Judgment_paragraph 36 · Romania v European Commission (T-33/21)

36It must be recalled that the obligation to state reasons laid down in Article 296 TFEU is an essential procedural requirement, as distinct from the question of the merits of the grounds relied on, the merits relating to the substantive legality of the contested measure. With that in mind, the statement of reasons must be appropriate to the act at issue and must disclose in a clear and unequivocal fashion the reasoning followed by the institution which adopted the measure, in such a way as to enable the persons concerned to ascertain the reasons for the measure and to enable the competent court to exercise its power of review (see judgment of 16 February 2017, Romania v Commission, T‑145/15, EU:T:2017:86, paragraph 42 and the case-law cited).