Case T-198/03: Action brought on 6 June 2003 by Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG against the Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2003-09-06
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, abuse of power, action for annulment (EU), bank, control of restrictive practices, fine, restriction on competition

C 213/38

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

6.9.2003

included on the list of successful candidates because his mark
for the oral examination (18 out of 40) fell below the
minimum mark of 20.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant relies on the following pleas in law:

— Breach of

the prohibition against discrimination on
grounds of nationality under Articles 12 EC and 39 EC
and of the requirement that applicants in a competition
be treated equally: by reason of his Austrian nationality,
the applicant was not admitted to a seminar for preparing
for the oral examination which was organised by the
German Department for Foreign Affairs and in which
Commission officials took part.

— Defective composition of the selection board, breach of
essential procedural requirements and infringement of
Annex III to the Staff Regulations.

— Manifest error of assessment and misuse of powers by

the selection board.

— Breach of essential procedural requirements through a
failure to assess the applicant’s linguistic knowledge,
contrary to the notice of competition.

( 1) Officially announced in OJ No C 110 A, 11.4.2001, p. 13.

Action brought on 6 June 2003 by Bank Austria Creditan-
stalt AG against the Commission of the European Com-
munities

(Case T-198/03)

(2003/C 213/75)

(Language of the Case: German)

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 6 June 2003 by Bank Austria
Creditanstalt AG, Vienna (Austria), represented by C. Zschocke
and J. Beninca, lawyers.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— annul the Commission’s decision 5 May 2003;

— order the defendant to pay the costs of the proceedings.

On 11 June 2002 the defendant adopted a decision to impose
a fine on the applicant and seven other Austrian banks in the
case COMP/36.571 (Austrian Banks). The applicant brought
an action against that decision (1).

By the present action the applicant challenges the defendant’s
decision of 5 May 2003, in which the defendant gave notice
that its decision of 11 June 2002 would be published in the
Official Journal of the European Communities and on the
Internet. By the contested decision, the defendant rejected
the applicant’s request as regards the defendant’s proposed
publication of the decision to impose a fine.

The applicant claims that publication of the decision to impose
a fine in the form notified is inadmissible. It maintains that the
decision may not be published, since Article 21(1) of Regu-
lation No 17 does not allow decisions taken under Article 15
of Regulation No 17 to be published.

Moreover, the decision to impose a fine may not be disclosed
in the non-confidential version used by the defendant, since it
reproduces the decision to impose a fine word for word
except for making the names of natural persons anonymous.
Regulation No 17, however, allows the disclosure only of the
substance of a decision which is to be made public.

The applicant furthermore maintains that the passages of the
decision to impose a fine which relate to the year 1994 may
not be published in any event, since those observations are not
relevant to the operative part of the decision and the defendant
was not competent
infringed
Article 81 EC in the year 1994. Moreover, the publication of
the decision in the Official Journal of the European Community
and on the Internet in a non-confidential version infringes
Regulation No 45/2001 (2).

the applicant

to find that

(1) Case T-260/02, Bank Austria Creditanstalt v Commission (OJ

2002 C 274, p. 28).

(2) Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals
with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community
institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data
(OJ 2001 L 8, p. 1).