T-140/03

Case T-140/03 Forum 187 ASBL v Commission of the European Communities «(Declining of jurisdiction)» Order of the Court of First Instance (First Chamber, Extended Composition), 16 May 2003      Summary of the Order Procedure – Division of jurisdiction between the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance – Action for annulment of the same measure, brought by a Member State before the Court of Justice and by an association before the Court of First Instance – Physical or legal persons not able to intervene in disputes before the Court of Justice between Member States and Community institutions – Court of First Instance declining jurisdiction so as to allow the Court of Justice to rule simultaneously on the two actions (Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 40, second para., and 54, third para.; Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, Art. 80) ORDER OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE (First Chamber, Extended Composition) 16 May 2003 (1) ((Declining of jurisdiction)) In Case T-140/03, Forum 187 ASBL, represented by A. Sutton and J. Killick, Barristers, applicant, v Commission of the European Communities, represented by V. Di Bucci, R. Lyal and G. Rozet, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg, defendant, APPLICATION for annulment of Decision C(2003) 564 final of 17 February 2003 concerning the system of State aid implemented by Belgium in favour of coordination centres established in Belgium, THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (First Chamber, Extended Composition), composed of: B. Vesterdorf, President, J. Azizi, M. Jaeger, H. Legal and E. Martins Ribeiro, Judges, Registrar: H. Jung, makes the following Order By application lodged at the Court Registry on 28 April 2003, registered under number T-140/03, Forum 187 ASBL brought an action for the annulment of Commission Decision C(2003) 564 final of 17 February 2003 concerning the system of State aid implemented by Belgium in favour of coordination centres established in Belgium ( the decision). By separate documents lodged on the same date, Forum 187 ASBL applied, first, for an expedited procedure, pursuant to Article 76a of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, and, second, for suspension of operation of the decision (Case T-140/03 R). On 15 May 2003, the parties submitted their observations on the application for the procedure to be expedited. The Commission lodged its observations on the application for interim measures on the same date. By application lodged at the Court Registry on 25 April 2003, registered under number C-182/03, the Kingdom of Belgium brought an action for the annulment of the decision in so far as it does not authorise the renewal of the status as coordination centres of those coordination centres which were benefiting from the system on 31 December 2000. By separate documents lodged on the same date, the Kingdom of Belgium applied, first, for an expedited procedure, pursuant to Article 62a of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice and, second, for suspension of operation of the decision (Case C-182/03 R). Since the actions brought before the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance both sought the annulment of the same act, the parties to Case T-140/03 were heard on the question whether the Court of First Instance should decline jurisdiction so that the Court of Justice can give judgment on both applications for annulment at the same time. It must be pointed out that the second paragraph of Article 40 of the EC Statute of the Court of Justice precludes natural or legal persons from intervening in disputes before the Court between Member States, on the one hand, and institutions of the Community, on the other hand. The only possibility for natural or legal persons to put forward their pleas in law and arguments in disputes which concern them is therefore to bring an action themselves, in cases in which they have standing to do so, before the competent court (orders of the Court of First Instance in Case T-490/93 Bremer Vulkan Verbund v Commission [1995] ECR II-477, paragraph 12, and Case T-41/97 Antillean Rice Mills v Council [1998] ECR II-4117, paragraph 6). In the present case, since the Court of Justice has not stayed the proceedings before it in Case C-182/03, pursuant to the third paragraph of Article 54 of its Statute, it is in the interests of the proper administration of justice that the court with jurisdiction to hear and determine the action brought by a Member State should be able to take into consideration the various pleas in law and factual and legal arguments relied upon by the legal person, Forum 187 ASBL, in support of its application for annulment of the same act. Accordingly, pursuant to the third paragraph of Article 54 of the EC Statute of the Court of Justice and Article 80 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, it is appropriate to decline jurisdiction in favour of the Court of Justice in order to enable the latter to give judgment on the application for annulment. On those grounds, THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE (First Chamber, Extended Composition) hereby orders: 1. The Court of First Instance declines jurisdiction in Case T-140/03 Forum 187 v Commission in favour of the Court of Justice in order to enable the latter to rule on the application for annulment. 2. The costs are reserved. Luxembourg, 16 May 2003. H. Jung B. Vesterdorf Registrar President – Language of the case: English.