Avis juridique important

Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 20 February 1997. - Bundesverband der Bilanzbuchhalter e.V. v Commission of the European Communities. - Appeals - Action for annulment - Admissibility - Refusal by the Commission to commence proceedings against a Member State for failure to fulfil obligations - Refusal by the Commission to take measures under Article 90(3) of the EC Treaty. - Case C-107/95 P. European Court reports 1997 Page I-00947

Summary Parties Grounds Decision on costs Operative part

1 Actions for annulment of measures - Measures against which actions may be brought - Refusal by the Commission to initiate proceedings against a Member State for failure to fulfil obligations - Excluded

(EC Treaty, Arts 169 and 173, fourth para.)

2 Actions for annulment of measures - Refusal by the Commission to address to a Member State a directive or a decision concerning observance of the rules on competition by public undertakings - Excluded

(EC Treaty, Arts 90(1) and (3) and 173, fourth para.)

3 It is not open to individuals to bring an action against a refusal by the Commission to initiate proceedings under Article 169 against a Member State.

4 Individuals may, in some circumstances, be entitled to bring an action for annulment, under the fourth paragraph of Article 173 of the Treaty, against a decision of the Commission taken on the basis of Article 90(3) of the Treaty. Moreover, the possibility cannot be ruled out that exceptional situations might exist where an individual or, possibly, an association constituted for the defence of the collective interests of a class of individuals has standing to bring proceedings against a refusal by the Commission to adopt a decision pursuant to its supervisory functions under Article 90(1) and (3). However, taking into account the fact that, in the field covered by those provisions, the Commission enjoys a wide discretion both in relation to the action which it considers necessary and in relation to the means appropriate for that purpose, it is not open to an individual to seek the annulment of the Commission's refusal to address to a Member State a decision declaring that a piece of general legislation adopted by it is contrary to the Treaty and indicating the measures to be adopted in order to comply with its obligations under Community law. Such inadmissibility also follows from the fact that an individual cannot be allowed to compel a Member State indirectly, by way of such an action, to adopt legislation of general application.

In Case C-107/95 P,

Bundesverband der Bilanzbuchhalter eV, an association governed by German law, established in Bonn (Germany), represented by Joachim Müller, Rechtsanwalt, Munich, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of Arsène Kronshagen, 12 Boulevard de la Foire,

appellant,

APPEAL against the order of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities (Fourth Chamber) of 23 January 1995 in Case T-84/94 Bilanzbuchhalter v Commission [1995] ECR II-101, seeking to have that order set aside,

the other party to the proceedings being:

Commission of the European Communities, represented by Marie-José Jonczy, Legal Adviser, and Norbert Lorenz, of its Legal Service, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the office of Carlos Gómez de la Cruz, of its Legal Service, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg,

THE COURT

(Fifth Chamber),

composed of: L. Sevón, President of the First Chamber, acting for the President of the Fifth Chamber (Rapporteur), C. Gulmann, D.A.O. Edward, J.-P. Puissochet and P. Jann, Judges,

Advocate General: A. La Pergola,

Registrar: R. Grass,

having regard to the report of the Judge-Rapporteur,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 11 July 1996,

gives the following

Judgment

1 By application lodged at the Court Registry on 31 March 1995, the Bundesverband der Bilanzbuchhalter eV (hereinafter `the appellant') brought an appeal, pursuant to Article 49 of the EC Statute of the Court of Justice, against the order of the Court of First Instance (Fourth Chamber) of 23 January 1995 in Case T-84/94 Bilanzbuchhalter v Commission [1995] ECR II-101. By that order, the Court of First Instance declared inadmissible the action for annulment brought by the appellant against the decision of the Commission of 4 November 1993 not to take action on the complaint lodged by the appellant seeking a declaration that the Steuerberatungsgesetz of 4 November 1975 (Law on Tax Advice, BGBl. 1975 I, p. 2735, hereinafter `the StBerG') was contrary to Articles 59 and 86 of the EC Treaty and that, therefore, the Federal Republic of Germany, by failing to take the measures necessary to comply with those provisions, had infringed Articles 5 and 90 of the Treaty.

2 It appears from the contested order that the appellant is a professional association governed by German law, established in order to defend the economic and socio-professional interests of accountants (paragraph 1).

3 On 21 August 1992 the appellant lodged a complaint with the Commission in which it called in question the StBerG, amended at various times, most recently by the Law of 13 December 1990 (BGBl. 1990 I, p. 2756), inasmuch as it reserves the right to pursue the activity of adviser on tax and related matters to tax advisers, auditors, lawyers and sworn accountants (paragraph 1).

4 Considering that legislation to be contrary to the provisions of the Treaty and, in particular, to Articles 59 and 86 thereof, the appellant complained that the Federal Republic of Germany, by failing to amend that legislation, had infringed the second paragraph of Article 5 and Article 90(1) and (2) of the Treaty. It therefore requested the Commission to ensure, pursuant to Article 155 of the Treaty, that the provisions of the Treaty were applied (paragraph 1).

5 On 4 November 1993 the Commission took the decision not to act on the applicant's complaint on the ground that the StBerG did not infringe Community law and informed it of that decision by letter of 13 December 1993 (paragraph 4).

6 By application lodged at the Registry of the Court of First Instance on 23 February 1994, the applicant brought an action under Article 173 of the EC Treaty for the annulment of that decision on the ground that it infringed the combined provisions of Articles 5, 59, 86, 90(1) and 155 of the Treaty and Article 3 of Regulation No 17 of the Council of 6 February 1962, First regulation implementing Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty (OJ, English Special Edition 1959-62, p. 87) (paragraphs 5 and 8).

