Case T-254/03: Action brought on 8 July 2003 by José Manuel López Cejudo against Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2003-09-06
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, European official, action for annulment (EU), dependant, housing allocation, maintenance obligation

C 213/40

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

6.9.2003

Action brought on 7 July 2003 by Fédération Nationale
de l’Industrie et des Commerces en Gros des Viandes
(FNICGV) against Commission of the European Communi-
ties

processors agreed on a temporary ban on imports and the
application of a fair schedule of purchase prices, in exchange
for lifting the blockades on abattoirs.

(Case T-252/03)

(2003/C 213/78)

(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 7 July 2003 by the Fédération
Nationale de l’Industrie et des Commerces en Gros des Viandes
(FNICGV), whose registered office is in Paris, represented
lawyer, with an address for service in
by Pierre Abegg,
Luxembourg.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

primarily:

— annul the fine imposed by the Commission in its decision

of 2 April 2003;

in the alternative:

— significantly reduce the amount of the fine imposed by

the Commission in its decision of 2 April 2003;

in any event:

— order the European Commission to pay all the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant seeks annulment or reduction of
the fine
imposed on it by the Commission decision of 2 April 2003 in
Case COMP/C.38.279/F3 — French bovine meat, relating to
an infringement of Article 81(1) EC in the form of an
agreement intended to suspend imports of bovine meat into
France and to set a minimum price for certain categories of
beasts.

The applicant states that, during the second mad cow crisis,
certain cattle breeders encountered experienced an unpre-
cedented crisis in October 2001. In France, groups of breeders
blockaded abattoirs, mounted demonstrations and stopped
trucks to check the origin of the meat and destroy non-French
meat. Subsequently, at the prompting of the French Minister
for Agriculture, the federations representing breeders and

In support of its action, the applicant claims that there was an
absence of consent and an absence of freedom at the stage of
concluding the agreement, which in its submission constitutes
a ground for exempting it from liability for implementing the
agreement. It claims to have been under duress characterised
by threats and violence on the part of farmers against the
applicant’s members, failure on the part of the French public
authorities to take action to maintain order and strong pressure
on the part of the Minister for Agriculture. The applicant
further claims that it was unable to complain of the pressure
brought
to bear on its members, since the Minister for
Agriculture had initiated, encouraged and permitted the con-
clusion of the agreement. Last, the applicant states that it had
no economic interest in concluding the agreement.

Finally, the applicant claims that the fact that the Commission
acknowledged in the decision at issue that the applicant acted
under duress whilst ordering it to pay a fine means that the
statement of reasons in the decision is contradictory.

The applicant also pleads infringement of Article 15(2) of
Regulation No 17 (1) as regards reduction of the fine. The
applicant relies in that regard on infringement of the principle
of proportionality and of the obligation to state reasons. The
applicant points out that the amount of the fine is also liable
to impair freedom of trade union activity, since the applicant’s
budget no longer allows it to represent the interests of its
members.

(1) EEC Council: Regulation No 17: First Regulation implementing
Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty (English Special Edition 1959-
1962, p. 87).

Action brought on 8 July 2003 by José Manuel López
Cejudo against Commission of the European Communi-
ties

(Case T-254/03)

(2003/C 213/79)

(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

6.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 213/41

European Communities on 8 July 2003 by José Manuel López
Cejudo, residing in Brasilia (Brazil), represented by Georges
Vandersanden and Laure Levi, lawyers.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— annul the decision of the appointing authority of 12 June
2002 concerning the allocation of housing to the appli-
cant and annul the decision of the appointing authority
contained in the applicant’s salary slip for July 2002
relating to the application of the allowance for living
conditions referred to in Article 10 of Annex X to the
Staff Regulations;

— annul, so far as may be necessary,

the decision of
28 March 2003 rejecting the applicant’s complaint lodged
on 5 September 2002;

— order the defendant to pay default interest running from
July 2000 on the difference between the amount received
by the applicant as allowance for living conditions and
the amount which he ought to have received, having
regard to his four dependent children, until payment in
full, the rate of default interest applied having to be
calculated on the basis of the rate set by the European
Central Bank for principal refinancing operations appli-
cable during the period in question, increased by two
points;

— order the defendant to pay one euro as a token in

reparation of non-material damage;

In support of his action the applicant alleges infringements of
Annex X to the Staff Regulations and breach of the principle
of equal treatment and of the principle patere legem quam ipse
fecit. As regards the decision concerning his allowance for
living conditions, the applicant also alleges unjust enrichment
on the part of the Communities and breach of the duty to state
reasons and breaches of the principles of lawfulness and sound
administration.

(1) Judgment of 12 November 2002 in Case T-271/01 José Manuel
López Cejudo v Commission of
the European Communities
[2002] ECR SC II-1109, communicated in OJ No C 19 of
25 January 2003, p. 33.

Action brought on 14 July 2003 by Bundesverbandes der
Nahrungsmittel- und Speiseresteverwerter e.V. and Josef
Kloh against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties

(Case T-256/03)

(2003/C 213/80)

— order the defendant to pay the costs.

(Language of the Case: German)

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant, a Commission official posted to the Brasilia
delegation, has four children now living with their mother, the
applicant’s ex-wife. None the less, the applicant contributes to
the children’s actual maintenance, as has already been recog-
nised by the Court of First Instance in other proceedings
brought by the applicant (1). The present dispute concerns two
the Commission, one refusing the applicant
decisions of
authorisation for housing including five bedrooms in order to
accommodate his four children, on the ground that they live
with their mother in Europe ,and the other, communicated to
the applicant by means of his salary slip for July 2002 taking
into account, for the purpose of defining the allowance for
living conditions (Article 10 of Annex X to the Staff Regu-
lations), of two children only instead of four.

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 14 July 2003 by Bundesverbandes
der Nahrungsmittel- und Speiseresteverwerter e.V., Bochum
(Germany) and Josef Kloh, Eichenried (Germany), represented
by R. Steiling and S. Wienhues, lawyers.

The applicants claim that the Court should:

— annul Articles 1 and 6 of the Commission Decision of
12 May 2003 (2003/328/EC) in so far as, as derogations
regarding category 3 catering waste in feed for pigs and
the intra-species recycling ban on the feeding of swill to
pigs, they apply until 31 October 2006 at the latest;

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