Case T-296/01: Action brought on 6 December 2001 by Antonio Enrico Tatti against Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2002-03-02
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European official, action by staff, action for annulment (EU), appointment of staff, staff assessment

C 56/12

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

2.3.2002

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

Action brought on 6 December 2001 by Antonio Enrico
Tatti against Commission of the European Communities

Action brought on 7 December 2001 by Julia Abad Pérez
and Others against the Council of the European Union
and the Commission of the European Communities

(Case T-296/01)

(2002/C 56/23)

(Case T-304/01)

(2002/C 56/24)

(Language of the case: French)

(Language of the case: Spanish)

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 6 December 2001 by Antonio
Enrico Tatti, residing in Overijse (Belgium), represented by
Lucas Vogel, lawyer.

An action against the Council of the European Union and the
Commission of
the European Communities was brought
before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities
on 7 December 2001 by Julia Abad Pérez and Others, all of
them established in Spain, represented by Miquel Roca Junyent,
Joan Roca Sagarra and Marta Pons de Vall Alomar, lawyers.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

The applicants claim that the Court should:

— annul

the decision of

the appointing authority of
16 August 2001 rejecting the complaint lodged by the
applicant on 11 February 2001, challenging the decision
of the appeal assessor of 21 November 2000 refusing to
review the applicant’s staff report;

— order the defendant

to pay damages amounting to

EUR 2 500;

— order the defendant to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of his claims, the applicant alleges infringement of
Articles 5, 6 and 7 of the general provisions implementing
Article 43 of the Staff Regulations inasmuch as the reporting
procedure is irregular and in particular that the time-limit to
which the administration should have adhered in drawing up
the staff report was not observed. The applicant further claims
infringement of Article 43 of the Staff Regulations, manifest
error of assessment and breach of the principle of non-
discrimination. According to the applicant, his staff report was
drawn up taking account of arbitrary rules for reporting on
staff which fettered subsequent reporting officers in their
discretion.

— declare that the Council and the Commission have acted
unlawfully and are thus liable under Article 288 EC for
having spread the BSE crisis within the territory of the
European Union and, consequently,
for the damage
alleged in the present application;

— order the Council and the Commission jointly and
severally to pay compensation for the damage caused to
the applicants as a result of that crisis, quantified in the
present application in the sum of 19 438 372,69 euros,
and for the non-material damage suffered by them
(amounting to a further 15 % over and above the
aforementioned sum, that is to say, 2 915 755,80 euros);
and

— order the Council and the Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicants are Spanish stockbreeders. They are claiming
compensation for the damage and prejudice suffered as a result
the crisis concerning the so-called ‘mad cow disease’
of
since the outbreak of the first case of bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE) in Spain on 22 November 2000, which
plunged the Spanish stockbreeding sector into a serious crisis
from which it has still not yet managed fully to recover.

According to the applicants, each stockbreeder is currently
having to bear:

— the costs of removal and destruction of specified risk

material (SRM);