Not included — Extension of the definition of ‘poultry’ in the light of Directive 2005/94 — Not included — No illegality (Council Regulation No 2777/75; Commission Regulation No 1010/2006; Council Directive 2005/94) (see paras 15, 18, 20, 21, 27)
3. Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Causal link — Burden of proof — Break in the causal link by reason of the wrongful conduct of the applicant (Art. 288, second para., EC) (see paras 37-40)
Re:
| ACTION for damages seeking compensation for the harm allegedly suffered by the applicant following the adoption of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1010/2006 of 3 July 2006 on certain exceptional market support measures in the eggs and poultry sector in certain Member States (OJ 2006 L 180, p. 3), in so far as that regulation does not provide for such measures in favour of poultry farmers active in the farming and marketing of quails. |
Operative part
1. | | The action is dismissed as being manifestly devoid of any basis in law. |
2. | | Azienda Agricola Bracesco Srl — in liquidazione is ordered to bear its own costs and those incurred by the European Commission. |