Judgment_paragraph 32 · Mehibas Dordtselaan BV v Commission of the European Communities (T-290/97)

32Furthermore, under Article 176 of the EC Treaty (now Article 233 EC) the Commission was bound to adopt the measures necessary to implement France-Aviation including those relating to repayment procedures which were already under way (Joined Cases 59/80 and 129/80 Turner v Commission [1981] ECR 1883, paragraph 72, and Joined Cases 97/86, 193/86, 99/86 and 215/86 Asteris and Others v Commission [1988] ECR 2181, paragraphs 28 and 30). In this case, the grounds of the judgment in France-Aviation (paragraph 39) indicate that a new procedure ought to have been initiated on the basis of a case-file supplemented by the Netherlands authorities and the applicant. That is why the Commission revoked its decision of 14 November 1994, requested the Netherlands authorities to make a new application for repayment including a statement signed by the applicant and took a new decision within six months of receiving the latter application. The Commission contends that the statement required is a way of ensuring that the case contains all the information transmitted by both the customs authorities and the person concerned, and therefore constitutes an appropriate measure to guarantee the latter's right to be heard. The decision in France-Aviation does not require the Commission to hear the interested party itself but simply to take its decision on the basis of a complete case-file. Lastly, it points out that it described the requirement of a statement in clear and precise terms in its letter of 4 June 1996 to the Netherlands authorities, and that the Netherlands authorities then fully apprised the applicant thereof in accordance with the procedure provided for by Regulation No 2454/93.

Mehibas Dordtselaan BV v Commission of the European Communities (T-290/97)

Key facts

History · 1 version

Connections