Luxembourg, 04/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - In a separate appeal from Germany (see above article), the German company MobilCom has asked the European Court of First Instance to annual the European Commission's decision of 14 July 2004 allowing state aid for MobilCom according to certain conditions, including the obligation to stop online sales of mobile phone contracts for seven months.
MobilCom argues that the Commission has no material competence since MobilCom exercises its activity as an intermediary for the sale of mobile telephony contracts exclusively in Germany, hence the grant of state aid cannot prejudice trade between the Member States. Moreover, MobilCom argues that the Commission 'failed to shoo clearly that the contested decision is necessary, appropriate and also the least restrictive measure and thus failed to comply with the principle of proportionality.'
The Court of First Instance now has two appeals to consider regarding the same issue. It will probably merge the two appeals into a single case.