Only measures, the legal effects of which are binding on, and capable of affecting the interests of, the applicant by bringing about a distinct change in his legal position may the subject of an application for annulment.
That is not the position where it is clear from a press release distributed by the Commission that it confined itself on the one hand to taking formal notice of the amendments which a private association coordinating professional football at the European level proposed to make to its rules in order to facilitate the movement of professional footballers within the Community and, on the other hand, the plans envisaged in relation to the question of transfer of players, for in so doing the Commission neither adopted any unilateral decision having legal effects with regard to third parties nor entered into any contract or agreement capable of being challenged before the Court.
An action seeking compensation for damage caused by the alleged unlawfulness of a measure adopted by an institution is inadmissible where that measure has no legal effect.
Citations:
C-117/91
European
Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.160697