Order of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 13 September 2017 — Luxembourg v Commission

(Case T‑109/10)

(Actions for annulment — FEDER –Reduction in financial aid — Programme Interreg II / ‘Rhine/Meuse Flooding’ — Non-compliance with time-limit for adopting a decision — Infringement of essential procedural requirements — Action clearly well-founded)

1.      Actions for annulment — Grounds — Infringement of essential procedural requirements — Non-compliance with a time-limit imposed by the EU legislature — To be considered of the Court’s own motion

(Art. 263 TFEU; Council Regulation No 1083/2006, Art. 100(5))

(see paras 65, 67)

2.      EU law — Principles — Rights of defence — Audi alteram partem rule — Compliance in the context of judicial proceedings — Scope

(see para. 66)

3.      Acts of the institutions — Temporal application — Procedural rules — Immediate entry into force

(Council Regulation No 1083/2006, Art. 100(5))

(see para. 73)

Re:

APPLICATION for the annulment of Commission Decision C(2009) 10712 of 23 December 2009 on the reduction in the financial aid granted to the Rhine-Meuse flood protection programme under Community initiative programme Interreg II/C in the Kingdom of Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Kingdom of the Netherlands by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) pursuant to Commission Decision C(97)3742 of 18 December 1997 — (ERDF No 970010008), in so far as it applies to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Operative part

1. Commission Decision C(2009) 10712 of 23 December 2009 reducing the assistance granted to the Community Initiative Interreg II/C ‘Rhine/Meuse Flooding’ in the Kingdom of Belgium, Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Kingdom of the Netherlands by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under Commission Decision C(97) 3742 of 18 December 1997 (ERDF) No. 970010008) is annulled, in so far as it applies to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

2. The European Commission is ordered to pay its own costs and those incurred by the grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

3. The Kingdom of Belgium, the French Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands are each ordered to bear their own costs.