Order of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 31 March 2011 – Mauerhofer v Commission
(Case C-433/10 P)
Appeal – Project supported by the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Contracts concluded between the Commission and a consortium and between the consortium and experts – Commission’s administrative order amending its contract with the consortium – Action for annulment of that administrative order brought by one of the experts – Admissibility – Action for damages – Non-contractual liability of the Union – Causal link between the Commission’s administrative order and the damage allegedly suffered by that expert
1.Actions for annulment – Actionable measures – Meaning – Measures producing binding legal effects – Measures altering the applicant's legal situation – Commission’s administrative order amending a contract it had concluded with a consortium – Not included (Art. 263 TFEU) (see paras 57-63)
2.Appeals – Grounds – Mistaken assessment of the facts – Inadmissibility – Review by the Court of the assessment of the facts and evidence – Possible only where the clear sense of the evidence has been distorted (Art. 256 TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, first para.) (see paras 69-72, 119-121)
3.Appeals – Grounds – Inadequate or contradictory grounds – Admissibility – Scope of the obligation to state reasons – Extent of the Court of Justice’s review of judgment of the General Court (see paras 76-77)
4.Appeals – Grounds – Plea submitted for the first time in the context of the appeal – Manifest inadmissibility (see paras 87-89)
5.Appeals – Grounds – Error of law relied on not identified – Manifest inadmissibility (Art. 256 TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice, Art. 112(1)(c)) (see paras 99-101)
6.Non-contractual liability – Conditions – Causal link – Burden of proof (Art. 340(2) TFEU) (see para. 127)
7.Appeals – Grounds – Mere repetition of the pleas and arguments put forward before the Court of First Instance – Mistaken assessment of the facts – Plea clearly unfounded (Art. 256 TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 58, first para.) (see paras 128-133)
Re:
| Appeal brought against the order of the General Court (Third Chamber) of 29 June 2010 in Case T-515/08 | Mauerhofer | v | Commission | by which that Court dismissed an action for annulment of the Commission’s decision of 9 September 2008 reducing the number of paid days’ work allocated to the applicant to perform tasks resulting from a contract for an expert’s report (Contract No MC/5043/025/001/2008 – ‘Value Chain Mapping Analysis’) concluded with the undertaking responsible for a project carried out in Bosnia and Herzegovina in performance of the framework contract ‘EuropeAid/123314/C/SER/multi – Lot No 5 – Evaluations and presentations in the field of trade, businesses and regional economic integration’ – No challengeable act. |
Operative part
1. |
| The appeal is dismissed. |
2. |
| Mr Mauerhofer is ordered to pay the costs. |