80It should be noted that a breach of the ‘reasonable time’ principle does not, as a general rule, warrant annulment of a decision adopted following an administrative procedure. It is only where the undue delay is likely to have an effect on the substance itself of the decision adopted following the administrative procedure that the failure to observe the ‘reasonable time’ principle affects the validity of the administrative procedure (see, to that effect, Order of the Court of 13 December 2000 in Case C-39/00 P SGA v Commission [2000] ECR I-11201, paragraph 44; see also, by analogy, Joined Cases C-120/06 P and C-121/06 P FIAMM and Others v Council and Commission [2008] ECR I-6513, paragraph 203; and Case T-240/07 Heineken v Commission [2011] ECR II-3355, paragraph 295).
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