Case T-226/02: Action brought on 26 July 2002 by André Hecq against Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2002-10-12
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, action for annulment (EU), civil servants’ union, equal treatment

C 247/18

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

12.10.2002

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— annul the decision of 8 December 1998 of the Director-

General of DG DEV;

— in so far as necessary, annul the instructions attached to
the note of 29 July 1999 from the Head of the ‘Human
Resources’ unit of DG DEV;

— annul the decision of 21 October 1999 of the Director-

General of DG DEV;

— annul the decision of 22 December 1999 of the Director-

General of DG DEV;

— annul the decision of 19 February 2001 of the Director-

General of DG DEV;

— annul the decision of 14 November 2001 of the Director
of Directorate D of DG DEV, approved by its Director-
General;

— annul his staff report

for 1999-2001, drawn up on
18 March 2002 by the Director of Directorate D of DG
DEV;

— annul

the decision by the External Service Steering
Committee to reject his application for a post as Head of
Delegation under the 2002 rotation exercise, as well as
the confirmation of that decision;

— annul the implied decision of 16 September 2001 to

reject his request of 16 May 2001;

— should they constitute a response to the request of
16 May 2001, annul the decisions of 31 October and
14 December 2001 by the Chef de Cabinet of the Vice-
President of the Commission and of the Director-General
of DG DEV;

— establish the unlawfulness of the failure to reassign the
applicant as Head of the ‘Indian Ocean’ unit of DG DEV
by his Director-General in March 2000;

— establish the unlawfulness of the failure to second the
applicant, in the interest of the service, to the Spanish
civil service in Madrid or to the FAO in Rome;

— order the Commission to pay him, as compensation for
non-material damage, the sum of EUR 10 000 assessed
ex aequo et bono;

— order the Commission to pay him, as compensation for
the damage to his career, a sum corresponding to the
difference between the retirement pension and other
benefits to which he is entitled under the second indent
of Article 52 of the Staff Regulations on the date on
which he requests early retirement and the remuneration,
retirement pension and other benefits to which he would
be entitled if he could have retired from his post at the
age of 65;

— order the Commission to pay him 8 % annual interest on
those amounts, dating from 23 July 2002 until payment
in full;

— order the Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant, a former Head of Unit, in Grade A3, requests
annulment of the Commission’s decision to reassign him as a
counsellor and to entrust him with certain duties in that
capacity. He also asks the Court to find that the Commission
is acting unlawfully by failing to reassign him in a middle
management post or to second him outside the institution in
the interest of the service.
In addition, he is requesting
the annulment of his periodic report for 1999-2001 and
compensation for the material and non-material damage he
has suffered.

In support of the forms of order sought, the applicant claims
that the Commission infringed Articles 5(4) and 7 of the Staff
Regulations, as well as Annex IV to the General Implementing
Provisions, of 10 March 1997, of Article 5(4) of the Staff
Regulations, in that he was not assigned the functions or was
assigned functions which did not correspond to his post and
grade. Moreover, he claims that the Commission infringed the
principles of
legitimate
expectations in that not reassigning him in certain middle
management posts and not seconding him outside the insti-
tution in the interest of the service went against promises,
decisions and commitments made by the administration.

legal certainty and protection of

Action brought on 26 July 2002 by André Hecq against
Commission of the European Communities

(Case T-226/02)

(2002/C 247/29)

(Language of the case: French)

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 26 July 2002 by André Hecq,
residing in Mondercange (Luxembourg), represented by Lucas
Vogel and Dominique Amatulli, lawyers.

12.10.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 247/19

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— annul

the decision of

the appointing authority on
27 March 2002 and notified to the applicant on 16 April
2002, rejecting the complaint lodged by the applicant on
18 October 2001, adopting the decision of the Members
‘approving’ the
of the Commission of 15 June 2001,
alleged agreement of 4 April 2001 between Vice President
Kinnock and the trade unions and staff associations
concerning the resources available to the staff representa-
tives and the rules regarding resources available to the
staff representatives from 1 January 2002;

— annul the abovementioned decision of 15 June 2001;

— order the defendant to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant is the secretary general of the Syndicat des
Fonctionnaires Internationaux et Européens (SFIE). He is
contesting the decision laying down the rules regarding
resources available to the staff representatives from 1 January
2002 approving an agreement between certain union organis-
ations and the Commission. Not being a signatory to that
agreement of 4 April 2001, the SFIE was informed that it
would not be able to benefit from the budgetary facilities
under those provisions.

the applicant pleads,

In support of his application,
first,
infringement of Articles 11 and 12 of the agreement entered
into by the Commission and the unions adopted on 20 Septem-
ber 1974. According to the applicant, the contested decision
merely approved the agreement of 4 April 2001, whereas the
said agreement had not been agreed to by all the unions and
could not therefore be regarded as effective.

Secondly, the applicant pleads infringement of Article 24a of
the Staff Regulations, Articles 18, 19 and 20 of the framework
agreement of 20 September 1974, manifest error of assessment
and breach of the principle of non-discrimination. According
to the applicant, the effect of the agreement of 4 April 2001 is
that of sharing the financial and human resources necessary to
the running of the unions in accordance with the criteria of
representativity. The applicant claims that those criteria are
erroneous and arbitrary, since they favour unfairly certain
unions and no longer allow unions freely to choose their own
political action.

Action brought on 26 July 2002 by Syndicat des Fonction-
naires Internationaux et Européens against Commission
of the European Communities

(Case T-227/02)

(2002/C 247/30)

(Language of the case: French)

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 26 July 2002 by Syndicat des
Fonctionnaires Internationaux et Européens (SFIE), whose
main offices are in Brussels, represented by Lucas Vogel and
Dominique Amatulli, lawyers.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— annul

the decision of

the appointing authority on
27 March 2002 and notified to the applicant on 16 April
2002, rejecting the complaint lodged by the applicant on
18 October 2001, adopting the decision of the Members
of the Commission of 15 June 2001,
‘approving’ the
alleged agreement of 4 April 2001 between Vice President
Kinnock and the trade unions and staff associations
concerning the resources available to the staff representa-
tives and the rules regarding resources available to the
staff representatives from 1 January 2002;

— annul the abovementioned decision of 15 June 2001;

— order the defendant to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The pleas in law and main arguments put forward in this case
are identical with those in Case T-226/02.