Action brought on 16 July 2021 – L'union nationale des indépendants solidaires v Commission

(Case T-431/21)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: L'union nationale des indépendants solidaires (Lorient, France) (represented by: F. Ortega, lawyer)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

declare that the Commission has based its response to the complaint on a personal, and therefore unlawful, interpretation of Article 153(4) TFEU;

declare that the Commission has failed to fulfil its obligations arising out of the Treaties and, in particular, those laid down in the first paragraph of Article 105 TFEU;

declare that the CNAV and its related bodies are in breach of EU competition rules;

order the Commission to pay to the Union syndicale des indépendants solidaires the sum of EUR 2 500 in respect of its legal fees;

order the Commission to pay the entirety of the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action against Commission Decision Ares(2021)3291074 of 18 May 2021 rejecting its complaint, the applicant relies on three pleas in law.

First plea in law, alleging infringement of Article 267 TFEU, by which the legislature confers on the Court of Justice of the European Union alone the jurisdiction to rule on the interpretation of the Treaties. The applicant concludes from this that the Commission is obliged to recognise as law only the interpretation that the Court of Justice has given to the content of the Treaties.

Second plea in law, alleging infringement of Article 153(4) TFEU. The applicant claims that the Commission's interpretation of that article, according to which the design and management of social security systems, including pension systems, remain fundamentally a competence of the Member States, cannot succeed. The applicant adds that the Commission is exceeding its powers in order to justify its refusal to find an infringement of EU competition rules committed by the body to which the complaint refers.

Third plea in law, alleging infringement of Articles 101, 102 and 105 TFEU on the ground that, according to the applicant, one of the Commission’s tasks is specifically to investigate, of its own motion, breaches of the principles laid down in those articles. The applicant takes the view that the body to which the complaint relates can only be regarded as an undertaking and concludes from this that EU competition rules therefore apply to it. The applicant concludes that the monopolistic position of the Caisse nationale d'assurance vieillesse (CNAV) and its associated bodies is unlawful.

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