23.8.2021

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 338/43

(Case T-420/21)

(2021/C 338/53)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: Cargolux Airlines International SA (Cargolux) (Sandweiler, Luxembourg) (represented by: G. Goeteyn and E. Aliende Rodríguez, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant claim that the Court should:

—annul the letter from the Commission to Cargolux dated 30 April 2021 in full;

—order the Union, represented by the Commission, to redress the damage sustained by Cargolux because of the Commission’s failure to pay the Default Interest Amount Payable and Compound Interest Amount Payable, pursuant to the first paragraph of Article 266 TFEU, in compliance with the judgment of 16 December 2015, Cargolux Airlines International SA v Commission (Case T-39/11), and therefore pay the following amounts, pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 266 TFEU, Article 268 TFEU and the second paragraph of Article 340 TFEU:

(a)the Default Interest Amount Payable, i.e. interest on the sum of EUR 39 900 000 at the European Central Bank interest rate for its refinancing operations on 1 November 2010 (namely, 1 %), increased by 3,5 %, for the period between 15 February 2011 and 5 February 2016, which results in an amount of EUR 8 075 972,03 or, failing that, at the interest rate the General Court considers appropriate; and

(b)the Compound Interest Amount Payable, i.e. interest on the amount of the Default Interest Amount Payable under paragraph (a) above, for the period between 5 February 2016 and the date of actual payment by the Commission of the amount claimed in paragraph (a) above (or in the event that the Court rejects Cargolux’s request for the Compound Interest Amount Payable to run from 5 February 2016, at the very least for the period between the date of this application and the date of actual payment by the Commission of the amount claimed in paragraph (a) above), at the European Central Bank interest rate for its refinancing operations on 1 November 2010 (namely, 1 %), increased by 3,5 % (or, failing that, at the interest rate the General Court considers appropriate);

—order the Commission to pay the entirety of Cargolux’s costs of the present proceedings.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicant relies on two pleas in law.

1.First plea in law, alleging that the contested decision notified by the letter of 30 April 2021 is vitiated by an error of law and must be annulled in full pursuant to Article 263 TFEU. The applicant alleges that the contested decision incorrectly asserts that Cargolux’s request of 2 February 2021 for payment of the Default Interest Amount Payable and the Compound Interest Amount Payable is time-barred and inadmissible.

2.Second plea in law, alleging that the Commission’s breach of the first paragraph of Article 266 TFEU renders the Union non-contractually liable to pay compensation equal to the Default Interest Amount Payable and the Compound Interest Amount Payable to Cargolux, pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 266 TFEU, Article 268 TFEU and the second paragraph of Article 340 TFEU.