Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1. Procedure - Amendments to the Rules of Procedure - Immediate application

(Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance)

2. Procedure - Intervention - Lodging of the application to intervene - Time-limit - Decision to open the oral procedure - Definition

(Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, Arts 52, 53, 115(1) and 116(6))

3. Procedure - Intervention - Persons having sufficient interest - Action for annulment of a refusal to act on a complaint based on the competition rules - Party subject of the complaint

(EC Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 37, second para., and 46)

Summary

$$1. Amendments to its Rules of Procedure adopted by the Court of First Instance, being procedural provisions, are, on principle, immediately applicable as from the date of their entry into force.

( see para. 23 )

2. Article 115(1) read with Article 116(6) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, as in force since 1 February 2001, allows parties who have not lodged their application to intervene within the time-limits laid down for intervening during the written procedure to intervene on the basis of the Report for the Hearing during the oral procedure, subject to their application to intervene being lodged before the opening thereof.

In that regard, the decision to open the oral procedure, which is when time for lodging an application to intervene finally expires, is the decision under Article 53 of those Rules and is taken by the Court of First Instance after the presentation by the Judge-Rapporteur of the preliminary report provided for by Article 52 of the Rules of Procedure.

( see paras 24-25, 27 )

3. The concept of an interest in the result of the case, within the meaning of the second paragraph of Article 37 of the Statute of the Court of Justice, which applies to the Court of First Instance by virtue of Article 46 of that Statute, must be understood as a direct, existing interest in the grant of the order sought.

In the context of an action for annulment of a Commission decision refusing to act on a complaint alleging infringement of Articles 82 EC and 86 EC, an entity which is the subject of the complaint to which that refusal relates does have such an interest.

( see paras 32-34 )