EN
ReportsofCases
ECLI:EU:F:2011 :179 1ORDER OF THE CIVIL SERVICE TRIBUNAL
(Second Ch amber)
8 November 2011
Case F-92/09 DEP
U
v
European Parliament
(Procedure — Taxation o f costs — Decision r ejecting a c omplaint — Interim proceedings)
Application:in which U a pplied to the Tribunal for taxation o f costs under Article 92(1) of the Rules 
of Procedure.
Held: The amount of the costs recoverable by th e applicant from th e Parliament is fixed at 
EUR 23 670, together with d efault interest from th e da te of service of the present order 
to th e da te of actual payment, at the rate fixed by th e European Central Bank for its 
main refinancing operations and applicable during the pe riod concerned, increased by 2 
points.
Summ ary
1. Procedure — Costs — Taxation — Recoverable costs — Definition — Expenses n ecessarily incurred b y 
the parties
(Rules of Procedure of the Civil Service Tribunal, Art. 91(b))
2. Procedure — Costs — Taxation — Elements to be taken into consideration
(Rules of Procedure of the Civil Service Tribunal, Art. 91(b))
3. Procedure — Costs — Taxation — Recoverable costs — Expenses n ecessarily incurred b y the parties
(Arts 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the Civil Service Tribunal, Art. 91(b))
4. Procedure — Costs — Taxation — Recoverable costs — Expenses n ecessarily incurred b y the parties
(Rules of Procedure of the Civil Service Tribunal, Art. 91(b); Staff Regulations, Art. 91(4))
5. Procedure — Costs — Taxation — Recoverable costs — Definition — Expenses incurred b y the parties 
in the phase before the action is brought — Not included
(Rules of Procedure of the Civil Service Tribunal, Art. 91(b))
6. Procedure — Recoverable costs — Costs incurred in the taxation of costs procedure — No need t o 
adjudicate
(Rules of Procedure of the Civil Service Tribunal, Arts 86 a nd 92)
2 ECLI:EU:F:2011 :179SUMM ARY–CASEF-92/09
UvPARLIAMENT
7. Procedure — Costs — Taxation — Default interest
1. It follows from A rticle 91(b) of the Rules of Procedure of the Civil Service Tribunal that recoverable 
costs are limited, first, to th ose incurred for the purpose of the proceedings before the Civil Service 
Tribunal and, second, to th ose which were necessary for that purpose. Furthermore, it is for the 
applicant to produce supporting documents such as to prove th at the costs which he seeks to have 
reimbursed have actually been incurred.
(see para. 37)
2. The Union judicature is no t emp owered to tax the fees payable by the parties to their own law yers, 
but to determine the amount of those fees which may be recovered from th e party ordered to pay the 
costs. Wh en ruling on a n application f or taxation o f costs, it is no t obliged to take a ccount of any 
national scales of law yers’ fees or any agreeme nt in th at regard b etween th e party concerned and his 
agents or advisers.
In th e absence of Union p rovisions laying down fee s cales, the court must make a n unfettered 
assessment of the facts of the case, taking into account the purpose and nature of the proceedings, 
their significance from th e point of view of Union l aw, the difficulties presented by th e case, the 
amount of work generated by the case for the agents or ad visers involved and th e financial interest 
which the parties had in the proceedings.
(see paras 38, 39)
3. It is accepted th at fees payable by the parties to th eir law yers relating to th e pe riod after the oral 
procedure m ay no t be counted as recoverable costs. That is particularly true of fees charged for 
examining judgments and preparing appeals. However, it is apparent from A rticles 278 T FEU and 279 
TFEU th at the purpose of interim p roceedings is to reach an interim settlement in connection w ith 
proceedings in th e main action a nd pe nding a d ecision in th ose proceedings. The need to take into 
consideration, in th e m ain proceedings, the expenses involved in examining an order for interim 
measures ari ses from th e fact that the proceedings are no t separate and independent of each other, 
since they relate to the same c ase and therefore have m aterial elements in common.
(see para. 46)
See:
31 March 2011 , T-5/02 DEP and T-80/02 DEP Tetra Laval v C omm ission, para. 77
4. With regard t o recoverable costs, work involved in reading a d ecision rejecting a c omplaint relates, a 
priori, to th e pre-litigation p hase of the main action. However, if the proceedings before th e Civil 
Service Tribunal were, exceptionally, brought on th e basis of Article 91(4) of the Staff Regulations, in 
other words imme diately after th e lodging of the complaint and without awaiting th e appointing 
authority’s decision on th at complaint, it is essential for the continuation o f the main action th at the 
applicant be apprised of that decision, once it is given, and assess its implications.
(see para. 47)
5. Law yers’ fees for periods during which no p rocedural documents were no tified must be excluded as 
not necessarily incurred for the purposes of the proceedings.
ECLI:EU:F:2011 :179 3SUMM ARY–CASEF-92/09
UvPARLIAMENT
(see para. 48)
See:
6 January 2004 , C-104/89 DEP M ulder and Others v C ouncil and Comm ission, para. 47; Willeme v C omm ission, para. 
37
21 December 2010 , T-34/02 DEP Le Levant 015 a nd Others v C omm ission, para. 33
6. Unlike A rticle 86 o f the Rules of Procedure, Article 92 o f the Rules of Procedure of the Civil Service 
Tribunal, on di sputes as to costs, does no t provide that a d ecision a s to costs is to be given in the final 
judgment or in the order which closes the proceedings. If, under Article 92 o f the Rules of Procedure, 
the Tribunal gave a d ecision on a di spute as to costs in the main proceedings and, separately, on f resh 
costs incurred in connection w ith th at dispute, a further dispute concerning the fresh costs might, in 
some c ircumstances, be subsequently brought b efore it. There is th erefore no n eed to ad judicate 
separately on th e costs and fees incurred for the purposes of the proceedings for the taxation o f costs 
before th e Tribunal. None th e less, it is for the Union j udicature, when it sets the amount of the 
recoverable costs, to take a ccount of all the circumstances of the case up to the time o f the ad option 
of the order on t axation o f costs.
(see paras 63-65)
See:
26 April 2010 , F-7/08 DEP Schönberger v P arliament, paras 45 t o 47
7. Pursuant to Article 92 o f the Rules of Procedure of the Civil Service Tribunal, the Tribunal alone 
has the power, first, to declare that a p arty must pay default interest on a n order as to costs delivered 
by the Tribunal, and, second, to fix the applicable rate.
(see para. 67)
See:
10 November 2009 , F-147/08 DEP X v P arliament, para. 35