Violation of EU law - EU Commisson does no start infringement proceedings (Not ECJ: 258TFUE,169EU Treaty,265 ) -> Instead ECG: failure to act, claim of nullity, claim for damages

The request was successful.

Dear European Court of Justice,

Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:

Background:

having the situation that the EU Commission is not willing to get active against a violation of EU law it came out trough my previous FOI:

http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/infri...

-> Not an individual and neither a state can go against a EU
commission that is ignoring a possible violation of EU law.

(Article 258 TFEU, Art 169 EU Treaty, Art265 Lisbon Treaty).

The only possibility seems to be
- that a foreign court calls the Luxembourg Court
-- (as seen with the German Constitution Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) in reference to he European Stability Mechanism (ESM) http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2... and
-- Max Schrems vs Facebook that was referred from a Irish court (1st Hearing Protocol http://www.europe-v-facebook.org/CJEU_he...). Max Schrems is still trying to get donations to pay these court proceedings, witnesses etc
(I did not investigate in whatever violation the cases were referred to Luxemburg court)

==> Factually it is not possibe to go to the Court of Justice of the European Union

Seeing the documents from: German League for Nature and Environment – DNR European Policy Coordination and International Affairs

Brussels Basics (2011)
http://eu-koordination.de/PDF/brusselsba...
Or the most recent one in German language
http://www.eu-koordination.de/PDF/bruess...
and a very interesting about citizens rights (again in German Language)
http://www.eu-koordination.de/PDF/2010-1...

so it seems there are some possibilities to go as individual citizen to court against EU Institutions like the EU Commission:

"Faelle, die vor das Gericht gebracht werden, stellen Entscheidungen oder Handlungen der EU infrage und koennen jeden Bereich betreffen, in den EU-Institutionen involviert sind. Das Gericht ist für drei Arten von Faellen zustaendig:

(A) Nichtigkeitsklage gegen Rechtsakte (Richtlinien, Verordnungen, Entscheidungen) der EU-Organe, durch die der Kläger unmittelbar und individuell betroffen ist

(B) Untaetigkeitsklage gegen Unterlassungbestimmter Handlungen durch EU-Organe, zum Beispiel, wenn ein Mitgliedstaat gegen EU-Recht verstoesst und die Kommission nach einer entsprechenden Aufforderung nichts dagegen unternommen hat

(C) Schadenersatzklage auf den Ersatz von Schaeden, die durch rechtswidriges Verhalten von EU-Organen oder Bediensteten in Ausuebung ihrer Amtstaetigkeit verursacht wurden

Die Gerichtsfaelle koennen alle Themen betreffen, die im Zusammenhang mit den EU-Institutionen stehen, zum Beispiel:
- Landwirtschaft
- staatliche Beihilfen
- Wettbewerb: Handelspolitik, Regionalpolitik, Sozialpolitik
- institutionelles Recht Markenrecht
- Verkehr
Einzelpersonen oder Organisationen koennen Klagen nur gegen EU-Institutionen, jedoch nicht gegen Mitgliedstaaten, andere Personen oder Organisationen vorbringen. Zu beachten ist auch, dass weder Gerichtshof noch Gericht Entscheidungen der nationalen Gerichte aufheben koennen." (Source: 4. Klage vor dem Gerichtshof; Page 10 of Document MEINE RECHTE HANDBUCH FUER EU-BESCHWERDEN, DNR)

So there are three points:

(A) Nichtigkeitsklage (maybe 'claim of nullity', 'revocation action')

(B) Untaetigkeitsklage (could be: 'application for failure to act' or 'application for an order of mandamus')

(C) Schadensersatzklage (maybe: claim for damages)

Don't rely fully on the English translation as I could have used the wrong wording.

My Question:
(1) Are there Court Documents (Cases) (this seems to be the General Court (ECG)) where individuals went agains Institutions of the European Union because people were suffering of (A), (B) or (C). Has the EU institutions been found guilty or did the court decide in favour of the EU institution ?
(1.1) How can I search for such decisions in the court database ?

(2) More detailed: Are there Court Documents (Cases) where private individuals went against the European Commission because the individuals were suffering from the violation of EU law through a member state whilst the EU commission did nothing (e.g. did not start infringement proceedings) ?
This means the people went to court against the EU Commission because they were suffering of (A), (B) or (C). Has the EU Commission been found guilty or did the court decide in favour of the EU Commission?
(2.1) How can I search for such decisions in the court database?

Yours faithfully,

Vinzenz Zinser
P.S. I am sorry the the request is so long. I tried to explain and make it clear.

Dear European Court of Justice,

i am still waiting for the answer. Now we have a delay and I hope it will not take longer until this FOI is answered.

Yours faithfully,

Vinzenz Zinser

Fretwell Christopher, Court of Justice of the European Union

Dear Mr Zinser,

In response to your request I would first like to point out that the right of access to documents only relates to the Court of Justice when exercising its administrative functions, and not in its judicial capacity. Your request is also, in reality, a request for information, not a request for access to documents. The Court does not hold any administrative documents which are of relevance to your request.

That being said, to answer your questions, you are quite right that the Court of Justice, the highest of the EU Courts, cannot accept any cases brought directly by an individual.

As you also identify, the General Court does have jurisdiction to hear cases brought by individuals, however this is only in clearly defined circumstances. This is notably where that person is seeking the annulment of an official decision of an EU institution, such as the European Commission, Parliament or Council. However, the decision of the EU institution must directly affect the individual's legal situation, for example, by being a decision addressed to that person, such as a competition decision finding a company has participated in a cartel.

As for actions for failure to act, this can only be brought where the institution has a legal obligation to take a decision vis-à-vis the individual concerned and fails to do so after a formal request.

Actions for damages can be brought by individuals for damages caused by the action of the institutions.

Further information about the jurisdiction of the General Court can be found at http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/Jo2_703....

Certainly, there have been many cases in which the General Court has not found in favour of the EU institution concerned. You can search the General Court's database at http://curia.europa.eu/juris. If you simply insert the name of an EU institution you should find all current cases relating to it. If you search further back you will see all closed cases relating to it.

In relation to your second question, as I have already informed you in a previous email, the Court of Justice stated in case C-247/87 (http://curia.europa.eu/juris/showPdf.jsf...) that the Commission is not obliged to commence infringement proceedings against a country but rather has a discretion to do so. It is therefore not possible to bring an action for annulment against such a Commission decision nor to take action for failure to act, or indeed for damages. Any such cases would be dismissed as inadmissible as there is no obligation on the Commission to take such action.

I hope these answers are of some assistance.

Regards,

Chris

Christopher Fretwell
English Section
Press and Information Unit
Court of Justice of the European Union
Tel: +352 4303 3355
Follow us on Twitter: @EUCourtPress

 

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