Parties
Grounds
Operative part

Parties

In Case C - 161/04,

ACTION for annulment under Article 230 EC, brought on 30 March 2004,

Republic of Austria, represented by H. Dossi and E. Riedl, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg,

applicant,

v

European Parliament, represented by M. Gómez-Leal and U. Rösslein, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg,

and

Council of the European Union, represented by A. Lopes Sabino and J.-P. Hix, acting as Agents,

defendants,

supported by

Commission of the European Communities, represented by W. Wils and G. Braun, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg,

intervener,

THE PRESIDENT OF THE FIRST CHAMBER OF THE COURT,

after hearing Advocate General Geelhoed,

makes the following

Order

Grounds

1. By letter lodged at the Court Registry on 3 July 2006, the Republic of Austria informed the Court in accordance with Article 78 of the Rules of Procedure that it wished to withdraw its application.

2. By letter lodged at the Court Registry on 14 July 2006, the Parliament requested that the Court order the Republic of Austria to pay the costs pursuant to Article 69(5) of the Rules of Procedure.

3. The Council did not submit any observations on the withdrawal within the prescribed period.

4. Under the first subparagraph of Article 69(5) of the Rules of Procedure, a party who discontinues or withdraws from proceedings is to be ordered to pay the costs if they have been applied for by the other party in its observations on the discontinuance or withdrawal.

5. The Republic of Austria should therefore be ordered to pay the costs incurred by the Parliament.

6. As it did not request that the Republic of Austria be ordered to pay the costs in that regard, the Council is to bear its own costs.

7. Under the first subparagraph of Article 69(4) of the Rules of Procedure, the Member States and institutions which intervene in the proceedings are to bear their own costs.

8. The Commission should therefore be ordered to bear its own costs.

Operative part

On those grounds, the President of the First Chamber of the Court hereby orders:

1. Case C-161/04 is removed from the register.

2. The Republic of Austria shall pay the costs incurred by the European Parliament.

3. The Council of the European Union and the Commission of the European Communities shall bear their own costs.

Luxembourg, 6 September 2006.