
Article 1 

1.. Article 51 of the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice shall be replaced by the following:
'
Article 51 
By way of derogation from the rule laid down in Article 225(1) of the EC Treaty and Article 140a(1) of the EAEC Treaty, jurisdiction shall be reserved to the Court of Justice in the actions referred to in Articles 230 and 232 of the EC Treaty and Articles 146 and 148 of the EAEC Treaty when they are brought by a Member State against:

((a)) an act of or failure to act by the European Parliament or the Council, or by both those institutions acting jointly, except for:

— decisions taken by the Council under the third subparagraph of Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty;
— acts of the Council adopted pursuant to a Council regulation concerning measures to protect trade within the meaning of Article 133 of the EC Treaty;
— acts of the Council by which the Council exercises implementing powers in accordance with the third indent of Article 202 of the EC Treaty;
((b)) against an act of or failure to act by the Commission under Article 11a of the EC Treaty.
Jurisdiction shall also be reserved to the Court of Justice in the actions referred to in the same Articles when they are brought by an institution of the Communities or by the European Central Bank against an act of or failure to act by the European Parliament, the Council, both those institutions acting jointly, or the Commission, or brought by an institution of the Communities against an act of or failure to act by the European Central Bank.'.
2.. the third paragraph of Article 54 of the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice shall be replaced by the following:
'Where the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance are seised of cases in which the same relief is sought, the same issue of interpretation is raised or the validity of the same act is called in question, the Court of First Instance may, after hearing the parties, stay the proceedings before it until such time as the Court of Justice has delivered judgment. In the same circumstances, the Court of Justice may also decide to stay the proceedings before it; in that event, the proceedings before the Court of First Instance shall continue.'.
3.. the following new paragraph shall be added to Article 54 of the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice:
'Where a Member State and an institution of the Communities are challenging the same act, the Court of First Instance shall decline jurisdiction so that the Court of Justice may rule on those applications.'.
Article 2 
Cases coming within the jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance by virtue of this Decision and which have been brought before the Court of Justice by the date on which this Decision enters into force;
but

((a)) in which the proceedings have at that date been stayed in accordance with the last sentence of the third paragraph of Article 54 of the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice;
or

((b)) in which the proceedings have not at that date reached the close of the written procedure as defined in Article 44 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice
shall be referred to the Court of First Instance.
Article 3 
This Decision shall take effect on the first day of the second month following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Done at Luxembourg, 26 April 2004.
For the Council
The President
B. COWEN