Judgment of the General Court of 7 November 2019 –ADDE v Parliament

(Case T-48/17) ¹

(Law governing the institutions — European Parliament — Decision declaring certain expenditure of a political party ineligible for the purposes of a grant for 2015 — Decision awarding a grant for 2017 and making provision for pre-financing at the rate of 33% of the maximum grant amount and an obligation to provide a bank guarantee — Obligation of impartiality — Rights of the defence — Financial Regulation — Rules of application of the Financial Regulation — Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 — Proportionality — Equal treatment)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe ASBL (ADDE) (Brussels, Belgium) (represented by: initially by L. Defalque and L. Ruessmann, subsequently by M. Modrikanen and finally by Y. Rimokh, lawyers)

Defendant: European Parliament (represented by: C. Burgos and S. Alves, acting as Agents)

Re:

Application pursuant to Article 263 TFEU seeking annulment, first, of the decision of the Parliament of 21 November 2016 declaring certain expenditure ineligible for the purposes of a grant for 2015 and, second, of Parliament Decision FINS-2017-13 of 12 December 2016 concerning the award of a grant to the applicant for 2017, in so far as that decision limits the pre-financing to 33% of the maximum grant amount, subject to the provision of a bank guarantee.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

Annuls the decision of the Parliament of 21 November 2016 declaring certain expenditure ineligible for a grant in respect of financial year 2015;

Dismisses the application for annulment of Parliament Decision FINS-2017-13 of 12 December 2016 concerning the award of a grant to the applicant for the financial year 2017;

Orders Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe ASBL and the European Parliament to bear their own costs, including those relating to the interim proceedings.

____________

¹ OJ C 78, 13.3.2017.