Judgment of the General Court of 15 September 2016 — K Chimica v ECHA

(Case T-675/13) ¹

(REACH — Fee for registration of a substance — Reduction granted to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises — Error in declaration relating to the size of the enterprise — Recommendation 2003/361/EC — Decision imposing an administrative charge — Determination of an enterprise’s size — Power of the ECHA)

Language of the case: Italian

Parties

Applicant: K Chimica Srl (Mirano, Italy) (represented by: R. Buizza and M. Rota, lawyers)

Defendant: European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) (represented initially by M. Heikkilä, A. Iber, E. Bigi and E. Maurage and J.-P. Trnka, and subsequently by Heikkilä, Bigi, Maurage and Trnka, acting as Agents, and C. Garcia Molyneux, lawyer)

Re:

Application, first, under Article 263 TFEU, for annulment of Decision SME(2013) 3665 of the ECHA of 15 October 2013, stating that the applicant failed to adduce the necessary evidence to receive a reduction of the fee for small enterprises and imposes an administrative charge on it, second, requesting that the applicant be granted small enterprise status and that the corresponding fee be applied to it, and third, under Article 263 TFEU, for annulment of the invoices issued by the ECHA.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1.    Annuls Decision SME(2013) 3665 of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) of 15 October 2013;

2.    Dismisses the action as to the remainder;

3.    Orders the ECHA to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by K Chimica Srl.

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¹ OJ C 45, 15.2.2014.