Judgment_paragraph 31 · Appeal — Actions for damages — Second paragraph of Article 340 TFEU — Excessive duration of the proceedings in two cases before the General Court of the European Union — Damage allegedly suffered by the applicants — Material damage — Bank guarantee charges — Causal link — Default interest — Non-material damage (C-138/17 P, C-146/17 P)

31In those circumstances, the breach of the obligation to adjudicate within a reasonable time in Cases T‑72/06 and T‑79/06 cannot be the determining cause of the damage suffered by Gascogne as a result of paying bank guarantee charges during the period by which that time was exceeded. As the Advocate General noted in point 58 of his Opinion, such damage is the consequence of Gascogne’s own decision to maintain the bank guarantee throughout the proceedings in those cases, despite the financial consequences which that entailed.