Action brought on 23 May 2012 — Accorinti and Others v ECB (Case T-224/12) (2012/C 243/37)

Action brought on 23 May 2012 — Accorinti and Others v
ECB
(Case T-224/12)
(2012/C 243/37)
Language of the case: Italian
Parties
Applicants: Alessandro Accorinti (Nichelino, Italy) Michael
Acherer (Bressanone, Italy), Giuliano Agostinetti (Mestre, Italy),
Marco Alagna (Milan, Italy), Riccardo Alagna (Milan, Italy),
Agostino Amalfitano (Forio, Italy), Emanuela Amsler (Turin,
Italy), Francine Amsler (Turin, Italy), Alessandro Anelli (Bel­
linzago Novarese, Italy), Angelo Giovanni Angione (Potenza,
Italy), Giancarlo Antonelli (Verona, Italy), Giuseppe Aronica
(Licata, Italy), Elisa Arsenio (Sesto San Giovanni, Italy),
Pasquale Arsenio (Sesto San Giovanni, Italy), Luigi Azzano
(Concordia Sagittaria, Italy), Giovanni Baglivo (Lecce, Italy),
Stefano Baldoni (Matera, Italy), Giulio Ballini (Lonato, Italy),
Antonino Barbara (Naples, Italy), Armida Baron (Cassola,
Italy), Paolo Baroni (Rome, Italy), Lucia Benassi (Scandiano,
Italy), Michele Benelli (Madignano, Italy), Erich Bernard (Lana,
Italy), Flaminia Berni (Rome, Italy), Adriano Bianchi (Omegna,
Italy), Massimiliano Bigi (Montecchio Emilia, Italy), Daniele
Fabrizio Bignami (Milan, Italy), Sergio Borghesi (Coredo, Italy),
Borghesi Srl (Cles, Italy), Sergio Bovini (Cogoleto, Italy), Savino
Brizzi (Turin, Italy), Annunziata Brum (Badiola, Italy), Christina
Brunner (Laives, Italy), Giovanni Busso (Caselette, Italy),
Fabio Edoardo Cacciuttolo (Milan, Italy), Vincenzo Calabrò
(Rome, Italy), Carlo Cameranesi (Ancona, Italy), Giuseppe
Campisciano (Besana in Brianza, Italy), Allegra Canepa (Pisa,
Italy), Luca Canonaco (Como, Italy), Piero Cantù (Vimercate,
Italy), Fabio Capelli (Tortona, Italy), Gianluca Capello
(Sanremo, Italy), Sergio Capello (Sanremo, Italy), Mario
Carchini (Carrara, Italy), Filippo Carosi (Rome, Italy), Elena
Carra (Rome, Italy), Claudio Carrara (Nembro, Italy), Ivan
Michele Casarotto (Verona, Italy), Anna Maria Cavagnetto
(Turin, Italy), Gabriele Lucio Cazzulani (Segrate, Italy), Davide
Celli (Rimini, Italy), Antonio Cerigato (Ferrara, Italy), Paolo
Enrico Chirichilli (Rome, Italy), Celestino Ciocca (Rome, Italy),
Mariagiuseppa Civale (Milan, Italy), Roberto Colicchio (Milan,
Italy), Edoardo Colli (Trieste, Italy), Nello Paolo Colombo
(Casatenovo, Italy), Mario Concini (Tuenno, Italy), Marika
Congestrì (S. Onofrio, Italy), Luigi Corsini (Pistoia, Italy), Maria
Chiara Corsini (Genoa, Italy), Aniello Cucurullo (Civitavecchia,
Italy), Roberto Cugola (Melara, Italy), Roberto Cupioli (Rimini,
Italy), Giuseppe D’Acunto (Lucca — S. Anna, Italy), Stefano
D’Andrea (Ancona, Italy), Nazzareno D’Amici (Rome, Italy),
Michele Damelon (Gruaro, Italy), Piermaria Carlo Davoli
(Milan, Italy), Iole De Angelis (Rome, Italy), Roberto De Pieri
(Treviso, Italy), Stefano De Pieri (Martellago, Italy), Ario Deasti
(Sanremo, Italy), Stefano Marco Debernardi (Aosta, Italy), Gian­
franco Del Mondo (Casoria, Italy), Salvatore Del Mondo (Gaeta,
Italy), Gianmaria Dellea (Castelveccana, Italy), Gianmarco Di
Luigi (Sant’Antimo, Italy), Alessandro Di Tomizio (Reggello,
Italy), Donata Dibenedetto (Altamura, Italy), Angela Dolcini
(Pavia, Italy), Denis Dotti (Milan, Italy), Raffaele Duino
(San Martino Buon Albergo, Italy), Simona Elefanti (Montecchio
Emilia, Italy), Maurizio Elia (Rome, Italy), Claudio Falzoni
(Besnate, Italy), Enrico Maria Ferrari (Rome, Italy), Giuseppe
Ferraro (Pago Vallo Lauro, Italy), Fiduciaria Cavour Srl (Rome,
Italy), Giorgio Filipello (Caccamo, Italy), Giovanni Filipello
(Caccamo, Italy), Dario Fiorin (Venice, Italy), Guido Fortunati
(Verona, Italy), Achille Furioso (Agrigento, Italy), Monica
Furlanis (Concordia Sagittaria, Italy), Vitaliano Gaglianese
(San Giuliano Terme, Italy), Antonio Galbo (Palermo, Italy),
