Order of the General Court (First Chamber) of 10 December 2013 —
von Storch and Others v ECB

(Case T‑492/12)

Action for annulment — Decisions adopted by the ECB — Technical characteristics relating to Eurosystem Outright Monetary Transactions — Measures seeking to maintain the availability of collateral — Temporary measures relating to Eurosystem refinancing operations and eligibility of collateral — Not directly affected — Inadmissibility

1.                     Actions for annulment — Natural or legal persons — Actionable measures — Concept — Measures producing binding legal effects — Measures altering the applicant’s legal situation — Decisions of the European Central Bank approving the adoption of measures concerning Eurosystem refinancing operations and the eligibility and availability of collateral — No binding legal effect on the applicant — Inadmissibility (Art. 263, fourth para., TFEU; Guidance of the European Central Bank ECB/2012/23) (see paras 29, 32, 38, 42)

2.                     Fundamental rights — Right to effective judicial protection — Review of legality of EU measures — Procedures — Protection of that right by the EU judicature or by the national courts according to the legal nature of the contested measure — Possibility of using an action for annulment or a reference for a preliminary ruling on validity (Arts 263 TFEU, 267 TFEU, 268 TFEU, 277 TFEU and 340, second para., TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47) (see paras 44-46)

3.                     European Union — Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions — Measures of general scope — Need for natural or legal persons to have recourse to a plea of illegality or a reference for a preliminary ruling on validity — Obligation on national courts to apply national procedural rules in such a way as to allow the legality of EU measures to be challenged — Opening of an action for annulment before the EU judicature in the absence of remedies before the national courts — Exclusion (Art. 19(1), second para., TEU; Arts 263 TFEU, 267 TFEU and 277 TFEU) (see paras 47, 48)

Re:

APPLICATION for annulment, primarily, of the ECB’s decision of 6 September 2012 concerning a certain number of technical characteristics relating to Eurosystem Outright Monetary Transactions on the secondary sovereign debt markets, secondly, of the decision of the ECB of 6 September 2012 adopting additional measures intended to maintain the availability of collateral for counterparties in order to maintain their access to Eurosystem transactions to provide liquidity and, in the alternative, of Guideline 2012/641/EU of the ECB of 10 October 2012 amending Guideline ECB/2012/18 on additional temporary measures relating to Eurosystem refinancing operations and eligibility of collateral (ECB/2012/23) (OJ 2012 L 284, p. 14).

Operative part

1. The action is dismissed as inadmissible.

2. Mr Sven von Storch and the 5 216 other applicants whose names are set out in the annex to the present order are ordered to bear their own costs and are ordered to pay those incurred by the European Central Bank (ECB).