Filing and notification of an Appeal
1. An appeal shall be filed with the Board of Appeal through the Registrar in the electronic format provided for appeals within 2 months of the dates referred to in Article 59(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/796.
2. The Appeal shall contain, as applicable:
(a)
the name and address of the appellant;
(b)
where the appellant has appointed a representative, the name and address of the representative of the appellant;
(c)
an address for receiving mail in electronic format;
(d)
where the appellant is a legal person, it shall provide the Registrar with the instrument or instruments constituting and regulating that legal person or a recent extract from the register of companies, firms or associations or any other proof of its existence in law;
(e)
the reference to the decision which is being contested and the remedy sought by the appellant;
(f)
the arguments relied on;
(g)
where appropriate, the nature of any evidence in support and a statement explaining the facts for which the evidence is offered in support;
(h)
where appropriate, an application for confidential treatment of documents or parts thereof;
(i)
where the appellant is not the person to which the contested decision has been addressed, the reasons for being directly or indirectly concerned by the decision and evidence as to the date her/he first got knowledge of the decision.
3. If the appeal does not contain the information listed in paragraph 2, the Registrar shall prescribe a period of not more than 10 working days within which the appellant has to deliver. The Registrar shall fix such period only once. During that period, time shall not run for the purposes of calculating the time-limit set out in Articles 58 and 62 of Regulation (EU) 2016/796.
4. The Registrar shall notify the appeal to the Board of Appeal, the Agency and any other identifiable party involved within 1 working day from filling of the appeal.
Confidentiality
1. Any application for confidential treatment shall identify the words, particulars, figures or passages for which confidentiality is claimed and state the specific reasons. Failure to provide such information may result in the application being rejected by the Board of Appeal.
2. The Chairperson shall decide whether information indicated in an application pursuant to Article 9(2)(h) is to be regarded as confidential and shall ensure that any information which is regarded as confidential is not published.
Inadmissibility of the appeal
The Board of Appeal may rule an appeal inadmissible on the basis of one or more of the following grounds:
(a)
the appeal fails to meet the formal requirements set out in Article 9;
(b)
the appellant has exceeded the time-limit for lodging an appeal;
(c)
the appeal is not brought against a decision subject to appeal;
(d)
the appellant is neither an addressee of the decision challenged by the appeal nor able to demonstrate a direct and individual concern.
Conflict of interest
1. After an appeal has been filed with the Board of Appeal, each member that identifies a potential conflict of interest shall make a reasoned declaration in accordance with Article 57(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/796, and submit it to the Chairperson.
2. Parties to the appeal shall be informed of each declaration without undue delay.
3. An objection by a party to the appeal shall be admissible if it is made within 10 working days from the date on which the party raising the objection obtained knowledge of the facts giving rise to the objection.
4. The member concerned shall be notified of the objection and shall be invited to respond to the Chairperson within 5 working days of receipt of the notification.
5. The Board of Appeal shall without undue delay decide on the exclusion of the member concerned in accordance with Article 57(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/796 from the proceedings. The member concerned shall abstain from that decision.
6. The exclusion of the member concerned is temporary and shall apply to the appeal or arbitration proceedings with regard to which the objection was raised. Replacement of the excluded member or Chairperson shall be ensured in accordance with Article 3.
Interlocutory revision procedure
1. In accordance with Article 60 of Regulation (EU) 2016/796 any appeal against a decision taken by the Agency pursuant to Articles 14, 20, 21 and 22 of Regulation (EU) 2016/796 or a failure of the Agency to act within the applicable time limits shall be subject to interlocutory revision before being put to the Board of Appeal for examination.
2. Upon filling of the appeal, the Agency shall have 1 month to take one of the following actions:
(a)
rectify the decision or failure to act;
(b)
confirm the contested decision and provide reasons;
(c)
assert that the interlocutory revision does not apply in accordance with Article 60(1) second sentence of Regulation (EU) 2016/796, and give reasons;
(d)
provide reasons for which it considers the appeal inadmissible.
3. In all cases mentioned above the Agency shall inform the Registrar of its action and provide all necessary supporting documents, as appropriate.
4. In the case referred to in point (a) of paragraph 2, the Agency shall issue its decision and the Registrar shall close the appeal procedure and inform all the parties to the proceedings thereof.
5. In the cases referred to in points (b), (c) and (d) of paragraph 2, the Registrar shall notify the appellant and refer the proceedings to the Board of Appeal for examination.
6. Within 10 working days of the day of notification of the referral, the appellant may withdraw its appeal.
7. The date of the referral for examination to the Board of Appeal shall be considered the date of filing relevant for the purposes of calculating the time-limit set out in Articles 58 and 62 of Regulation (EU) 2016/796.
8. In case of referral the Agency may decide to suspend the application of the decision under appeal.
Statement of Defence
1. The Agency shall submit a statement of defence within 1 month following the date of notification of the appeal.
2. In cases where the interlocutory revision in Article 13 is applicable, a statement of defence may be submitted for points 2(c) and (d). The reasons provided in point (b) shall act as a statement of defence.
3. The statement of defence shall contain reasons and provide all supporting documents.
4. Where the Agency fails to submit a statement of defence the proceedings shall continue without it.
Intervention
1. The Board of Appeal may grant any person demonstrating a legitimate interest in the result of the proceedings, the right to intervene in the proceedings before it.
2. An application to intervene shall be submitted within 10 working days following the publication of the announcement of the appeal on the website of the Agency.
3. The application to intervene shall be notified to the parties to give them the opportunity to make any observations they consider necessary before the Board of Appeal delivers its decision on the intervention.
4. The intervention shall support or oppose in whole or in part the remedy sought by one of the parties. The intervention shall not confer the same procedural rights as those already conferred on the parties.
Content of the application to intervene
1. The application to intervene shall contain:
(a)
the name and address of the intervener;
(b)
the name and the address of the representative of the intervener, if applicable;
(c)
an address for service, if different from that under points (a) and (b);
(d)
reference to the proceedings for which the application is submitted;
(e)
a statement in support of or opposing, in whole or in part, the remedy sought by one of the parties;
(f)
the pleas and the arguments of fact and law relied on;
(g)
the relevant supporting evidence, where appropriate.
2. After the intervention has been submitted, the Chairperson shall prescribe a time-limit of a maximum of 10 working days within which the parties may reply to the intervention.
Request for Suspension
1. The Board of Appeal may grant a suspension of the contested decision where appellants have demonstrated that there is urgent need to grant a suspension for the preservation of their rights and interests due to a risk of serious and irreparable damage to those rights and interests.
2. The Chairperson may invite the opposing party to submit written observations on the request.
Stay of Proceedings
1. The Board of Appeal may order a stay of proceedings by agreement of all parties involved in the appeal for a maximum period of 10 working days.
2. The order shall state the duration of stay and the reasons for it.
3. While proceedings are stayed all procedural time-limits shall be suspended.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
