ORDER OF THE CIVIL SERVICE TRIBUNAL

(First Chamber)

26 April 2010

Case F-7/08 DEP

Peter Schönberger

v

European Parliament

(Procedure — Taxation of costs)

Application: for taxation of recoverable costs under Article 92 of the Rules of Procedure.

Held: The amount of the costs recoverable by the applicant is fixed at EUR 12 750.

Summary

1. Procedure — Costs — Taxation — Recoverable costs — Definition — Expenses necessarily incurred by 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 — Recoverable costs — Costs incurred in connection with proceedings for taxation of costs

(Rules of Procedure of the Civil Service Tribunal, Arts 86 and 92)

1. Recoverable costs are limited, first, to those incurred for the purpose of the proceedings before the Civil Service Tribunal and, second, to those which were necessary for that purpose. Furthermore, it is for the applicant to produce supporting documents such as to prove that the costs which he seeks to have reimbursed have actually been incurred.

(see para. 23)

See:

T-7/98 DEP, T-208/98 DEP and T-109/99 DEP De Nicola v EIB [2004] ECR-SC I-A-219 and II-973, para. 42

F-14/08 DEP X v Parliament [2009] ECR-SC I-A-1-425 and II-A-1-2303, para. 21

2. The Union judicature is not empowered to tax the fees payable by the parties to their own lawyers, but to determine the amount of those fees which may be recovered from the party ordered to pay the costs. When ruling on an application for taxation of costs, it is not obliged to take account of any national scales of lawyers’ fees or any agreement in that regard between the party concerned and his agents or advisers. In the absence of Union provisions laying down fee scales, the court must make an unfettered assessment of the facts of the case, taking into account the purpose and nature of the proceedings, their significance from the point of view of Union law, the difficulties presented by the case, the amount of work generated by the case for the agents or advisers involved and the financial interest which the parties had in the proceedings.

Moreover, when it comes to lawyers’ travel expenses, as a general rule only travel expenses which a lawyer incurs for travel from his chambers to the hearing before the Tribunal in Luxembourg may be reimbursed.

However, it may be that at the time when the Tribunal fixes the date of the hearing the lawyer concerned may have already undertaken professional engagements in a town other than that in which his chambers are located. The profession of lawyer enjoys the right to provide services freely within the Union. That is why travel expenses incurred in travelling to the hearing in Luxembourg from the town of the professional engagement described above may also be regarded as necessary costs. It is nevertheless for the lawyer, in such a case, to prove that he had a professional engagement in a town other than that in which his chambers are located, and that he actually incurred the resulting travel expenses to Luxembourg.

(see paras 24, 25, 36-37)

See:

X v Parliament, paras 22 and 23

3. Unlike Article 86 of the Rules of Procedure, Article 92 of the Rules of Procedure, on disputes as to costs, does not provide that a decision as to costs is to be given in the final judgment or in the order which closes the proceedings. Indeed, if the Tribunal, adjudicating in proceedings based on Article 92 of the Rules of Procedure on a dispute concerning the costs of main proceedings, were to adjudicate on the costs in dispute and, separately, on the new costs incurred in the action disputing the costs, it might perhaps subsequently be required to adjudicate on a new dispute concerning the new costs. There is therefore no need to adjudicate separately on the costs and fees incurred for the purposes of the proceedings for the taxation of costs before the Tribunal. None the less, it is for the Tribunal, when it sets the amount of the recoverable costs, to take account of all the circumstances of the case up to the time of the adoption of the order on taxation of costs.

(see paras 45-47)

See:

X v Parliament, para. 40 and the case-law cited therein