Notice for the OJ
Action brought on 30 May 2003 by Proras S.r.l. Engineering and Contracting against Commission of the European Communities
(Case T-197/03)
(Language of the case: Italian)
An action against the Commission of the European Communities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 30 May 2003 by Proras S.r.l. Engineering and Contracting, represented by Gian Michele Roberti, Alessandro Maria Lerro, Marco Simone Mariani, Paolo Ziotti and Isabella Perego, lawyers.
The applicant claims that the Court should:
(annul the decision of the European Commission contained in the letter of 19 March 2003 from Mr P.B. Knudsen, Director of Directorate A ( Office of Cooperation, EuropeAid, D(2003) D/8511, "Proras exclusion from participation in a TACIS procurement procedure";
(find the Commission liable in damages for having adopted the abovementioned decision;
(order the defendant to make good the injury suffered by the applicant as a result of that damage, quantified at EUR 1 177 638.24 and further order the publication of any judgment to that effect;
(order the Commission to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
By the present action, Proras S.r.l. Engineering and Contracting (hereinafter "Proras" or "the applicant") is challenging the decision of the Commission contained in the letter of 19 March 2003 from Mr P.B. Knudsen, Director of Directorate A ( Office of Cooperation, EuropeAid, D(2003) D/8511, "Proras exclusion from participation in a TACIS procurement procedure" by which it imposes, on the basis of Article 93(c) and (f) in conjunction with Article 96 of Regulation No 1605/2002,
1 a sanction consisting in exclusion for two years from tender procedures organised in the context of external actions funded by the Commission in the framework of the TACIS programme and, pursuant to Articles 235 and 288 EC, compensation for the damage suffered as a result of that decision. That decision was adopted after a procedure which contained a number of irregularities, denied by the applicant, which, according to the defendant, were committed in the course of tender procedure SCR - E/110983/D/S/NI, published by the unit "Programma de apoyo al Sector Educativo en Nicaragua" and financed under the "ALA" programme.
In support of its action for annulment, Proras puts forward four pleas in law. First, the applicant claims that the EuropeAid department, by adopting as a legal basis for the contested decision a provision ( such as Regulation No 1605/2002 ( which had not entered into force at the material time, has infringed the principles of retroactivity, lawfulness of sanctions and legitimate expectations. So far as concerns procedure, the applicant criticises the aforementioned department for failing to inform it of the steps it intended to take in terms of the sanctions it proposed to impose on it or, at the very least, giving it the opportunity to be heard, contrary to the rights of defence and the principle of sound administration. As to substance, the applicant alleges, first misapplication of Article 93(c) and (f) of Regulation No 1605/03 and, secondly, infringement of Article 96 of that regulation and of the principle of proportionality in determining the level of sanctions. The applicant further alleges a defective statement of reasons in respect of the latter claims.
The applicant thus seeks compensation for the damage caused by the sanctions unlawfully imposed by the contested decision; such damage is not only economic in nature but is also detrimental to the image and reputation of the company.
____________1 - (Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities(OJ 2002 L 248, p. 1)