Notices for publication in the OJ nº T-579/20 of Tribunal General de la Unión Europea, November 13, 2020

• Resolution Date: November 13, 2020
• Issuing Organization: Tribunal General de la Unión Europea
• Decision Number: T-579/20

Action brought on 21 September 2020 - Genekam Biotechnology v Commission

(Case T-579/20)

Language of the case: German

Parties

Applicant: Genekam Biotechnology AG (Duisburg, Germany) (represented by: S. Hertwig, lawyer)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

annul the defendant’s Decision C(2020) 5548 final of 7 August 2020 in so far as it claims more than EUR 39 827.83 plus default interest;

order the defendant to pay the costs of the proceedings.

Pleas in law and main arguments

This action seeks the annulment of Commission Decision C(2020) 5548 final of 7 August 2020 on the recovery of the amount of EUR 119 659.55 owed by Genekam Biotechnology AG.

In support of the action, the applicant relies on the following pleas in law.

First plea in law, alleging infringement of the Treaties under the second paragraph of Article 263 TFEU on the ground that the European Commission lacked standing.

The European Commission has no standing. As is apparent from Commission Enforcement Decision C(2020) 5548 final of 7 August 2020, as well as Annex II, Part B, Section 2, II.19.3 of the Grant Agreement, it is acting on behalf of the Participant Guarantee Fund and/or as its ‘executive agent’. Thus, the European Commission is not itself entitled to enforce the claim and therefore also not entitled to request a payment in itself.

Second plea in law, alleging infringement of the Treaties under the second paragraph of Article 263 TFEU on the ground of breach of the principle of legality.

The Guarantee Fund cannot avail itself of any basis to adopt the enforcement decision in dispute. That is because Article 299 TFEU at most authorises the Commission, but not the Guarantee Fund to act by means of an enforceable decision. The applicant further alleges that Article 299 TFEU, taken separately, is not a sufficient basis for the adoption of...