[1]Avis juridique important
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                                   61989A0114

   Judgment of the Court of First Instance (First Chamber) of 13 December
   1990. - Vereniging van Nederlandse Ziekenfondsen and others v
   Commission of the European Communities. - Competition - Omni-partijen
   akkoord - Admissibility - Nature of contested act. - Case T-114/89.
   European Court reports 1990 Page II-00827
   Pub.RJ Page Pub somm

   [2]Summary
   [3]Parties
   [4]Operative part

Keywords

   ++++

   Action for annulment of measures - Measures against which actions may
   be brought - Letter addressed by a Member of the Commission to a Member
   State expressing an opinion as regards the compatibility of an
   agreement between undertakings with the competition rules of the Treaty
   - No binding legal effects - Exclusion - Taking account thereof by
   addressee Member State when adopting national measures - Immaterial

   ( EEC Treaty, Arts 5, 85 and 173; Regulation No 17 of the Council )

Summary

   A letter addressed to the authorities of a Member State by a Member of
   the Commission which merely represents an initial evaluation, by the
   Commission' s departments, of an agreement between undertakings with
   regard to Article 85 of the Treaty and confines itself to suggesting
   amendments thereto, without producing binding legal effects such as
   those resulting from a decision granting exemption or a decision
   ordering interim measures, the procedural rights of the parties to the
   agreement and any person who has lodged a complaint against it being
   expressly reserved, cannot be regarded as an act whose annulment may be
   sought in an action under Article 173 of the Treaty .

   The fact that the said letter led the national authorities to which it
   was addressed to adopt measures of domestic law does not alter its
   legal nature . The Commission has no power either under Article 85 of
   the Treaty or Regulation No 17 or under Article 5 of the Treaty to
   address a binding decision to a Member State as regards the conduct to
   be adopted by the national authorities in connection with an agreement
   between undertakings falling under Article 85 of the Treaty,

   ( The grounds of this judgment are not substantively different from
   those of the judgment, also delivered on 13 December 1990, in Case
   T-113/89 Nefarma and Others v Commission [1990] ECR II-797 .)

Parties

   In Case T-114/89,

   Vereniging van Nederlandse Ziekenfondsen, whose registered office is in
   Zeist ( Netherlands ),

   Kontaktorgaan Landelijke Organisaties van Ziektekostenversekeraars,
   whose registered office is in Houten ( Netherlands ),

   and

   Kontaktcommissie Publiekrechtelijke Ziektekostenregelingen voor
   Ambtenaren, whose registered office is at Nieuwegein ( Netherlands ),

   represented by H . P . Utermark, of the Hague Bar, and F . O . W .
   Vogelaar, of the Rotterdam Bar, with an address for service in
   Luxembourg at the Chambers of J . Loesch, 8 rue Zithe,

   applicants,

   v

   Commission of the European Communities, represented by B . J . Drijber,
   a member of its Legal Department, acting as Agent, with an address for
   service in Luxembourg at the office of Guido Berardis, also a member of
   the Commission' s Legal Department, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg,

   defendant,

   supported by

   Kingdom of the Netherlands, represented by J . W . de Zwaan, Assistant
   Legal Adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as Agent, with
   an address for service in Luxembourg at the Netherlands Embassy, 5 rue
   C . M . Spoo,

   intervener,

   APPLICATION for a declaration that one or more decisions alleged by the
   applicants to be contained in various letters of a Member of the
   Commission and of a Director of the Directorate-General for Competition
   are void,

   THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE ( First Chamber ),

   composed of : J . L . Cruz Vilaça, President, H . Kirschner, R .
   Schintgen, R . García-Valdecasas and K . Lenaerts, Judges,

   ( The grounds of the judgment are not reproduced .)

Operative part

   hereby :

   ( 1 ) Dismisses the application as inadmissible;

   ( 2 ) Orders the applicants to pay the costs jointly and severally,
   except those incurred by the intervener, which must be borne by the
   intervener itself .

References

   1. file:///../editorial/legal_notice.htm
   2. file:///tmp/lynxXXXXTA9ws6/L108283-3669TMP.html#SM
   3. file:///tmp/lynxXXXXTA9ws6/L108283-3669TMP.html#I1
   4. file:///tmp/lynxXXXXTA9ws6/L108283-3669TMP.html#DI