7.3.6 Conditional withdrawal of appeal

Procedural declarations may be made with the proviso that certain conditions are met, as long as a case is already pending (J 16/94, T 854/02) and these conditions do not concern facts outside the proceedings (T 502/02). Thus, whereas a conditional appeal is not possible, the conditional withdrawal of an appeal may be valid (T 6/92, T 304/99). However, the withdrawal of an appeal can take effect only if the appeal is still pending (T 1402/13 of 25 February 2016 date: 2016-02-25).

In addition, the declaration of conditional withdrawal of an appeal is as a rule ineffective if it leaves open whether the appeal proceedings can be continued. This applies in particular if the condition is not purely internal to the proceedings or is unclear (T 419/21).

When an appellant has clearly withdrawn his appeal, the appeal proceedings can be closed without a reasoned written decision, even if the appellant has appended to his declaration of withdrawal an obviously non-allowable request for a refund of the appeal fee (T 1142/04).