Gianluca Gallino (Milan, Italy), Giandomenico Gambacorta
(Rome, Italy), Federico Gatti (Besana in Brianza, Italy),
Raffaella Maria Fatima Gerardi (Lavello, Italy), Mauro
Gini (Bressanone, Italy), Barbara Giudiceandrea (Rome, Italy),
Riccardo Grillini (Lugo, Italy), Luciano Iaccarino (Verona,
Italy), Vittorio Iannetti (Carrara, Italy), Franz Anton Inderst
(Marlengo, Italy), Hermann Kofler (Merano, Italy), Alessandro
Lepore (Giovinazzo, Italy), Fabio Lo Presti (Ponte S. Pietro,
Italy), Silvia Locatelli (Brembate, Italy), Nicola Lozito (Grumo
Appula, Italy), Rocco Lozito (Grumo Appula, Italy), Fabio
Maffoni (Soncino, Italy), Silvano Maffoni (Orzinuovi, Italy),
Bruno Maironi Da Ponte (Bergamo, Italy), Franco Maironi Da
Ponte (Bergamo, Italy), Michele Maironi Da Ponte (Bergamo,
Italy), Francesco Makovec (Lesmo, Italy), Concetta Mansi
(Matera, Italy), Angela Marano (Melito di Napoli, Italy), Bruno
Marchetto (Milan, Italy), Fabio Marchetto (Milan, Italy), Sergio
Mariani (Milan, Italy), Lucia Martini (Scandicci, Italy), Alessandro
Mattei (Treviso, Italy), Giorgio Matterazzo (Seregno, Italy),
Mauro Mazzone (Verona, Italy), Ugo Mereghetti (Brescia, Italy),
authorised to act for Fulvia Mereghetti (Casamassima, Italy),
Vitale Micheletti (Brescia, Italy), Giuseppe Mignano (Genoa,
Italy), Fabio Mingo (Ladispoli, Italy), Giovanni Minorenti
(Guidonia Montecelio, Italy), Filippo Miuccio (Rome, Italy),
Fulvio Moneta Caglio de Suvich (Milan, Italy), Giancarlo Monti
(Milan, Italy), Angelo Giuseppe Morellini (Besana in Brianza,
Italy), Barbara Mozzambani (San Martino Buon Albergo, Italy),
Mario Nardelli (Gubbio, Italy), Eugenio Novajra (Udine, Italy),
Giorgio Omizzolo (Baone, Italy), Patrizia Paesani (Rome, Italy),
Luigi Paparo (Volla, Italy), Davide Pascale (Milan, Italy), Salvatore
Pasciuto (Gaeta, Italy), Sergio Pederzani (Ossuccio, Italy), Aldo
Perna (Naples, Italy), Marco Piccinini (San Mauro Torinese, Italy),
Nicola Piccioni (Soncino, Italy), Mauro Piliego (Bolzano, Italy),
Vincenzo Pipolo (Rome, Italy), Johann Poder (Silandro, Italy),
Giovanni Polazzi (Milan, Italy), Santo Pullarà (Rimini, Italy),
Patrizio Ragusa (Rome, Italy), Rosangela Raimondi (Arluno,
Italy), Massimo Ratti (Milan, Italy), Gianni Resta (Imola, Italy),
Giuseppe Ricciarelli (San Giustino, Italy), Enrica Rivi (Scandiano,
Italy), Maria Rizescu (Pesaro, Italy), Alessandro Roca (Turin,
Italy), Mario Romani (Milan, Italy), Claudio Romano (Naples,
Italy), Gianfranco Romano (Pisticci, Italy), Ivo Rossi (Nettuno,
Italy), Alfonso Russo (Scandiano, Italy), Iginio Russolo (San
Quirinino, Italy), Francesco Sabato (Barcelona, Spain),
Giuseppe Salvatore (Silvi, Italy), Luca Eudilio Sarzi Amadé,
(Milan, Italy), Tiziano Scagliola (Terlizzi, Italy), Antonio
Scalzullo (Avellino, Italy), Liviano Semeraro (Gavirate, Italy),
Laura Liliana Serpente (Ancona, Italy), Maria Grazia Serpente
(Ancona, Italy), Luciana Serra (Milan, Italy), Giuseppe Silecchia
(Altamura, Italy), Paolo Sillani (Bergamo, Italy), Vincenzo
Solombrino (Naples, Italy), Patrizia Spiezia (Casoria, Italy),
Alberto Tarantini (Rome, Italy), Halyna Terentyeva (Concordia
Sagittaria, Italy), Vincenzo Tescione (Caserta, Italy), Riccardo
Testa (Cecina, Italy), Salvatore Testa (Pontinia, Italy), Nadia
Toneatti (Trieste, Italy), Giuseppe Ucci (Como, Italy), Giovanni
Urbanelli (Pescara, Italy), Giuseppina Urciuoli (Avellino, Italy),
Amelia Vaccaro (Chiavari, Italy), Maria Grazia Valentini
(Tuenno, Italy), Giancarlo Vargiu (Bologna, Italy), Salvatore
Veltri Barraco Alestra (Marsala, Italy), Roberto Vernero (Milan,
Italy), Vincenza Vigilia (Castello d’Agogna, Italy), Celso Giuliano
Vigna (Castel San Pietro Terme, Italy), Roberto Vignoli (Santa
Marinella, Italy), Georg Weger (Merano, Italy), Albino Zanichelli
(Busana, Italy), Andrea Zecca (Rome, Italy)

 (represented by: S.