7 By a separate document lodged at the Registry on 4 May 1994, the Commission raised an objection of inadmissibility under Article 114 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance (paragraph 6).

The order of the Court of First Instance

8 By the contested order the Court of First Instance dismissed the action as inadmissible, pursuant to Article 111 of its Rules of Procedure.

9 In the first place, the Court, at paragraph 22 of the contested order, interpreted the disputed decision as an expression of the Commission's intention not to commence proceedings under Article 169 of the EC Treaty against the Federal Republic of Germany.

12 Secondly, in paragraphs 27 and 28 of the contested order, the Court of First Instance examined the admissibility of the action against the Commission's decision not to take any action on the applicant's complaint in case that decision was to be regarded as a refusal to take a decision under Article 90(3) of the Treaty.

13 In this regard, the Court considered, at paragraph 31, that it was apparent from Article 90(3) and the scheme of Article 90 as a whole, that the power of supervision of the Commission with regard to Member States which are responsible for infringements of the rules of the Treaty, in particular those relating to competition (judgment of the Court of Justice in Joined Cases C-48/90 and C-66/90 Netherlands and Others v Commission [1992] ECR I-565, paragraph 32), necessarily implied a wide margin of discretion for that institution. Consequently, the Court considered that the exercise of the power to assess the compatibility of State measures with the Treaty rules, conferred by Article 90(3) of the Treaty, was not coupled with an obligation on the part of the Commission to take action (judgment of the Court of First Instance in Case T-32/93 Ladbroke Racing v Commission [1994] ECR II-1015, paragraphs 36, 37 and 38), so that `legal and natural persons who request the Commission to act under Article 90(3) do not have the right to bring an action against a decision of the Commission refusing to use powers conferred upon it under Article 90(3)'.

14 In view of the foregoing, the Court held, at paragraph 32, that `the applicant cannot challenge the Commission's refusal to address a directive or a decision to the Federal Republic of Germany under Article 90(3) of the Treaty'.

The appeal

15 By its appeal the appellant requests this Court to set aside the order of the Court of First Instance for infringement of the EC Treaty, in particular Articles 5, 59, 86 and 90(1) and (3) thereof, and for misinterpretation of Articles 155 and 169 of that Treaty.

16 The order of the Court of First Instance is contested for both treating the Commission's decision as a decision not to bring an action under Article 169 against the Federal Republic of Germany for failure to fulfil its obligations and interpreting it as a decision not to take measures under Article 90(3) of the Treaty.

The plea in law concerning Article 169 of the Treaty

17 The appellant argues that the Court of First Instance did not take into consideration the Commission's misuse of its powers in (i) assessing the facts erroneously and (ii) failing to take action even when it had acknowledged, in the course of discussions between its representatives and the appellant, that there had been an infringement of Articles 59, 86 and 90 of the Treaty.

18 The appellant further argues that, where there is a manifest infringement of the Treaty, the Commission has no discretion in the matter so that it is obliged to initiate the Article 169 procedure. That rule must be applicable in the present case since the provisions of the StBerG patently infringe Article 59 of the Treaty.

The plea in law concerning Article 90(3) of the Treaty

20 As regards the application of Article 90(3), the appellant maintains that, even if the Commission does enjoy a discretion in assessing the appropriateness of taking action, its decision must be open to legal challenge where that discretion is exercised on the basis of an erroneous assessment of the facts or where, because the facts are so obvious, the scope for exercising it is reduced to nothing. By refusing to take action when Articles 59, 86 and 90 of the Treaty had been manifestly infringed, the Commission had therefore misused its powers.

21 The appellant concludes that, in refusing to find that the Commission's discretion has such limits, the Court of First Instance also infringed the Treaty.

22 The Commission, referring to the judgment of the Court of First Instance in Ladbroke v Commission, cited above, paragraph 38, contends that Article 90(3) of the Treaty empowers it to take measures against a Member State, but does not require it to do so. Furthermore, like Article 169 of the Treaty, Article 90(3) does not enable individuals to bring an action against any refusal to take measures which they have requested to be taken.

24 As is apparent from the judgment in Netherlands and Others v Commission, cited above, individuals may, in some circumstances, be entitled to bring an action for annulment, under the fourth paragraph of Article 173 of the Treaty, against a decision of the Commission taken on the basis of Article 90(3) of the Treaty.

28 Moreover, an individual may not, by means of an action against the Commission's refusal to take a decision against a Member State under Article 90(1) and (3), indirectly compel that Member State to adopt legislation of general application.

29 It follows that the appellant was not entitled to challenge the refusal of the Commission to adopt the measure sought.

30 The Court of First Instance was therefore right in also declaring the action to be inadmissible inasmuch as it was directed against the Commission's decision not to take any action under Article 90(1) and (3) of the Treaty.

31 The appeal must therefore be dismissed in its entirety.

Costs

32 Under Article 69(2) of the Rules of Procedure, the unsuccessful party is to be ordered to pay the costs, if they have been applied for in the successful party's pleadings. The Commission has asked for the appellant to be ordered to pay the costs. Since the appellant has been unsuccessful, it must be ordered to pay the costs.

On those grounds,

THE COURT

(Fifth Chamber)

hereby:

1. Dismisses the appeal;

2. Orders the Bundesverband der Bilanzbuchhalter eV to pay the costs.