Keywords
Summary

Keywords

++++

1. Actions for annulment of measures ° Measures against which actions may be brought ° Definition ° Measures producing legal effects ° Conclusion by the Commission of an international agreement

(EEC Treaty, Art. 173, first para.)

2. International agreements ° Agreements entered into by the Community ° Conclusion ° Capacity vesting in the Community and not in its institutions

(EEC Treaty, Arts 210 and 228)

3. International agreements ° Agreements entered into by the Community ° Conclusion ° Article 228 of the Treaty ° Division of powers ° Attribution of specific powers to the different institutions ° Competence vested in principle in the Council ° Competence of the Commission ° Derogating nature ° Wide interpretation ° Not permissible

(EEC Treaty, Art. 228; EAEC Treaty, Art. 101, third para.)

4. International agreements ° Agreements entered into by the Community ° Conclusion ° Commission not competent to conclude an agreement with a non-member country in the sphere of the competition rules

(EEC Treaty, Arts 89 and 228; Council Regulations Nos 17 and 4064/89)

Summary

1. In order for an action to be admissible under the first paragraph of Article 173 of the Treaty, the contested act must be an act of an institution which produces legal effects. Since it is apparent from the actual wording of an agreement concluded by the Commission with a non-member country that that agreement is intended to produce legal effects, the act whereby the Commission sought to conclude the agreement must be susceptible to an action for annulment. Exercise of the powers delegated to the Community institutions in international matters cannot escape judicial review, under Article 173 of the Treaty, of the legality of the acts adopted.

2. It is the Community alone, having legal personality pursuant to Article 210 of the Treaty, which has the capacity to bind itself by concluding agreements with a non-member country or an international organization.

3. Article 228 of the Treaty constitutes, as regards the conclusion of treaties, an autonomous general provision of a constitutional nature, in that it confers specific powers on the Community institutions.

The fact that the rule laid down by Article 228(1), which confers upon the Council the power to conclude international agreements, is subject to an exception, in that the exercise of that power is subject to powers vested in the Commission, cannot be relied on by the Commission in support of a claim, made with reference to the practices followed or on the basis of reasoning by analogy with the third paragraph of Article 101 of the EAEC Treaty, that it enjoys powers which are not vested in it by the Treaty.

4. Even though the Commission has the power, pursuant to Article 89 of the Treaty and Regulations Nos 17 and 4064/89, to take individual decisions applying the rules of competition, that does not give it the power to conclude an international agreement with a non-member country in that field. That internal power is not such as to alter the division of powers between the Community institutions with regard to the conclusion of international agreements, which is determined by Article 228 of the Treaty.