Judgment_paragraph 46 · TestBioTech eV and Others v European Commission (C-82/17 P)

46The second alternative complaint concerns paragraphs 143 to 147 of the judgment under appeal, which read as follows:143 Secondly, as regards the argument that the Commission based itself on “a” manifest failure in EFSA’s approach to the comparative analysis to justify its failure to investigate in greater depth differences that could reveal unintended effects caused by the stacking of the proteins in question, it should be noted that the first applicant does not explain exactly which “failure” on the part of the Commission contained in the … decision [at issue] it means. It does not indicate in this part why it believes that the Commission’s argument to the effect that the variations identified between daidzein and genistein levels present in the modified soybean, and those present in its conventional counterpart remained within the range shown by the reference substances is vitiated by a manifest error of assessment.144 Nor is it clear from the first applicant’s arguments directed against the … decision [at issue] specifically which statistically significant differences the Commission ought to have taken into account and which, in the first applicant’s view, are relevant to substantiate its assertion that there is “a” manifest failure vitiating the comparative analysis approach.145 It should be borne in mind that Article 44(1)(c) of the Rules of Procedure [of the General Court] of 2 May 1991 provides that the application must state the subject matter of the proceedings and a summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based. According to settled case-law, those particulars must be sufficiently clear and precise to enable the defendant to prepare its defence and the Court to rule on the action, if necessary, without any further information. In order to guarantee legal certainty and the sound administration of justice it is necessary, in order for an action to be admissible, that the basic legal and factual particulars relied on be indicated, at least in summary form, coherently and intelligibly in the application itself (see, to that effect, order of 11 January 2013, Charron Inox and Almet v Commission and Council, T‑445/11 and T‑88/12, not published, EU:T:2013:4, paragraph 57).146 Moreover, given that the arguments put forward in the present case concern highly technical facts and given the complexity of the field at issue, the use of general and imprecise references to other parts of the application or other documents does not satisfy the requirements of the case-law cited in paragraph 145 above. Although it is possible, where there is a general reference to points made in other pleas, that the basic legal and factual particulars relied on by the applicant are set out in the application, it is nevertheless important for the applicant to present them coherently and intelligibly. In particular, it is not the task of the Court to search through all the matters relied on in support of a first plea in order to ascertain whether those matters could also be used in support of a second plea and, in this instance, which matters could be used (see, to that effect, judgment of 27 September 2006, Roquette Frères v Commission, T‑322/01, EU:T:2006:267, paragraph 209).147 Therefore, since it is not stated coherently and intelligibly in the application in respect of which “failure” the first applicant is criticising the Commission, its argument on this point must be rejected as inadmissible.’