Action brought on 23 June 2020 — European Commission v Council of the European Union

(Case C-275/20)

(2020/C 279/52)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: European Commission (represented by: J.-F. Brakeland, M. Afonso, D. Schaffrin, Agents)

Defendant: Council of the European Union

The applicant claims that the Court should:

Pleas in law and main arguments

The action for annulment brought by the Commission concerns the renewal for 3 years of an entitlement of audiovisual co-productions of producers from the EU Party and Korea to benefit from the respective schemes for the promotion of local/regional cultural content under Article 5 of the Protocol on Cultural Cooperation to the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, and the Republic of Korea.

The Commission relies, in support of its action, on one single ground.

The Commission considers that by basing its decision on Article 3(1) of Council Decision (EU) 2015/2169 (2) of 1 October 2015 on the conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part, and not on Article 218(6) TFEU as proposed by the Commission, the Council relied on a secondary legal basis, not provided for in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Therefore, the Council violated the principle of conferral of powers in Article 13(2) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the principle of institutional balance as developed in the case-law of the Court of Justice.

(1)  Council Decision (EU) 2020/470 of 25 March 2020 as regards the extension of the period of entitlement for audiovisual co-productions as provided for in Article 5 of the Protocol on Cultural Cooperation to the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part, OJ 2020, L 101, p. 1.

(2)  Council Decision (EU) 2015/2169 of 1 October 2015 on the conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part, OJ 2015, L 307, p. 2.