Judgment_paragraph 53 · Citymo SA v Commission of the European Communities (T-271/04)

53Under the combined provisions of Articles 225(1) EC and 238 EC, the Court of First Instance has jurisdiction to give judgment pursuant to any arbitration clause contained in a contract concluded by or on behalf of the Community, whether that contract be governed by public or private law. The case-law states that only the parties to the arbitration clause can be parties to the action brought on the basis of Article 238 EC (see, to that effect, Case 23/76 Pellegrini v Commission [1976] ECR 1807, paragraph 31). In the absence of any expression of the parties' intention to confer jurisdiction on it to adjudicate on a contractual dispute, the Court cannot accept the referral of the case (see, to that effect, order in Case T-186/96 Mutual Aid Administration Services v Commission [1997] ECR II-1633, paragraph 46), otherwise it would extend its jurisdiction beyond the limits placed by Article 240 EC, since that article specifically gives national courts or tribunals ordinary jurisdiction over disputes to which the Community is a party (Joined Cases 133/85 to 136/85 Rau and Others [1987] ECR 2289, paragraph 10, and order in Mutual Aid Administration Services v Commission, paragraph 47). As this Community jurisdiction derogates from ordinary law, it must also be given a restrictive interpretation (Case 426/85 Commission v Zoubek [1986] ECR 4057, paragraph 11).

Citymo SA v Commission of the European Communities (T-271/04)

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