I'm not sure I understand your question. If you've received an ITA before and didn't go through with submitting the application, then you haven't applied before, so you should answer NO. Now, if you have applied before and CIC rejected your application for some reason and now you're trying again, then you should answer YES. Being in the EE pool doesn't mean you have applied. You need to submit all of the required docs and info requested post ITa, pay your fees, etc. If you haven't done any of that, than you've never applied before.