Judgment_paragraph 79 · Philip Morris International, Inc and Others v Commission of the European Communities (T-377/00, T-379/00, T-380/00, T-260/01, T-272/01)

79The commencement of legal proceedings is not without legal effects, but those effects concern principally the procedure before the court seised of the case. The commencement of proceedings constitutes an indispensable step for the purpose of obtaining a binding judgment but does not per se determine definitively the obligations of the parties to the case. That determination can result only from the judgment of the court. The decision to commence legal proceedings does not, therefore, in itself alter the legal position in question (see, concerning a decision by the Commission to bring an action under the second paragraph of Article 226 EC, Commission v Germany, cited in paragraph 35 above, paragraph 47). When it decides to commence proceedings, the Commission does not intend (itself) to change the legal position in question, but merely opens a procedure whose purpose is to achieve a change in that position through a judgment. In principle, therefore, such a decision by the institution cannot be considered to be a decision which is open to challenge.