Court of Justice of the European Communities (including Court of First Instance Decisions)

1 Social policy - European Social Fund - Financial assistance for vocational training operations - Reduction of assistance initially granted - Exclusive power of the Commission - Transfer of the Community's rights to the Member States provided for in Article 6(2) of Regulation No 2950/83 - Purpose
(Council Regulation No 2950/83, Art. 6(1) and (2))
2 Actions for annulment of measures - Time-limits - Point from which time starts to run - Act neither published nor notified to the applicant - Precise knowledge of the content and grounds - Obligation, once the existence of the act is known, to ask for the full text thereof within a reasonable period
(EC Treaty, Art. 173, fifth para.)

3 Although any national authority which has competence with regard to the financing of European Social Fund operations may, in a final payment claim submitted in accordance with Article 5(4) of Regulation No 2950/83 on the implementation of Decision 83/516 on the tasks of the Fund, propose to reduce financial assistance granted by the Fund, it is, however, the Commission which takes the decision on final payment claims and it is the Commission, and the Commission alone, which has the power to reduce financial assistance in accordance with Article 6(1) of that regulation. It follows that it is the Commission which assumes, vis-à-vis the recipient, the legal responsibility for the decision by which its assistance was reduced, irrespective of whether that reduction was or was not proposed by the national authority concerned.
Furthermore, the transfer of rights referred to in Article 6(2) of the regulation does not affect in any way the power under Article 6(1) to reduce European Social Fund assistance but only the rights of the Community to the refund of advances improperly paid, so that the transfer of rights necessarily presupposes a prior Commission decision reducing the assistance.
4 Where an act is not published or notified, the period within which proceedings for annulment are to be instituted cannot start to run until the third party concerned has precise knowledge of the content and grounds of the act in question, provided however that he asks, within a reasonable period from the date at which he becomes aware of its existence, for the full text of the act in question.