Case T-233/02: Action brought on 2 August 2002 by Kharis Alexandratos and Maria Panagiotou against the Council of the European Union
Date: 2002-09-28
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: action for annulment (EU), administrative transparency, equal treatment, infringement of EU law, lay magistrate, staff assessment

28.9.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 233/33

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicants, being the President of AIFO (Associazione
Italiana Frantoiani Oleari) and that association itself, seek
annulment of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1019/2002 of
13 June 2002 on marketing standards for olive oil (1).

their claims,

In support of
they plead infringement of
Article 33, the second subparagraph of Article 34(2) and
Articles 153, 157 and 253 of the EC Treaty. They maintain
the contested regulation favours the
in that regard that
maintenance of the dominant positions occupied by large
undertakings in the sector concerned, thereby impeding the
development of small and medium-sized undertakings, and
that it does not provide consumers with guarantees as to the
provenance and authenticity of the product. In particular, the
regulation provides that the labelling is to bear information on
the category of olive oil concerned, but that information is
inadequate to guarantee the intrinsic quality of the product.
More specifically, it provides that the designation of origin of
virgin and extra virgin olive oils is to be purely optional,
whereas, for consumers, the geographical origin of the raw
materials is invariably a point of major importance. The
regulation requires the product to be presented to the final
consumer in packaging of a maximum capacity of five litres,
to the prejudice of small operators such as pressers, who
generally sell the product in bulk on the spot.

Moreover, the contested regulation does not provide adequate
guarantees as to the provenance and authenticity of the
product, thus impeding the marketing of types of oil which
are of higher quality and are more susceptible to direct control
by the consumer, such as that sold directly by the presser.

From another standpoint, and contrary to the objective of
the common agricultural policy,
the contested regulation
discourages the distribution of high-quality olive oil such as
that marketed directly by pressers, and acts as a disincentive
to productivity, technical progress and rational agricultural
development.

( 1) OJ L 155 of 14.6.2002, p. 27.

Action brought on 2 August 2002 by Kharis Alexandratos
and Maria Panagiotou against the Council of the European
Union

(Case T-233/02)

(2002/C 233/58)

(Language of the Case: Greek)

An action against the Council of the European Union was
brought before the Court of First Instance of the European

Communities on 2 August 2002 by Kharis Alexandratos
and Maria Panagiotou, resident in Brussels, represented by
K. Tagaras, Lawyer, with an address for service in Luxembourg.

The applicants claim that the Court should:

— allow the application;

— annul the contested measures so that the defendant is
obliged to allow the applicants to sit the oral tests;

— order the defendant to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

This is an action challenging the decision of the selection
board for Council Open Competition A/393 to award the
applicants a fail mark in one of the written tests and not to
allow them to sit the oral tests.

The applicants plead infringement of the first paragraph of
Article 27 of the Staff Regulations and of the principle of equal
treatment. They contend that the infringement is aggravated
by the defendant’s refusal to grant requests made by them
seeking information concerning the guidelines and criteria for
marking their papers and comparing them with those of the
successful candidates.

Furthermore, in the applicants’ submission that refusal renders
the contested measures liable to annulment also by reason of
breach of the duty to state reasons for measures adversely
affecting them and of the principle of transparency in conjunc-
tion with Article 255 EC concerning access to documents.

Action brought on 5 August 2002 by Strongline A/S
against the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal
Market

(Case T-235/02)

(2002/C 233/59)

(Language of the case: English)

An action against the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal
Market was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 5 August 2002 by Strongline A/S,
represented by Mr Jacob S. Ørndrup at Gorrissen, Federspiel,
Kierkegaard in Copenhagen, Denmark.