Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 4 December 2019.Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo S.A. v European Commission.Appeal — Internal market in natural gas — Directive 2009/73/EC — Article 32 — Third-party access — Article 41(6), (8) and (10) — Rules on tariffs — Article 36 — Application for an exemption — Rules governing the operation of the OPAL pipeline — National regulatory authority — Exemption decision — Request for modification — European Commission Decision — Action for annulment — Fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU — Admissibility — Decision of no direct concern to the appellant.Case C-342/18 P.

Judgment // 04/12/2019 // 2 min read
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Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 4 December 2019 — Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo v Commission

(Case C‑342/18 P) ( 1 )

(Appeal — Internal market in natural gas — Directive 2009/73/EC — Article 32 — Third-party access — Article 41(6), (8) and (10) — Rules on tariffs — Article 36 — Application for an exemption — Rules governing the operation of the OPAL pipeline — National regulatory authority — Exemption decision — Request for modification — European Commission Decision — Action for annulment — Fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU — Admissibility —Decision of no direct concern to the appellant)

  1. Action for annulment — Natural or legal persons — Measures of direct and individual concern to them — Conditions cumulative in nature — Inadmissibility of the action where just one of those conditions not met

(Art. 263, fourth para., TFEU)

(see paras 35-37)

  1. Action for annulment — Natural or legal persons — Measures of direct and individual concern to them — Whether directly concerned — Criteria — Commission Decision addressed to a national regulatory authority, requiring it to modify a decision for exemption from the EU rules governing the operation of a pipeline — Discretion of the national regulatory authority responsible for its implementation — Characterisation — Not directly concerned — Inadmissibility

(Art. 263, fourth para., TFEU; European Parliament and Council Directive 2009/73, Art. 36)

(see paras 38, 39, 42-54)

  1. Fundamental rights — Right to effective judicial protection — Review of legality of EU measures — Procedures — Protection of that right by the EU judicature or by the national courts according to the legal nature of the contested measure — Possibility of using an annulment action or reference for a preliminary ruling on validity

(Arts 19 (1) TEU; Arts 263, fourth para., 267 and 277 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47)

(see paras 62, 63)

  1. Judicial proceedings — Objection of inadmissibility — Power of the General Court to rule immediately on the objection of inadmissibility without ruling on the substance — Extent of its discretion

(Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 130)

(see paras 73, 74, 77)

Operative part

The Court:

  1. Dismisses the appeal;

  2. Orders Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo S.A. to pay its own costs and bear those incurred by the European Commission;

  3. Orders the Federal Republic of Germany to pay its own costs.

( 1 ) OJ C 276, 6.8.2018.

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