Judgment of the General Court of 20 September 2011 - Arch Chemicals and Others v Commission

(Joined Cases T-400/04, T-402/04 to T-404/04) ¹

(Health policy - Placing on the market of biocidal products - Identification of active substances on the market - Decision refusing amendment of certain provisions of the legislation - Actions for failure to act - Obligation to act - Actions for annulment - Not individually concerned - Inadmissibility)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicants: Arch Chemicals, Inc. (Norwalk, Connecticut, United States); Arch Timber Protection Ltd (Castleford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom) (Case T-400/04); Rhodia UK Ltd, formerly Rhodia Consumer Specialities Ltd (Watford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom) (Case T-402/04); Sumitomo Chemical (UK) plc (London, United Kingdom) (Case T-403/04); Troy Chemical Co. BV (Vlaardingen, Netherlands) (Case T-404/04); (represented by: K. Van Maldegem and C. Mereu, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: X. Lewis and D. Recchia, and subsequently by P. Oliver and G. Wilms, acting as Agents)

Re:

Action, firstly, seeking a declaration of the Commission's failure to act in that it unlawfully refrained from amending certain provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1896/2000 of 7 September 2000 on the first phase of the programme referred to in Article 16(2) of Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on biocidal products (OJ 2000 L 228, p. 6) and of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2032/2003 of 4 November 2003 on the second phase of the 10-year work programme referred to in Article 16(2) of Directive 98/8 and amending Regulation (EC) No 1896/2000 (OJ 2003 L 307, p. 1) and, in the alternative, action for annulment of the Commission's letter of 20 July 2004 refusing to grant the applicants' requests and, secondly, action for compensation for the loss which the applicants suffered as a result of the Commission's failure to act and, in the alternative, action for compensation for the loss caused by the Commission's letter of 20 July 2004.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

Dismisses the actions;

Orders Arch Chemicals, Inc., Arch Timber Protection Ltd, Rhodia UK Ltd, Sumitomo Chemical (UK) plc and Troy Chemical Co. BV to bear their own costs and to pay the costs incurred by the European Commission.

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¹ - OJ C 19, 22.1.2005.