ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE EIGHTH CHAMBER OF THE GENERAL COURT
24 March 2010 (1)
(Removal from the register)
In Case T-312/08,
Ellinikos Niognomon AE, established in Piraeus (Greece), represented by S. A. Pappas, lawyer,
applicant,
v
European Commission, represented by L. Lozano Palacios and K. Simonsson, acting as Agents,
defendant,
APPLICATION for annulment of the Commission decision, allegedly contained in a letter of 24 July 2008, in which the applicant was informed that the necessary conditions for the extension of the limited recognition granted to it by Decision 2005/623/EC of 3 August 2005 on the extension of the limited recognition of the Hellenic Register of Shipping (OJ 2005 L 219, p. 43) were not met.
1 By letter lodged at the Registry of the General Court on 20 January 2010, the applicant informed the Court in accordance with Article 99 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court that it wished to discontinue proceedings and requested, pursuant to Article 87(5) of the Rules of Procedure, that the defendant be ordered to pay the costs, claiming that the applicant’s application for annulment was triggered by the defendant’s alleged inaction.
2 By letter lodged at the Registry of the General Court on 2 February 2010, the defendant informed the General Court that it did not object to the case being removed from the register and asked the General Court to order the applicant to bear the costs.
3 The first subparagraph of Article 87(5) of the Rules of Procedure provides that a party who discontinues or withdraws from proceedings shall be ordered to pay the costs if they have been applied for in the observations of the other party on the discontinuance. However, according to the second subparagraph of the abovementioned provision, upon application by the party who discontinues or withdraws from proceedings, the costs shall be borne by the other party if this appears justified by the conduct of that party. In the present case, the defendant applied for the costs to be borne by the applicant, while the latter suggested that, the defendant’s conduct justifies the costs to be borne by the Commission.
4 It is not apparent from elements of the case-file that such conduct can be attributed to the defendant, justifying an exception to the rule enshrined in the first subparagraph of Article 87(5) of the Rules of Procedure, providing that the party who discontinues or withdraws from proceedings shall be ordered to pay the costs if they have been applied for in the observations of the other party on the discontinuance. It is appropriate therefore to order that the case be removed from the register and that the applicant bears the entire costs of the proceedings.
On those grounds,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE EIGHTH CHAMBER OF THE GENERAL COURT
hereby orders:
1. Case T-312/08 is removed from the register of the General Court.
2. The applicant shall bear the costs.
Luxembourg, 24 March 2010.
E. Coulon | | M. E. Martins Ribeiro |