Orders nº T-111/14 DEP to T-118/14 DEP of Tribunal General de la Unión Europea, March 10, 2020

• Resolution Date: March 10, 2020
• Issuing Organization: Tribunal General de la Unión Europea
• Decision Number: T-111/14 DEP to T-118/14 DEP

(Procedure - Taxation of costs - Recoverable costs)

In Joined Cases T-111/14 DEP to T-118/14 DEP,

Unitec Bio SA, established in Buenos Aires (Argentina), represented by J.-F. Bellis and R. Luff, lawyers,

applicant in Case T-111/14,

Molinos Río de la Plata SA, established in Buenos Aires, represented by J.-F. Bellis and R. Luff, lawyers,

applicant in Case T-112/14,

Oleaginosa Moreno Hermanos SACIFI y A, established in Bahia Blanca (Argentina), represented by J.-F. Bellis and R. Luff, lawyers,

applicant in Case T-113/14,

Vicentin SAIC, established in Avellaneda (Argentina), represented by J.-F. Bellis and R. Luff, lawyers,

applicant in Case T-114/14,

Aceitera General Deheza SA, established in General Deheza (Argentina), represented by J.-F. Bellis and R. Luff, lawyers,

applicant in Case T-115/14,

Bunge Argentina SA, established in Buenos Aires, represented by J.-F. Bellis and R. Luff, lawyers,

applicant in Case T-116/14,

Cargill SACI, established in Buenos Aires, represented by J.-F. Bellis and R. Luff, lawyers,

applicant in Case T-117/14,

LDC Argentina SA, established in Buenos Aires, represented by J.-F. Bellis and R. Luff, lawyers,

applicant in Case T-l 18/14,

v

Council of the European Union, represented by H. Marcos Fraile, acting as Agent,

defendant,

supported by

European Commission,

and by

European Biodiesel Board (EBB), established in Brussels (Belgium),

interveners,

APPLICATION for taxation of costs further to four judgments of 15 September 2016, LDC Argentina v Council (T-118/14, not published, EU:T:2016:502); of 15 September 2016, Cargill v Council (T-117/14, not published, EU:T:2016:503); of 15 September 2016, Unitec Bio v Council (T-111/14, EU:T:2016:505); and of 15 September 2016, Molinos Río de la Plata and Others v Council (T-112/14 to T-116/14 and T-119/14, not published, EU:T:2016:509),

THE GENERAL COURT (Third Chamber),

composed of A.M. Collins, President, Z. Csehi (Rapporteur) and G. De Baere, Judges,

Registrar: E. Coulon,

makes the following

Order

Facts, procedure and forms of order sought

1 By eight applications lodged at the Registry of the General Court on 17 February 2014, registered, respectively, as Cases T-111/14, T-112/14, T-113/14, T-114/14, T-115/14, T-116/14, T-117/14 and T-118/14, the applicants, Unitec Bio SA, Molinos Río de la Plata SA, Oleaginosa Moreno Hermanos SACIFI y A, Vicentin SAIC, Aceitera General Deheza SA, Bunge Argentina SA, Cargill SACI and LDC Argentina SA, each brought an action seeking the annulment of Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1194/2013 of 19 November 2013 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed on imports of biodiesel originating in Argentina and Indonesia (OJ 2013 L 315, p. 2; ‘the contested measure’) in so far as it imposed an anti-dumping duty on them.

2 By orders of the President of the Ninth Chamber of the General Court of 17 July and 22 September 2014, the European Commission and the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) were granted leave to intervene in the proceedings referred to in paragraph 1 above in support of the Council of the European Union.

3 By four judgments of 15 September 2016, LDC Argentina v Council (T-118/14, not published, EU:T:2016:502); of 15 September 2016, Cargill v Council (T-117/14, not published, EU:T:2016:503); of 15 September 2016, Unitec Bio v Council (T-111/14, EU:T:2016:505); and of 15 September 2016, Molinos Río de la Plata and Others v Council (T-112/14 to T-116/14 and T-119/14, not published, EU:T:2016:509), the Court annulled the contested measure in so far as it concerned the applicants. In each of the proceedings, it ordered the Council to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the applicants.

4 By four appeals lodged on 24 November 2016 and registered as Cases C-602/16 P and C-607/16 P to C-609/16 P, the Council sought to have set aside, under Article 56 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the judgments of 15 September 2016, LDC Argentina v Council (T-118/14, not published, EU:T:2016:502); of 15 September 2016, Cargill v Council (T-117/14, not published, EU:T:2016:503), of 15 September 2016, Unitec Bio v Council (T-111/14, EU:T:2016:505); and of 15 September 2016, Molinos Río de la Plata and Others v Council (T-112/14 to T-116/14 and T-119/14, not published, EU:T:2016:509).

5 By letter dated 22 January 2018, the Council informed the Court of Justice, in accordance with Article 148 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure, that it was discontinuing its appeals.

6 By order of 15 February 2018, Council v Unitec Bio and Others (C-602/16 P and C-607/16 P to C-609/16 P, not published, EU:C:2018:150), the President of the Court removed Joined Cases C-602/16 P and C-607/16 P to C-609/16 P from the Court register and ordered the Council to pay the costs incurred by the applicants.

7 By letter dated 27 April 2018, the applicants requested that the Council reimburse the total sum of EUR 391 249 in respect of (1) the eight sets of proceedings before the General Court referred to in paragraph 1 above and (2) the four sets of proceedings before the Court of Justice referred to in paragraph 4 above.

8 By letter dated 25 July 2018, the Council stated that it disagreed with the amount of costs claimed by the applicants and offered to reimburse a total sum of EUR 45 300 in respect of the relevant proceedings before the General Court and the Court of Justice. The offer made by the Council corresponded to 200 hours’ work at an hourly rate of EUR 225. The applicants rejected that offer by letter dated 28 September 2018, but reduced the total amount claimed to EUR 388 887 due to an error in calculation.

9 By letter dated 10 January 2019, the Council rejected that new claim and offered to reimburse a total amount of EUR 54 100 in respect of the relevant proceedings before the General Court and the Court of Justice.

10 By letter dated 18 March 2019, the applicants once again reduced the amount of their claim in respect of the relevant proceedings before the General Court and the Court of Justice to EUR 85 150, corresponding to 265 hours’ work at an hourly rate of EUR 320 and administrative costs of EUR 350. By letter dated 29 March 2019, the Council rejected that new claim and reiterated its offer to reimburse a total amount of EUR 54 100.

11 Given that the parties failed to reach agreement on the amount of recoverable costs, by document lodged at the General Court Registry on 28 June...