Case T-387/00: Action brought on 28 December 2000 by Comitato organizzatore del convegno internazionale "Effetti degli inquinamenti atmosferici sul clima e sulla vegetazione" against Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2001-02-24
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: EU financing, European Commission, action for annulment (EU), conference proceedings, environmental policy

24.2.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 61/23

The applicant claims that the Court should:

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— annul the decision of the selection board rejecting the
application of the applicant in internal competition B/172
opened by the notice published in Summary No 31/99;

— annul the decision establishing the list of suitable candi-
dates and all decisions taken by the defendant on the
basis of such decisions;

— order the Parliament to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant in the present case contests the refusal of the
selection board in internal competition B 7/172 to admit her
to the tests in that competition, the criteria for admission to
which she claims to fulfil.

In support of her application, she pleads:

— infringement of Article 25 of the Staff Regulations;

— infringement of Article 5 of Annex III to those Regu-
lations, resulting from a manifest error of assessment;

— breach of the duty to have regard for the welfare and
the principle of sound

interests of officials and of
administration.

Action brought on 28 December 2000 by Comitato
organizzatore del convegno internazionale ‘Effetti degli
inquinamenti atmosferici sul clima e sulla vegetazione’
against Commission of the European Communities

(Case T-387/00)

(2001/C 61/43)

(Language of the case: Italian)

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 28 December 2000 by the Comita-
to organizzatore del convegno internazionale "Effetti degli
inquinamenti atmosferici sul clima e sulla vegetazione" (Organ-
ising Committee for the International Conference on ‘The
Effects of Atmospheric Pollutants on Climate and Vegetation’),
represented by Paolo Grassi e Giuseppe Russo, with an address
for service in Luxembourg.

— annul the contested measure;

— in the alternative, annul the contested measure and order
the defendant Commission to exclude from the agreed
financing only the item of expenditure evidenced by the
invoice
for
LIT 11 900 000 and declare the debt discharged in
respect of the other lawful expenditure;

from Linguistlink

Ltd. No

67/91

— order the defendant Commission to pay all the costs of
the proceedings pursuant of Article 87 of the Rules of
Procedure.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The present application has been made against the measure
adopted by Directorate General XIX Budget, issued on 10 Octo-
ber 2000 under number BUDG/G2/CBI-D(2000)96003569
requesting repayment and the debit note in relation to contract
B4/91/3046/11396 of 20 December 1991, for financing for
the applicant Committee. The purpose of
financing
contract was to enable the organisation of a conference of
international studies entitled ‘Effects of atmospheric pollutants
on climate and vegetation’.

that

The applicant states in that regard that:

— The conference followed the normal course in Taormina

from 26 to 29 September 1991.

— The cost estimate was calculated at LIT 718 462 500,

including VAT.

— Immediately after the conference, all the documentation
relating to it was destroyed by a fire at the offices of the
company which organised the conference. On account of
events beyond its control the Organising Committee was
unable to recover the original statements and so had to
undertake a complex reconstruction of them.

— Following an initial claim for payment, in response to
which the applicant sent documents which, in its view,
were more than sufficient to prove and account for the
expenditure incurred, the Commission remained silent
for fully two years, giving rise to a legitimate expectation
on the part of the Committee that the documentation
had been accepted and that all actions for recovery had
been abandoned.

— Instead, and to its great surprise, the Directorate General
concerned repeats its request for repayment, again with-
out providing reasons, according to the applicant, and
with no reference to an actual measure annulling the
financing.

C 61/24

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

24.2.2001

In support of its claims, the applicant alleges:

— breach of essential procedural requirements, inasmuch as
the requests for repayment lack any statement of reasons
and no indication is given of any evidence or measure on
the basis of which the debit note was issued. Nor has the
defendant given reasons for not accepting the probative
value of the documents sent by the applicant.

— breach of essential procedural requirements, for failing to
take into account the fire, an act of God, which prevented
the documents provided for in the financing contract
from being sent, and for breach of the audi alteram
partem rule.

— misuse of powers in respect of failure to acknowledge
expenditure on translation, for which there was docu-
mentation.