Action brought on 19 August 2009 - Producteurs de Légumes de France v Commission
(Case T-328/09)
Language of the case: French
Parties
Applicant: Les Producteurs de Légumes de France (Paris, France) (represented by: O. Fachin, lawyer)
Defendant: Commission of the European Communities
Form of order sought
annul the contested decision on the basis of the fourth paragraph of Article 230 of the EC Treaty;
order the Commission of the European Communities to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
The applicant seeks annulment of Commission Decision C(2009) 203 final of 28 January 2009, by which the Commission declared incompatible with the common market the State aid granted by the French Republic to fruit and vegetable producers under the 'contingency plans' intended to facilitate marketing of agricultural products harvested in France and instructed the French Republic to recover the aid in question.
In support of its action, the applicant raises two pleas in law, alleging:
breach of the principle of legitimate expectations, since the fact that the Commission was, in the period 1992 to 2002, aware of the existence of the contingency plans but did not, even so, institute a procedure gave rise to expectations on the part of the producers as to the validity of those plans;
an error in the amount of reimbursement sought in respect of 2001, which affects the overall amount of the reimbursement and the interest claimed.
____________1 - OJ L 127, p.11 - published as Decision 2009/402/EC.