22The findings of the Court of First Instance were in this respect as follows:27 It is apparent from settled case-law that, pursuant to the fourth subparagraph of Article 230 EC, a natural or legal person may challenge only measures which produce binding legal effects capable of affecting that person's interests by bringing about a distinct change in its legal situation (judgment of the Court in Case 60/81 IBM v Commission [1981] ECR I-2639, paragraph 9; judgments of the Court of First Instance in Case T-37/92 BEUC and NCC v Commission [1994] ECR II-285, paragraph 27, and Case T-178/94 ATM v Commission [1997] ECR II-2529, paragraph 53).28 It is apparent from the Commission's pleadings, the documents disclosed to the Court of First Instance and, in particular, from the contract of 27 February 2002 and the proposal of 19 November 2001 made by the [CEERD-FIHRD], that the Commission adopted the decision at issue with full knowledge of the facts, that is to say, knowing perfectly well that the other contracting party was a separate body from the AIT and that the CEERD and its director were no longer associated with the AIT. As the Commission observes in its defence, the proposal of 19 November 2001 and, in particular, Part II, ‘The Applicant’, explicitly mention the transfer of the CEERD from the AIT to the FIHRD and the fact that Mr T. Lefèvre was no longer employed at the AIT. In addition, the documents in question had notified the Commission, before the contract was concluded, of a completely new set of contact details for the CEERD and for the FIHRD.29 It follows from the preceding that the Commission's decision to conclude the contract of 27 February 2002 was not vitiated by any error as regards the separate identity of the contracting party, nor by any misleading practice as regards the existence of a connection between that latter and the applicant. The Commission was aware that the contract had been sought by Mr Lefèvre on behalf of the [CEERD-FIHRD], a new and separate body, and it concluded the contract in the knowledge of that fact.30 Accordingly, the contested decision is addressed to the [CEERD-FIHRD] and not to the applicant, and the contract of 27 February 2002 neither imposes any obligations on that latter party nor grants it any rights. The Commission's decision concluding that contract does not concern the applicant in any way, and its annulment is neither capable of altering the applicant's legal position nor of benefiting it in any way.31 In view of the preceding, the applicant cannot claim that the decision at issue has produced any binding legal effects capable of affecting its interests by bringing about a distinct change in its legal situation.32 In so far as the applicant considers itself harmed by the alleged underhand conduct of Mr Lefèvre and by the alleged ‘usurpation’ of the CEERD, it is still in a position to assert its rights before the competent national courts. The annulment of the decision at issue could not compensate for the loss allegedly suffered because of the alleged usurpation.’
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