Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 25 March 2021 – Carvalho and Others v Parliament and Council
(Case C‑565/19 P)(1)
(Appeal – Action for annulment and for damages – Environment – 2030 climate and energy package – Fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU – Lack of individual concern)
1. Appeal –Grounds – Review by the Court of Justice of the assessment of the facts put before the General Court – Possible only where the clear sense of the evidence has been distorted – Review of the legal classification given to the facts of the dispute – Included
(Art. 256 TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, first para.)
(see paras 36, 38)
2. Action for annulment – Natural or legal persons – Measures of direct and individual concern to them – Individual concern – Criteria – 2030 climate-energy legislative package – Action brought by individuals relying on a violation of fundamental rights – Not individually concerned – Inadmissibility
(Art. 263, fourth para., TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulations 2018/841, Art. 4, and 2018/842, Art. 4(2) and Annex I; European Parliament and Council Directive 2018/410, Art. 1)
(see paras 46-50)
3. Action for annulment – Natural or legal persons – Measures of direct and individual concern to them – Interpretation, contrary to law, of the requirement of being individually concerned – Unlawful
(Art. 263, fourth para., TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47);
(see paras 67-71, 75-78)
4. Action for annulment – Natural or legal persons – Measures of direct and individual concern to them – Individual concern – Criteria – 2030 climate-energy legislative package – Action by an association representing the sum of the individual interests of its members – Not individually concerned – Inadmissibility
(Art. 263, fourth para., TFEU)
(see paras 85-94)
5. Appeal – Grounds – Plea raised for the first time in the context of the appeal – Inadmissibility
(Art. 256(1), second para., TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58)
(see paras 91, 92)
6. Actions for damages – Autonomy in relation to the action for annulment – Limits – Action seeking the same outcome as an action for annulment – Inadmissibility
(Arts 263, 268 and 340, second para., TFEU)
(see paras 101-103)
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Mr Armando Carvalho and 36 other appellants whose names are set out in the annex to the present judgment to bear their own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. |
3. | | Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs. |