Judgment_paragraph 53 · Confederazione Nazionale Coltivatori Diretti (Coldiretti) and 110 farmers v Council of the European Union and Commission of the European Communities (T-149/96)

53The defendants dispute the admissibility of the claim for compensation made by Coldiretti. They refer to the relevant case-law, according to which an organisation formed for the defence of the collective interests of a fixed category of persons does not have the requisite standing to bring a claim for compensation for damage suffered by its members. The Community judicature has held that a trade or professional association has the right to bring proceedings under Article 215 of the Treaty only where it is able to assert in law either a particular interest of its own which is distinct from that of its members or a right to compensation which has been assigned to it by others (Case 72/74 Union Syndicale and Others ν Council [1975] ECR 401, paragraphs 20 to 22; Exporteurs in Levende Varkens, cited above, paragraph 64; order in Syndicat des Producteurs de Viande Bovine, cited above, paragraph 28). The application does not show, or even imply, that Coldiretti has suffered damage in its own right or that it is seeking to enforce a right to compensation assigned to it by its members. Coldiretti has not proved, or even maintained, that either of those situations obtains in the present case. Consequently, its application is manifestly inadmissible.

Confederazione Nazionale Coltivatori Diretti (Coldiretti) and 110 farmers v Council of the European Union and Commission of the European Communities (T-149/96)

Key facts

History · 1 version

Connections