Court of Justice (Grand Chamber) 22 February 2005, C-141/02 P (Commission of the European Communities v T-Mobile Austria GmbH.)

Also known as

In Case C-141/02 P, the Court of Justice (Grand Chamber) held that the Commission's appeal against the Court of First Instance's admissibility ruling was itself admissible, as a decision rejecting a plea of inadmissibility constitutes a 'decision disposing of a procedural issue' under Article 49(1) of the EC Statute, even where the underlying action was ultimately dismissed on the merits. On the substantive admissibility question, the Court held that Article 90(3) EC does not oblige the Commission to bring proceedings against a Member State at an individual's request, and that a Commission letter refusing to pursue infringement proceedings under that provision does not produce binding legal effects and therefore cannot be challenged by way of an action for annulment, regardless of whether the applicant has a direct and individual interest. Accordingly, the Court set aside the Court of First Instance's judgment in Case T-54/99 and dismissed max.mobil's action as inadmissible, confirming that no general principle of Community law confers standing on an undertaking to challenge such a refusal before the Community courts.AI