Judgment_paragraph 53 · Koninklijke Coöperatie Cosun UA v Commission of the European Communities (T-240/02)

53In the further alternative, and were the Court to consider that Article 13 of Regulation No 1430/79 was inapplicable, the applicant submits that the Commission was none the less obliged to consider the application for remission, even outside the framework of the regulation, and that, by simply declaring the application inadmissible, it contravened the principles of legal certainty, equality and equity. The applicant argues that if the Commission were not under such an obligation there would be a gap in the legal protection available to it. It observes that the Court has confirmed that higher-ranking legal principles, including in particular the principle of proportionality, apply to the imposition of levies on C sugar (Case C-161/96 Südzucker [1998] ECR I-281, paragraphs 34 and 35). It also refers to the Opinion of Advocate General Mischo in British Sugar, in which he states that Article 3 of Regulation No 2670/81 must be interpreted and applied in accordance with general principles of law.

Koninklijke Coöperatie Cosun UA v Commission of the European Communities (T-240/02)

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