Judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber) of 18 March 2015 —
Cahier and Others v Council and Commission

(Cases T‑195/11, T‑458/11, T‑448/12 and T‑41/13)

Non-contractual liability — Prohibition for producers of wine obtained from dual-purpose vine varieties from themselves distilling spirits from quantities of wine obtained from dual-purpose vine varieties produced in excess of the quantity normally produced — Application of that legislation by national authorities

1.                     Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Claim for compensation for a prohibition imposed by EU law on wine producers from themselves distilling into spirits quantities of wine obtained from dual-purpose vine varieties produced in excess of the quantity normally produced — No such prohibition — No liability (Art. 340, second para., TFEU; Council Regulation No 1493/1999, Art. 28; Commission Regulation No 1623/2000, Arts 41, 42 and 65(3), (8) and (9)) (see paras 22, 39, 44, 45, 50-54)

2.                     EU law — Interpretation — Methods — Literal, systematic and teleological interpretation (see para. 34)

3.                     Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Damage — Causal link — Cumulative conditions — One of the conditions not satisfied — Claim for compensation dismissed in its entirety (Art. 340, second para., TFEU) (see para. 56)

Re:

APPLICATIONS for damages for harm that the applicants claim to have suffered as a result of judicial actions and convictions to which they were subject in France, on the ground that they failed to conform, over the course of several wine years, with the compulsory distillation mechanism established by Article 28 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine (OJ 1999 L 179, p. 1), and implemented by Commission regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 of 25 July 2000 laying down detailed rules for implementing Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine with regard to market mechanisms (OJ 2000 L 194, p. 45).

Operative part

The Court:

1. Orders that Cases T‑195/11, T‑458/11, T‑448/12 and T‑41/13 be joined for the purposes of judgment;

2. Dismisses the actions;

3. Orders Jean-Marie Cahier and the other applicants whose names are annexed to the judgment to bear their own costs relating to the main proceedings as well as those incurred by the Council of the European Union and the European Commission;

4. Orders Jean-Marie Cahier and the other applicants in Case T‑195/11 to bear their own costs relating to the proceedings for interim measures in Case T‑195/11 R;

5. Orders the French Republic to bear its own costs.