Amendment to the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities

THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, in particular the fifth paragraph of Article 224 thereof,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, in particular Article 140(5) thereof,

Having regard to the agreement of the Court of Justice;

Having regard to the approval of the Council given on 19 April 2004;

Whereas:

With the entry into force of the Treaty concerning the accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic to the European Union(1), the number of Judges comprising the Court of First Instance will rise from 15 to 25, in accordance with Article 48 of the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice, and it is necessary in consequence to fix the number of Judges forming the Grand Chamber;

HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING AMENDMENTS TO ITS RULES OF PROCEDURE

Article 1

The Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities of 2 May 1991 (OJ L 136, 30.5.1991, p. 1), amended on 15 September 1994 (OJ L 249, 24.9.1994, p. 17), 17 February 1995 (OJ L 44, 28.2.1995, p. 64), 6 July 1995 (OJ L 172, 22.7.1995, p. 3), 12 March 1997 (OJ L 103, 19.4.1997, p. 6; Corrigendum: OJ L 351, 23.12.1997, p. 72), 17 May 1999 (OJ L 135, 29.5.1999, p. 92); 6 December 2000 (OJ L 322, 19.12.2000, p. 4) and 21 May 2003 (OJ L 147, 14.6.2003) are amended as follows:

in Article 10(1), "11" shall be replaced by "13".

Article 2

This amendment to the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, which is authentic in the languages referred to in Article 35(1) of these Rules, shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall enter into force at the same time as the Treaty concerning the accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic to the European Union.

The texts of the Rules of Procedure in Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Slovak and Slovene shall be adopted after the entry into force of the Treaty referred to in the previous paragraph.

Done at Luxembourg, 21 April 2004.

The Registrar

H. Jung

The President

B. Vesterdorf

(1) OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 17.