Orders nº T-196/01 of Court of First Instance of the European Communities, October 18, 2001

• Resolution Date: October 18, 2001
• Issuing Organization: Court of First Instance of the European Communities
• Decision Number: T-196/01

ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

18 October 2001 (1) (Proceedings for interim relief - EAGGF - Cancellation of financial assistance - Urgency - None)

In Case T-196/01 R,

Aristoteleio Panepistimio Thessalonikis, represented by D. Nikopoulos, lawyer,

applicant,

v

Commission of the European Communities, represented by M. Condou-Durande, acting as Agent, with an address for service in Luxembourg,

defendant,

APPLICATION for suspension of operation of Commission Decision C(2001) 1284 of 8 June 2001 cancelling Community financial assistance,

THE PRESIDENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

makes the following

Order

Facts and procedure

1.

Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 of 19 December 1988, laying down provisions on the implementation of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards coordination of the activities of different Structural Funds between themselves and with the operations of the European Investment Bank and other existing financial instruments (OJ 1988 L 374, p. 1), as amended by Article 1 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2082/93 of 20 July 1993 (OJ 1993 L 193, p. 20), contains in Title IV (Articles 14 to 16) provisions on the processing of applications for financial assistance from the Structural Funds, eligibility for financial assistance and certain specific provisions.

2.

Article 14(3) of Regulation No 4253/88, as amended, provides:

‘The Commission shall examine applications with a view in particular:

- to assessing the conformity of the proposed operations and measures with the relevant Community legislation and, where appropriate, with the relevant Community support framework,

- to assessing the contribution of the proposed operation to the achievement of its specific objectives and, in the case of an operational programme, the consistency of the constituent measures,

- to checking that the administrative and financial mechanisms are adequate to ensure effective implementation,

- to determining the precise arrangements for providing assistance from the Fund or Funds concerned on the basis, where appropriate, of the information already given in any relevant Community support framework.

The Commission shall decide on assistance from the Funds, provided the requirements of the Article are fulfilled, as a general rule within six months of receipt of the application. A single Commission decision shall be taken in respect of assistance from all the Funds and other existing financial instruments contributing to the financing of an operational programme, including operational programmes in the form of an integrated approach.’

3.

Article 24 of Regulation No 4253/88, as amended, entitled 'Reduction, suspension and cancellation of assistance' provides:

‘1. If an operation or measure appears to justify only part of the assistance allocated, the Commission shall conduct a suitable examination of the case in the framework of the partnership, in particular requesting that the Member State or other authorities designated by it to implement the operation submit their comments within a specified period of time.

2. Following this examination, the Commission may reduce or suspend assistance in respect of the operation or measure concerned if the examination reveals an irregularity and a significant change affecting the nature or conditions of the operation or measure for which the Commission's approval has not been sought.

...’

4.

On 25 September 1996 the Commission adopted Decision C (96) 2542 (‘the decision to grant assistance’), the legal basis for which was Regulation No 4253/88, as amended, and, more specifically, Article 14(3) thereof.

5.

Article 1 of the decision to grant assistance provides that an operation in the form of a pilot project to accelerate the regeneration of forests devastated by fire in Greece (within the framework of project 93.EL.06.023), the details of which are described in annex 1 to the decision to grant assistance, is to be implemented. According to that article, responsibility for implementation is entrusted to the Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Plant Breeding, which also benefits from Community financing in accordance with Article 5 of the decision to grant assistance (‘the beneficiary’). The beneficiary belongs to the Aristoteleio Panepistimio Thessalonikis (Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki in Greece, hereinafter ‘the applicant’).

6.

According to Article 2 of the decision to grant assistance, expenditure eligible for assistance is that incurred after 1 September 1996, the date on which the operation was to begin. It also provided that the operation was to be completed by 28 February 2001 at the latest.

7.

Article 3 of the decision to grant assistance envisages that the total amount of eligible costs of the operation will reach EUR 717 532, of which the Community undertakes to pay a maximum of EUR 538 149 by way of financial contribution.

8.

According to Article 4 of the decision to grant assistance, 'the conditions attaching to this decision are set out in annex 2'.

9.

Annex 1 to...