EMFA, 10.12.2009

The Government of the Republic of Estonia has decided to issue an appeal to the European Court of Justice to annul the ruling of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities, which did not satisfy Estonia’s lawsuit against the European Commission in relation to sugar stocks deemed as excessive at the time of the country's accession to the EU.

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet stated that Estonia wants for the decision of the Court of First Instance to be annulled. "We are analysing the Court of First Instance’s reasoning for its response to Estonia’s complaint, and our assessment is that the court has made errors in reaching its decision. This is why we are asking the European Court of Justice to annul the ruling," said Foreign Minister Urmas Paet.

Paet stated that Estonia does not agree with the contested ruling on many counts. "Our assessment is that the court made errors in evaluating the evidence, incorrectly interpreted the accession agreement and regulations, and erroneously evaluated the right to delegate powers to the commissioner," explained the foreign minister. "The court also failed to take into account previous enlargement practices, in which household stocks were not included in the surplus stocks held by the state," he added.

Estonia filed an application on 25 August 2005 to annul regulation nr 832/2005, in which the European Commission stated that the surplus stocks of sugar totalled 91 464 tons. This included sugar stocks held by households, which totalled 42 732 tons. The primary argument stood in whether it was legal to include the stocks held by households in the total surplus stocks held by Estonia.

In the ruling made on 2 October of this year, the Court of First Instance did not satisfy Estonia’s lawsuit. Rulings made by the Court of First Instance can be appealed to the European Court of Justice. The deadline to issue an appeal to the European Court of Justice is 15 December.

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