C-64/76
ECLI:EU:C:1982:185
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ORDER OF 19. 5. 1982 — JOINED CASES M AND 113/76, 167 AND 239/7S, 27, 28 AND 45/79
O R D E R O F T H E S E C O N D CHAMBER O F T H E C O U R T 19 MAY 1982
P. Dumortier Frères SA and Others v Council of the European Communities
Joined Cases 64 and 113/76, 167 and 239/78, 27, 28 and 45/79
In Joined Cases
64/76 P. DUMORTIER FRÈRES SA, Tourcoing, 113/76 MAÏSERIES DU N O R D SA, Marquette-lez-Lille,
167/78 MOULINS & HUILERIES DE PONT-À-MOUSSON SA, Pont-à-Mousson,
239/78 MAÏSERIES DE BEAUCE SÀRL (Moulin de Marboué), Marboué,
27/79 COSTIMEX SA, Strasbourg,
28/79 " L A PROVIDENCE AGRICOLE DE LA CHAMPAGNE", Société Coopérative Agricole, Rheims, .45/79 MAÏSERIES ALSACIENNES SA, Colmar,
applicants, v
EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY, represented by the Council of the European Communities,
defendant,
C O N C E R N I N G the determination of costs.
DUMORTIER v COUNCIL
T H E C O U R T (Second C h a m b e r )
c o m p o s e d of: O . D u e , President of C h a m b e r , A. C h l o r o s and F. Grévisse, Judges,
Advocate G e n e r a l : F. C a p o t o r t i Registrar: P . H e i m
makes the following
ORDER
Facts and Issues
1. By judgment of 19 May 1982 the Case 28/79 — F F 103 750.05, European Economic Community was Case 45/79 — F F 12 123.84. ordered to pay the costs of the proceedings.
4. They submit that their position must be viewed differently from that of the applicants in Joined Cases 241, 242 and 2. Since the parties have been unable to 246 to 249/78 (DGV and Others v reach agreement on the costs recoverable European Economic Community), in by the applicants they have asked the which the Court, by order of 1 July 1981 Court to tax them. ([1981] ECR 1731), fixed the costs at DM 100 000, plus postal, telephone, telex, photocopying and travelling expenses. 3. The applicants ask that costs recoverable be fixed as follows: They point out that the applicants in those cases, in contrast to the applicants in the present cases, commenced Case 64/76 — FF 53 437.70, proceedings only after the Court, by Case 113/76 — F F 48 157.65, judgment of 19 October 1977 in Joined Case 167/78 — FF 67 958.04, Cases 124/76 and 20/77 (Moulins & Case 239/78 — FF 48 412.05, Huileries de Pont-à-Mousson [1977] ECR Case 27/79 — FF 121 295.75, 1795), had held that the abolition of
ORDER OF 19. i. I9S2 — JOINED CASES 6* AND 113/76, 167 AND 2J9/7S, 27, 2S AND 45/79
production refunds for maize gritz was 5. The Council asks the Court to take unlawful. account of the fact that the sums in issue in Joined Cases 241, 242 and 246 to As a result the present cases contained an 249/78 were approximately twice the additional stage of written and oral size of those in issue in the present cases procedure in comparison with Joined and that the difficulty involved in the Cases 241, 242 and 246 to 249/78. two groups of cases is almost identical.
The Council considers that the fees They funher point out that the costs claimed in the present cases are excessive which they seek to recover also relate to in relation to the work involved, having the proceedings concerning the relevant regard in particular to the fact that the date for the conversion of damages, a legal position resulting from the abolition question which was decided by the Court of the refunds was identical for all the in its judgment of 19 May 1982. gritz cases.
Decision
1 According to Article 73 (b) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court, the following are to be regarded as recoverable costs: " . . . expenses necessarily incurred by the parties for the purpose of the proceedings, in particular the travel and subsistence expenses and the remuneration of agents, advisers or lawyers."
: As Community law does not contain any provisions laying down a scale of costs, the Court must undertake a free appreciation of the circumstances of the case, having regard to the subject-matter and nature of the dispute, its importance from the point of view of Community law, the difficulties of the proceedings, the amount of work which the litigation may have caused the lawyers and the financial implications for the parties.
As far as the present cases are concerned, account must also be taken of the fact that the legal problems were identical for all the cases, that thev were joined for the purposes of the procedure and that all the applicants were represented by the same lawyers. It is therefore appropriate to fix the recoverable costs for all these cases at a comprehensive figure to be divided among the applicants in proportion to the compensation awarded to each of them, unless they agree on another method of division.
DUMORTIER v COUNCIL
4 Regard being had to the new and important questions of Community law raised in these cases and to their financial importance and the considerable extent of the lawyers' work and the number and diversity of the procedural steps which it has been necessary to take, it is appropriate in this instance to fix the recoverable costs at the total sum of FF 300 000, in view of the fact that the applicants have not submitted a separate claim for, inter alia, the travelling expenses of their lawyers.
On those grounds
T H E C O U R T (Second Chamber)
hereby orders as follows:
1. The costs to be reimbursed to the applicants by the defendant are fixed at the sum of FF 300 000.
2. The recoverable costs are to be shared between the applicants in proportion to the amount of compensation awarded to each of them, unless by general agreement they ask the defendant, within one month of the present order, to divide the costs otherwise.
Luxembourg, 19 May 1982.
P. Heim O. Due Registrar President of lhe Second Chamber