Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 5 September 2019 — European Union, represented by the Court of Justice of the European Union v Guardian Europe Sàrl and European Union, represented by the European Commission (C-447/17 P) and Guardian Europe Sàrl v European Union, represented by the Court of Justice of the European Union, and European Union, represented by the European Commission (C-479/17 P)

(Joined Cases C-447/17 P and C-479/17 P) (1)

(Appeals - Actions for damages - Second paragraph of Article 340 TFEU - Excessive length of the proceedings in a case before the General Court of the European Union - Compensation for the damage allegedly sustained by the applicant - Concept of a ‘single undertaking’ not applied - Material damage - Bank guarantee costs - Causal link - Loss of profit - Non-pecuniary damage - Liability of the European Union for damage caused by infringements of EU law arising from a decision of the General Court - No incurring of liability)

(2019/C 383/07)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Case C-447/17 P

Appellant: European Union, represented by the Court of Justice of the European Union (represented initially by J. Inghelram and K. Sawyer, and subsequently by J. Inghelram, acting as Agents)

Other parties to the proceedings: Guardian Europe Sàrl (represented by C. O’Daly, Solicitor, and F. Louis, avocat), European Union, represented by the European Commission (represented by N. Khan, A. Dawes and C. Urraca Caviedes, acting as Agents)

Case C-479/17 P

Appellant: Guardian Europe Sàrl (represented by C. O’Daly, Solicitor, and F. Louis, avocat)

Other parties to the proceedings: European Union, represented by the Court of Justice of the European Union (represented initially by J. Inghelram and K. Sawyer, and subsequently by J. Inghelram, acting as Agents), European Union, represented by the European Commission (represented by N. Khan, A. Dawes and C. Urraca Caviedes, acting as Agents)

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1.	Sets aside point 1 of the operative part of the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of 7 June 2017, Guardian Europe v European Union (T-673/15, EU:T:2017:377);

2.	Dismisses the main appeal, brought by Guardian Europe Sàrl, in Case C-479/17 P;

3.	Dismisses the cross-appeal, brought by the European Union, represented by the Court of Justice of the European Union, in Case C-479/17 P;

4.

Dismisses the action for damages brought by Guardian Europe Sàrl in so far as it is designed to obtain compensation in the sum of EUR 936 000 for the alleged material damage consisting in the payment of bank guarantee costs after the reasonable period for adjudicating in the case which gave rise to the judgment of 27 September 2012, Guardian Industries and Guardian Europe v Commission (T-82/08, EU:T:2012:494);

5.

Orders Guardian Europe Sàrl to bear, in addition to its own costs, all the costs incurred by the European Union, represented both by the Court of Justice of the European Union and by the European Commission, both at first instance and in the appeal in Case C-447/17 P and the main appeal in Case C-479/17 P;

6.	Orders the European Union, represented by the Court of Justice of the European Union, to bear, in addition to its own costs, all the costs incurred by Guardian Europe Sàrl in the cross-appeal in Case C-479/17 P.

---

(1)  OJ C 369, 30.10.2017.