Action brought on 1 October 2013 – Société européenne des chaux et liants v ECHA

(Case T-540/13)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: Société européenne des chaux et liants (Bourgoin-Jallieu, France) (represented by: J. Dezarnaud, lawyer)

Defendant: European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)

Form of order sought

Uphold the applicant’s request to be fully relieved of the fine of which it has been notified.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant requests that it be relieved of the administrative charge imposed by Decision SME (2013) 1665 of the ECHA which found that the applicant does not fulfil the conditions for eligibility for the reduced fee envisaged for small-sized enterprises, in the light of its corrective declaration submitted after the initiation by the ECHA of the verification procedure relating to the size of the undertaking.

In support of its action, the applicant relies on a certain number of pleas in law:

the fact that the sanction adopted is disproportionate to the error which can be imputed to it;

the fact that it corrected its declaration when first requested by the ECHA;

the fact that it can be excused for misinterpreting an extremely technical document drafted in a language other than its own;

the illogical nature of an automatic sanction.