Merlin and Others v Commission

Provisional text JUDGMENT OF THE GENERAL COURT (Eighth Chamber, Extended Composition)13 November 2024 (*)( Action for failure to act – State aid – Common fisheries policy – Funding for shipowners fishing with beam trawl using electrical pulse current – Complaint – Admissibility – Definition of a position by the Commission – Clear and definitive nature of the position adopted – Competence of the Commission – Obligation to act )In Case T‑141/23,Laurent Merlin, residing in Équihen-Plage (France), and the other applicants whose names are listed in the annex, (1)represented by F.-C. Laprévote, F. de Bure and T. Otmani, lawyers,applicants,v European Commission, represented by B. Stromsky, M. Abenhaïm and C. Perrin, acting as Agents,defendant,THE GENERAL COURT (Eighth Chamber, Extended Composition),composed of S. Papasavvas, President, A. Kornezov (Rapporteur), G. De Baere, D. Petrlík and S. Kingston, Judges,Registrar: L. Ramette, Administrator,having regard to the written part of the procedure,further to the hearing on 15 May 2024,gives the following Judgment 1        By their action under Article 265 TFEU, the applicants, Mr Laurent Merlin and the other natural and legal persons whose names are listed in the annex, ask the Court to declare that the European Commission unlawfully failed to adopt, following the examination of their complaints concerning alleged unlawful State aid granted by the Kingdom of the Netherlands to shipowners engaged in fishing with beam trawl using...