Mebrom NV v Commission of the European Communities.

Where the Commission had changed the system of import quotas for methyl bromide, a pesticide which depleted the ozone layer, providing that fumigators, rather than importers, should request authorisation to import or produce methyl bromide, before requesting importers to import the amount of methyl bromide granted under the licence, the new system constituted a lawful application of Council and European Parliament Regulation (EC) 2037-2000 (on substances that deplete the ozone layer). The regulation did not oblige the Commission to grant a quota directly to the applicant, an importer of methyl bromide. The new system did not constitute a restriction on the freedom to trade, since the applicant was not obliged to cease trading. Even if the new system were to be regarded as a restriction, the general interest pursued by the Community was the protection of the ozone layer and any restriction there might be was justified by the fact that it was imposed in application of the regulation, with which it was consistent. By its appeal, Mebrom NV asks the Court to set aside the judgment of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities of 22 May 2007 in Case T-216/05 Mebrom v Commission [2007] ECR II-1507, by which the Court of First Instance dismissed as unfounded its action seeking annulment of the decision of the Commission of the European Communities of 11 April 2005 refusing to allocate it an import quota for methyl bromide for 2005. The court dismissed the appeal against a judgment of the Court of First Instance's judgment upholding the decision of the Commission of the European Communities to change the system for the allocation of import quotas in respect of methyl bromide where, inter alia, it found that the decision had not breached the principle of the protection of legitimate expectation.