Case C-278/03: Action brought on 26 June 2003 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Italian Republic
Date: 2003-09-06
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, Italy, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, administrative competition, civil servant, free movement of workers, public education

C 213/14

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

6.9.2003

Furthermore, it is evident that the difficulty in proving that the
misconduct of the State or public bodies was culpably or
maliciously intended could, in practice, result in actions for
damages brought by persons harmed by an infringement being
delayed and, in all likelihood, unsuccessful. Such a situation
undermines the effectiveness of Article 1(1) of the directive,
namely that effective and rapid remedies must be available in
the case of infringements of Community law in the field of
public procurement or national rules implementing that law.

( 1) OJ 1989 L 395, p. 33.

the Italian civil service, periods of comparable work completed
in the civil service of a Member State other than Italy must be
taken into consideration by the Italian authorities in the same
way as experience gained in the Italian civil service.

The Commission submits that the current practice in Italy is
not to take into consideration time spent in comparable
occupations in the civil service of other Member States. That
practice on the part of the Ministry of Education is inconsistent
with the aforesaid laws.

(1) OJ L 257 of 19.10.1968 p. 2.

Action brought on 26 June 2003 by the Commission of
the European Communities against the Italian Republic

Action brought on 24 June 2003 by the Commission
the European
of

the European Communities against

Economic Interest Grouping Lior and Others

(Case C-278/03)

(2003/C 213/24)

(Case C-280/03)

(2003/C 213/25)

An action against the Italian Republic was brought before the
Court of Justice of the European Communities on 26 June
2003 by the Commission of the European Communities,
represented by M.-J. Jonczy, acting as Agent.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— find that, by failing to take into account professional
experience gained by European Union citizens in the civil
service of a Member State other than Italy for the
purposes of their participation in competitions for the
selection of staff to teach at Italian state schools, the
Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under
Article 39 EC and Article 3 of Council Regulation
No 1612/68 of 15 October 1968 on freedom of move-
ment for workers within the Community (1);

— order the Italian Republic to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

Article 39 EC and Article 3 of Regulation No 1612/68 must
be interpreted as meaning that, for the purposes of entering

An action against the European Economic Interest Grouping
Lior, Deira SA, Eutec Srl, Mindshare Bvba, Società Politecnica
Italiana (SPI) Sarl, Beneport SA, Europe Information Service
SA, Managium Sprl, Pi Due Sprl, C.A.R.M.E.N. e.v., Energy
Research Group/University College Dublin, ORCA-Organic
Reclamation and Composting Ass. AIBS, R.P.A. Spa, Aris
Hellas Ltd, and against Lior International n.v., was brought
before the Court of Justice of the European Communities
on 24 June 2003 by the Commission of
the European
Communities, represented by H. Støvlbæk, acting as Agent,
assisted by M. Bra, avocat, with an address for service in
Luxembourg.

The Commission of the European Communities claims that
the Court should:

— declare the present action admissible and well-founded in

its entirety;

— As the main plea: hold the Lior Grouping and the
defendants jointly liable to pay the Commission the sum
of the debit notes issued for all the disputed contracts,
namely the total sum of EUR 142 818,86, plus interest
under Article 94 of Commission Regulation No 3418/
93 (1) until 31 December 2002, and under Article 86(2)(b)
of Commission Regulation No 2342/2002 (2) as from
1 January 2003, dating from the day after the maturity
date of each of the debit notes issued, until the day of
full payment of the principal debt and interest, more
particularly: