Order of the Court of First Instance (Eighth Chamber) of 10 April 2008 –Imelios v Commission

(Case T-97/07)

Application for annulment – Action for damages – Fifth framework programme of the Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (1998-2002) – Arbitration clause – Debit note – Inadmissible

1.                     Procedure – Legal basis of an action – Choice a matter for the applicant not the Community judicature (see para. 19)

2.                     Actions for annulment – Action relating in reality to a contractual dispute – Lack of jurisdiction of the Community judicature – Inadmissibility (Arts 230 EC and 238 EC) (see paras 21-22, 27-30)

3.                     Actions for annulment – Action relating in reality to a contractual dispute – Reclassification of the action – Inadmissibility (Arts 230 EC and 238 EC; Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, Art. 44(1)(c)) (see paras 32-34)

4.                     Procedure – Application initiating proceedings – Formal requirements – Brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based (Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, Art. 44(1)(c) and (d)) (see paras 39-41)

5.                     Non-contractual liability – Conditions – Unlawfulness – Damage – Causal link (Art. 288, second para., EC; Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, Art. 44(1)(c) and (d)) (see paras 45-47)

Re:

APPLICATION for, first, annulment of the decision adopted by the Commission following an audit report by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) to recover, by way of the debit note of 17 January 2007, payments made in the framework of the contract, reference number IST-1999-10934-Assist relating to the ‘Knowledge for Help Desk Operators’ programme, concluded in the context of the Fifth Framework Programme of the Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (1998-2002) in the field of user-friendly information, second, a request for payment of EUR 34 368 in respect of an instalment of a grant still to be paid under the contract and, third, a claim for compensation for damage allegedly suffered by the applicant as a result of that decision.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;

2. Orders Imelios SA to bear its own costs and pay those incurred by the Commission.