Language of document :

Action brought on 22 April 2021 – European Parliament v Council of the European Union

(Case C-259/21)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: European Parliament (represented by: I. Liukkonen, I. Terwinghe, acting as Agents)

Defendant: Council of the European Union

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

annul Articles 15 to 17, 20 and 59(2) of Council Regulation (EU) 2021/92 of 28 January 2021 fixing for 2021 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Union waters and, for Union fishing vessels, in certain non-Union waters;1

order the Council to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

According to the Parliament, the legislative acts governing the matter, namely Articles 10(4) and 15 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 2 and Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2019/472 3 provide that measures such as those referred to in the present action are to be adopted by delegated acts referred to in Article 290 TFEU.

In support of its action, the Parliament therefore raises four pleas in law. The first alleges that there was a breach and misuse of procedure in that the contested measures should have been introduced by means of the delegated acts referred to in Article 290 TFEU and not by the procedure laid down in Article 43(3) TFEU. The second alleges a breach of sincere cooperation in contravention of Article 13(2) TEU. By adopting the contested provisions by a procedure other than that provided for for that purpose in acts which it co-drafted, the Council denied the Parliament the right of examination to which it would have been entitled had the proper procedure been used.

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1 OJ 2021, L31, p. 31.

2 Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on the conservation of fisheries resources and the protection of marine ecosystems through technical measures, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1967/2006, (EC) No 1224/2009 and Regulations (EU) No 1380/2013, (EU) 2016/1139, (EU) 2018/973, (EU) 2019/472 and (EU) 2019/1022 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 894/97, (EC) No 850/98, (EC) No 2549/2000, (EC) No 254/2002, (EC) No 812/2004 and (EC) No 2187/2005 (OJ 2019 L 198, p. 105).

3 Regulation (EU) 2019/472 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2019 establishing a multiannual plan for stocks fished in the Western Waters and adjacent waters, and for fisheries exploiting those stocks, amending Regulations (EU) 2016/1139 and (EU) 2018/973, and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 811/2004, (EC) No 2166/2005, (EC) No 388/2006, (EC) No 509/2007 and (EC) No 1300/2008 (OJ 2019, L 83, p. 1).