Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1 Acts of the institutions - Statement of reasons - Obligation - Scope - Regulations - Principle of proportionality not expressly mentioned - No breach of the obligation to state reasons

(EC Treaty, Arts 3b and 190; Council Regulation No 519/94)

2 Procedure - Intervention - Application to intervene seeking to support the forms of order sought by one of the parties but using other arguments - Whether admissible

(EC Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 37, fourth para.)

3 Common commercial policy - Regulated by the Community institutions - Discretion - Judicial review - Limits - Regulation No 519/94 - Import quotas for certain toys from the People's Republic of China - Error of assessment - None

(Council Regulation No 519/94)

4 Common commercial policy - Regulated by the Community institutions - Introduction at Community level of new uniform rules for imports - Role of the Council - Account taken of the interests of the Community as a whole - No obligation to confirm earlier choices made by the Member States

(EC Treaty, Art. 4; Council Regulation No 519/94)

5 Common commercial policy - Trade with non-member countries - Quantitative quotas on imports - Whether permissible - Conditions

(EC Treaty, Art. 110)

6 Community law - Principles - Proportionality - Regulation No 519/94 establishing import quotas for certain toys from China - Discretion of the Community legislature in the sphere of the common commercial policy - Judicial review - Limits

7 Community law - Principles - Equal treatment - Breach - Situations not comparable - No breach

(Council Regulation No 519/94)

Summary

8 The scope of the obligation to provide reasons imposed by Article 190 of the Treaty depends on the nature of the measure in question and, in the case of measures of general application, the statement of reasons may be confined to indicating the general situation which led to its adoption, on the one hand, and the general objectives which it is intended to achieve, on the other. If the contested measure clearly discloses the essential objective pursued by the institution, it would be excessive to require a specific statement of reasons for the technical choices made.

In this respect, while the principle of proportionality, as set forth in the third paragraph of Article 3b of the Treaty, constitutes a general principle of the Community legal system, the Council cannot be required to make express reference to that principle in the preamble to a regulation in order to comply with its obligation to state reasons pursuant to Article 190 of the Treaty, since it is clear from the regulation in issue that the measures provided for are necessary in order to attain the objectives pursued, in accordance with the principle of proportionality.

9 The fourth paragraph of Article 37 of the EC Statute of the Court of Justice does not prevent an intervener from using arguments other than those used by the party it supports, provided the intervener seeks to support that party's submissions or seeks the rejection of the opposing party's submissions.

The intervener's arguments concerning the lack of specific reasons pertaining to the principle of proportionality, as set forth in the third paragraph of Article 3b of the Treaty, concern the principal ground of annulment alleging lack of reasoning put forward by the applicant and are meant to support the form of order sought by the latter.

10 The Community institutions enjoy a margin of discretion in their choice of the means needed to achieve the common commercial policy. In such a sphere, which involves an appraisal of complex economic situations, judicial review must, in particular where the act concerned is of general application, be limited to verifying whether the relevant procedural rules have been complied with, whether the facts on which the contested choice is based have been accurately stated, and whether there has been a manifest error in the appraisal of those facts or a misuse of powers.

In addition, the discretion which the Council has when assessing a complex economic situation can be exercised not only in relation to the nature and scope of the provisions which are to be adopted but also, to a certain extent, to the findings as to the basic facts, especially in the sense that the Council is free to base its assessment, if necessary, on findings of a general nature. While the Council is required to take into consideration all the facts available to it, it cannot be required to examine in detail all the economic sectors concerned before it adopts an act of general application.

As regards the introduction of new rules for imports of certain toys from the People's Republic of China by Regulation No 519/94, providing for import quotas to be set, the Council's discretion is in no way limited by the fact that it had itself decided that the starting point for the new rules was to be the liberalisation of imports. By contrast with the principle of free movement of goods within the Community, the abolition of all quantitative restrictions on imports from non-member countries is not a rule of law which the Council was required in principle to observe, but is the result of a choice made by that institution in the exercise of its discretion.

11 With regard to the adoption of a regulation introducing new uniform rules at Community level for imports from certain non-member countries intended to replace the previous rules which were the result of decisions taken by the individual Member States, the Council must take account of the general interest of the Community as a whole, and it is not bound, in the exercise of its discretion, by the decisions taken in the past by individual Member States; had it been otherwise, the role to be played by that institution in carrying out the tasks entrusted to the Community under Article 4 of the EC Treaty would have been disregarded. It follows that no error of assessment can be inferred from the fact that the new rules depart significantly from the previous rules.

12 Article 110 of the Treaty cannot be interpreted as prohibiting the Community from enacting any measure liable to affect trade with non-member countries. As is clear from the actual wording of the provision, its objective of contributing to the progressive abolition of restrictions on international trade cannot compel the institutions to liberalise imports from non-member countries where to do so would be contrary to the interests of the Community.

13 As regards the review of proportionality in the sphere of the common commercial policy, in which the Community institutions have a broad discretion, the lawfulness of a measure can be affected only if the measure is manifestly inappropriate having regard to the objective pursued. More specifically, where the Community legislature is obliged, in connection with the adoption of rules, to assess their future effects, which cannot be accurately foreseen, its assessment is open to criticism only if it appears manifestly incorrect in the light of the information available to it at the time of the adoption of those rules. The Court's review must be limited in that way in particular if the Council has to reconcile divergent interests and thus select options within the context of the policy choices which are its own responsibility. In that connection, the Court cannot substitute its assessment for that of the Council as to the appropriateness or otherwise of the measures adopted, if those measures have not been shown to be manifestly inappropriate for achieving the objective pursued.

14 The fact that the procedural rules for setting import quotas contained in Regulation No 519/94, which introduces import quotas for certain toys from China, vary according to whether the quotas fall under the general uniform rules adopted in that regulation or under the surveillance and safeguard measures provided for therein, is not contrary to the principle of equality, which precludes comparable situations from being treated in a different manner unless the difference in treatment is objectively justified, in so far as the situation of those quotas is not comparable to that of the surveillance and safeguard measures. The detailed procedural rules laid down in the contested regulation in respect of future changes to the system established by it cannot be required to apply to the actual definition of that system by the Council.