T-183/00
Strabag | 37-38+46 | ECT-NonExi | 37 As a preliminary point it should be noted that , according to settled case-law, the Community judicature, drawing inspiration from the principles identified by the national legal systems, declares that acts tainted by irregularities which are particularly serious and obvious are non-existent (Case 15/85 Consorzio Cooperative d'Abruzzo v Commission [1987] ECR 1005, paragraph 10, and Case C-137/92 P Commission v BASF and Others [1994] ECR I-2555, paragraph 49). This plea relates to public policy and it is for the Court, in an action for annulment brought under Article 230 EC, to consider, of its own motion, the issue of the existence of the contested measure if the parties put forward sufficient evidence in that regard (see, to that effect, Case T-9/89 Hüls v Commission [1992] ECR II-499, paragraph 384).
38 In the present case the arguments expounded by the applicant, particularly during the hearing, provide sufficient support for the suggestion that the contested decision is non-existent. It is therefore necessary to ascertain whether, in the present case, the contested decision is tainted within the meaning of the case-law cited in the previous paragraph, without its being necessary to consider the matter - raised by the Council - of the admissibility of this plea.
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46 It follows from the above that the plea alleging the non-existence of the contested decision is unfounded. |
