Orders nº T-885/19 of Tribunal General de la Unión Europea, April 22, 2020

• Resolution Date: April 22, 2020
• Issuing Organization: Tribunal General de la Unión Europea
• Decision Number: T-885/19

(Application for interim relief - Energy - Trans-European energy infrastructure - Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 - Commission Delegated Regulation amending Regulation No 347/2013 - Application for suspension of operation - No urgency)

In Case T-885/19 R,

Aquind Ltd, established in Wallsend (United Kingdom),

Aquind Energy Sàrl, established in Luxembourg (Luxembourg),

Aquind SAS, established in Rouen (France),

represented by S. Goldberg, C. Davis and J. Bille, Solicitors, and by E. White, lawyer,

applicants,

v

European Commission, represented by O. Beynet, Y. Marinova and B. De Meester, acting as Agents,

defendant,

APPLICATION pursuant to Articles 278 and 279 TFEU seeking the suspension of the operation of the Commission Delegated Regulation of 31 October 2019 amending Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the list of projects of common interest of the Union,

THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL COURT

makes the following

Order

Background to the dispute and legal framework

1 On 31 October 2019 the European Commission adopted, pursuant to Article 290 TFEU, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/389 amending Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the list of projects of common interest of the Union (OJ 2020 L 74, p. 1) (‘the contested delegated regulation’).

2 Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2013 on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure and repealing Decision No 1364/2006/EC and amending Regulations (EC) No 713/2009, (EC) No 714/2009 and (EC) No 715/2009 (OJ 2013 L 115, p. 39) delegates to the Commission the power to adopt and revise the Union list of projects of common interest in the field of trans-European strategic energy infrastructure, without prejudice to the right of Member States to approve projects of common interest having a link to their territory.

3 In accordance with Article 3(3) and the second subparagraph of Article 3(4) of Regulation No 347/2013, the Union list is to be drawn up by the Commission on the basis of the regional lists adopted by the decision-making bodies of the regional groups, composed of the Member States and the Commission, on the basis of the contribution of each project to the implementation of energy infrastructure priority corridors and areas according to their fulfilment of the criteria for projects of common interest.

4 Under Article 16(4) of Regulation No 347/2013, as soon as the Commission adopts a delegated act, it is to notify the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union of it simultaneously. In accordance with Article 16(5) of that regulation, a delegated act is to enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period is to be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

5 On 29 February 2020, the time limit for expressing objections expired, after being extended by two months, without any objection being raised by the Parliament or the Council.

6 Consequently, the contested delegated regulation will enter into force on the 20th day following its publication.

7 The proposed electricity interconnection between the United Kingdom and France (‘the AQUIND Interconnector’), developed by the applicants, companies belonging to the same group, Aquind Ltd, Aquind Energy Sàrl and Aquind SAS, was included in the Union list of projects of common interest by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/540 of 23 November 2017 amending Regulation No 347/2013 as regards the list of projects of common interest of the European Union (OJ 2018 L 90, p. 38).

8 Since that list of projects of common interest of the European Union must be drawn up every two years in order to be limited to projects which contribute most to the implementation of strategic energy infrastructure priority corridors and areas, the list established by Delegated Regulation 2018/540 is to be replaced by a new list in the annex to the contested delegated regulation, which lists the AQUIND Interconnector as one of the projects that are no longer considered to be projects of common interest of the Union.

Procedure and forms of order sought

9 By application lodged at the Registry of the General Court on 25 December 2019, the applicants brought an action for the annulment of the contested delegated regulation.

10 By a separate document, lodged at the Court Registry on 10 January 2020, the applicants brought the present application for interim measures, in which they claim, in essence, that the President of the General Court should:

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