Judgment of the court of 15 décembre 1977 Firma Gebrüder Dietz v Commission of the European Communities Monetary compensatory amounts
In Case 126/76
THE COURT composed of: H. Kutscher, President, M. Sørensen and G. Bosco, Presidents of Chambers, A. M. Donner, J. Mertens de Wilmars, P. Pescatore and A. O'Keeffe, Judges, Advocate-General: J.-P. Warner Registrar: A. Van Houtte
gives the following
JUDGMENT
Facts and issues
I — Facts and procedure
II — Conclusions of the parties
III — Submissions and arguments of the parties
A — Admissibility
B — The substance of the case
Decision
Admissibility
The substance of the case
Costs
I —. Facts and procedure
II —. Conclusions of the parties
(a). Order the defendant to pay to the applicant DM 329429·40, together with 6 % interest from 1 October 1972;
(b). Order the defendant to pay the costs.
(a). Dismiss the application as inadmissible in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 91 (1) of the Rules of Procedure;
(b). Order the applicant to pay the costs.
(a). Dismiss the application as inadmissible and in any case unfounded;
(b). Order the applicant to pay the costs.
III —. Submissions and arguments of the parties
A —. Admissibility
B —. The substance of the case
1. The application, lodged on 23 December 1976, is for an order that the European Community should pay the sum of DM 329429.40 as compensation for the damage which the applicant claims to have suffered as the result of the application to Italy, by Regulation No 2887/71 of the Commission of 30 December 1971 (OJ English Special Edition 1966 to 1972, p. 67) of the system of monetary compensatory amounts fixed in agriculture following the temporary widening of the margins of fluctuation for the currencies of certain Member States.
2. The applicant had concluded on 17 December 1971 a sales contract with an Italian undertaking for the delivery between January and June 1972 of approximately 10000 tonnes of white sugar.
3. The Commission, the defendant, objects that the application is inadmissible, in that an application for damages under Articles 178 and 215 of the Treaty may not be used in order to call in question national measures relating to the application of Community provisions.
4. The applicant instituted proceedings in the Federal Republic of Germany but as it was uncertain whether the court would comply with its suggestion that the question should be referred to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling, it lodged the present application bearing in mind the period of limitation laid down in Article 43 of the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice.
5. According to the applicant, the damage suffered does not result from measures adopted by the national authorities but from an omission on the part of the Commission within the context of the regulations issued in implementation of Article 6 of Regulation No 974/71.
6. The matter has been brought before the Court within the bounds of its jurisdiction and it is therefore under a duty to examine whether the alleged omission in the Community regulations issued in implementation of Article 6 of Regulation No 974/71 constitutes an infringement of the law such as to incur the liability of the Community.
7. The application is therefore admissible.
8. The applicant claims that the application of the system of compensatory amounts to Italy by Regulation No 2887/71 caused it damage because the Commission omitted to lay down special or transitional rules protecting export contracts concluded prior to 19 December 1971.
9. It was inherent in the system of monetary compensatory amounts, as follows from Article 1 of Regulation No 974/71 alone, that if Italy permitted the exchange rate of its currency to fluctuate to the extent laid down in Article 1 of that regulation, monetary compensatory amounts might become applicable in Italy.
10. Consequently, the application must be dismissed.
11. Under Article 69 (2) of the Rules of Procedure, the unsuccessful party shall be ordered to pay the costs.
On those grounds, THE COURT, hereby:
1 Dismisses the application.
2 Orders the applicant to bear the costs.
1 Language of the Case: German.