Judgment_paragraph 40 · É. R., O. O., J. R., A. R., B. P. R. and Others v Council of the European Union and Commission of the European Communities (T-138/03)

40According to settled case-law, the action for damages under Article 235 EC and the second paragraph of Article 288 EC was established as an autonomous remedy with a particular function to fulfil within the system of remedies, whose exercise is subject to conditions imposed in view of its specific objective (Joined Cases T-481/93 and T-484/93 Exporteurs in Levende Varkens and Others v Commission [1995] ECR II-2941, paragraph 69). It is correct, however, that an action for damages must be appraised with regard to the entire system for the judicial protection of the individual and its admissibility may thus, in some cases, be subject to the prior exhaustion of national remedies that are available for obtaining annulment of a decision of a national authority. In order for this to be the case, it is a necessary precondition that those national remedies give effective protection to the individuals concerned and that they are capable of leading to compensation for the damage alleged (Case 175/84 Krohn v Commission [1986] ECR 753, paragraph 27, and De Boer Buizen v Council and Commission, paragraph 9).