Sutti and R. Spelta, lawyers)

Defendant: European Central Bank
Form of order sought
The applicants claim that the Court should:
— Declare the action admissible;
— Annul Decision ECB 2012/153/EU of 5 March 2012 on ‘the
eligibility of market debt instruments issued or fully guar­
anteed by the Hellenic Republic in the context of the
Hellenic Republic’s debt exchange offer’;
— Order the ECB to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
The decision challenged in these proceedings provides that
collateral enhancement is to be provided by the Hellenic
Republic to national central banks in the form of a buy-back
scheme, which constitutes a quid pluris, as well as a necessary
prerequisite, in order for it to be possible for debt instruments
issued or fully guaranteed by the Hellenic Republic to be
regarded as eligible in the context of the Hellenic Republic’s
debt exchange offer, for at least as long as such additional
collateral enhancement continues to be provided by that
Member State; that is a form of credit facility and is subject
to the conditions of a buy-back mechanism unilaterally geared
by the Governing Council of the ECB in favour of national
central banks. According to the applicants, no reference is
made whatsoever in the contested decision to private investors,
the so-called retail buyers of Greek bonds.
In support of the action, the applicants rely on three pleas in
law.
1. First plea in law, alleging breach of essential procedural
requirements (failure to state reasons and misidentification
of the legal basis).
— It is submitted in this regard, in particular, that the
contested decision fails to state reasons with regard,
inter alia, to why the ECB decided to accept Greek
bonds, why collateral enhancement should be provided
by the Hellenic Republic to all national central banks
and to them alone, and why retail private investors
should, on the other hand, be burdened with the
consequences of the preferential treatment afforded to
certain persons.
— As regards the legal basis, the contested decision has no
connection whatsoever with monetary policy or price
stability, which underlies Article 127 TFEU.
2. Second plea in law, alleging breach of the Treaty or the rules
of law governing its application (breach of the principle of
equal treatment, breach of the principle of sound adminis­
tration, breach of the principle of sovereign debt, breach of
Article 123 TFEU and Article 21 of the Statute of the
European Central Bank, breach of the principle of propor­
tionality).
— According to the applicants, it is abundantly clear that
the principle of equal treatment has been infringed in
the present case, since all of them are, in exactly the
same way as the ECB and the national central banks,
creditors of the Greek State, in that they are holders of
the relevant bonds, and the harm suffered by them has,
in equal measure, the same capacity to have a systemic
impact on the European economy.
— The principle of sovereign debt is also infringed, as may
be inferred from the very structure of the European
Union, under which each Member State is responsible,
specifically, for its own debt, and the debt of an indi­
vidual State cannot, in any circumstances, jeopardise
finance or the stability of the single currency. The very
structure of EMU, as established by the Maastricht
Treaty, does not allow for the mutualisation of debt,
but, on the contrary, requires each Member State to
keep public finances in order and to discharge its own
responsbilities.
— By the contested decision, the ECB has therefore
infringed the rules laid down by primary and
secondary law concerning the grant of financial
assistance in a number of respects, in breach in
particular of Article 123 TFEU.
3. Third plea in law, alleging misuse of powers in the present
case.
— The applicants doubt whether a decision which makes
the eligibility of a Member State’s debt instruments
conditional on that Member State being required to
take action in the form of a buy-back scheme in
favour of national central banks is consistent with the
anti-inflationary objective set out in Article 127 TFEU,
which forms the legal basis of the contested decision.
— Moreover, by the contested decision, the ECB has in fact
created yet another form of indirect financial assistance
for the Hellenic Republic, suspending the Eurosystem’s
credit quality thresholds with regard to the Greek
government bonds that are covered by the collateral
enhancement, thus exceeding its statutory powers,
which do not envisage any form of credit facility.

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