# C_2005143EN.01003503.xml

| 11.6.2005 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 143/35 |
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11.6.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 143/35

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Action brought on 21 January 2005 by Elisabeth Agne-Dapper against the Commission of the European Communities

(Case T-35/05)

(2005/C 143/68)

Language of the case: French

An action against the Commission of the European Communities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 21 January 2005 by Elisabeth Agne-Dapper, Schoorl (Netherlands), and 172 others, represented by Georges Vandersanden, Laure Levi and Aurore Finchelstein, lawyers.

The applicants claim that the Court should:

| 1. | declare the application, including the plea of illegality contained in it, admissible and well-founded; |
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1.

declare the application, including the plea of illegality contained in it, admissible and well-founded;

| 2. | accordingly, annul the applicants' pension statements for May 2004, which will entail the application of the weighting set according to the capital of their country of residence or, at the very least, of a weighting which correctly reflects the differences in the cost of living in the places where the applicants are deemed to incur expenditure and thus observes the principle of equivalence; |
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2.

accordingly, annul the applicants' pension statements for May 2004, which will entail the application of the weighting set according to the capital of their country of residence or, at the very least, of a weighting which correctly reflects the differences in the cost of living in the places where the applicants are deemed to incur expenditure and thus observes the principle of equivalence;

| 3. | order the Commission to pay the costs. |
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3.

order the Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicants in this case are all officials who retired before 1 May 2004. They contest the transitional scheme set up pending the abolition of weightings by Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 723/2004 of 22 March 2004 amending the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities and the Conditions of Employment of other servants of the European Communities (1) in so far as that scheme is based on a new calculation of the ‘pension’ weightings which are no longer calculated according to the cost of living in the capital, but according to the average cost of living in the Member State where the recipient of the pension provides evidence of having established his main residence.

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In support of their claims the applicants first submit that the regulation cited is based on erroneous grounds in so far as neither the further integration of the Community nor the freedom of movement and residence, nor the difficulty of verifying the actual place of residence of pensioners can serve as a basis for the transitional scheme at issue.

The applicants also submit that the principles of equality, legal certainty, retroactivity of acquired rights and the protection of legitimate expectations have been infringed in this case.

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(1)  OJ L 124, 27.04.2004, p. 1.

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