Case T-95/04: Actionbrought on 8 March 2004 by Luciano Lavagnoli againstCommission of the European Communities
Date: 2004-04-30
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, European official, action for annulment (EU), equal treatment, regulations for civil servants, staff assessment

30.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 106/81

Action brought on 27 February 2004 by the European
Environmental Bureau, PAN-Europe,
the International
Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering,
Tobacco and Allied Workers's Associations (IUF),
the
European Federation of Trade Unions in the Food Agri-
cultural and Tourism Sectors and Allied Branches (EFFAT),
Stichting Natuur en Milieu and Svenska Naturskyddsföre-
ningen (Swedish Society for Nature Conservation) against
the Commission of the European Communities

(Case T-94/04)

(2004/C 106/158)

(Language of the case: English)

matters of environmental policy provided for in Article 174
para. 2 of the EC treaty. They claim further that the contested
directive also violated Directive 79/409 (3)Official
Journal L
103, 25/04/1979 P. 1 - 18, since it failed to take into account
the effects of ‘Paraquat’ on birds.

(1) Commission Directive 2003/112/EC of 1 December 2003 amending
Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include paraquat as an active
substance, Official Journal L 321 , 06/12/2003 P. 32 - 35.

(2) Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991 concerning the
placing of plant protection products on the market, Official Journal
L 230 , 19/08/1991 P. 1-32.

(3) Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation

of wild birds.

Bureau,

(Belgium),

An action against the Commission of the European Commu-
nities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 27 February 2004 by the European
Environmental
PAN-Europe,
Brussels
London (United Kingdom), the International Union of Food,
Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied
Workers's Associations (IUF), Geneva (Switzerland), the Euro-
pean Federation of Trade Unions in the Food Agricultural and
Tourism Sectors
(EFFAT), Brussels
and Allied Branches
(Belgium), Stichting Natuur en Milieu, Utrecht (Netherlands),
and Svenska Naturskyddsföreningen (Swedish Society for
Nature Conservation), Stockholm (Sweden), represented by P.
van den Biesen and B. Arentz, lawyers.

Action brought on 8 March 2004 by Luciano Lavagnoli
against Commission of the European Communities

(Case T-95/04)

(2004/C 106/159)

(Language of the case: French)

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— annul Commission Directive 2003/112/EC

An action against the Commission of the European Commu-
nities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 8 March 2004 by Luciano Lavag-
noli, residing in Berchem (Luxembourg), represented by Gilles
Bounéou and Frédéric Frabetti, lawyers.

— Order the Commission to pay the costs of these proceed-

ings;

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— annul the 1999—2001 promotions procedure so far as

concerns the applicant;

Pleas in law and main arguments:

The contested measure, Commission Directive 2003/112 (1),
amended Directive 91/414 (2) so as to include a herbicide
called ‘Paraquat’ in Annex 1 of Directive 91/414. Article 4 of
Directive 91/414 states that only plant protection products
containing substances listed in Annex 1 may be authorised by
Member States. Thus, the effect of the contested measure is that
Member States will
in future be bound to authorise plant
protection products containing ‘Paraquat’.

The applicants request the court to annul the contested direc-
the Commission violated
tive, claiming that
Directive 91/414 as well as the precautionary principle in

in adopting it

— in the alternative, annul

in
respect of the period 1 July 1999 to 30 June 2001 and, as
a preliminary matter, the preparatory acts preceding that
report;

the applicant's staff report

— make an appropriate finding as to the costs, expenditure
and fees incurred and order the Commission to pay them.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant is challenging the decision of the appointing
the period
authority
1999—2001.

establishing his

report

staff

for

C 106/82

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.4.2004

In support of his application, the applicant alleges:

Pleas in law and main arguments

— infringement of

implementing
Article 43 of the Staff Regulations and breach of the princi-
ples of non-discrimination and sound administration;

the general provisions

— infringement of the 1974 Framework Agreement signed by
Action & Défense, of which the applicant was the secretary
general during the reference period, and of Article 24a of
the Staff Regulations, and interference with the freedom of
association;

— infringement of the agreement protocol signed on 18 May

1998 by the Commission and the unions;

— disregard of the principle prohibiting arbitrary action and
requiring reasons to be provided for decisions, and misuse
of powers;

— breach of the principle that legitimate expectations are to

be protected;

— failure to fulfil the duty to have regard for the welfare of

officials.

In support of his action the applicant claims that the new
system of assessing officials is unlawful, for it provides for a
limited number of merit points per division which forces the
assessor to set off good assessments against less good. That
entails discrimination between officials depending on the quota
of points available in their division. The applicant also alleges a
manifest error of assessment and claims that the development
report he challenges amounts to psychological harassment of
him.

Action brought on 12 March 2004 by Laura Gnemmi and
Eugénia Aguiar against the Commission of the European
Communities

(Case T-97/04)

(2004/C 106/161)

(Language of the case: French)

Action brought on 5 March 2004 by Michael Cwik against
the Commission of the European Communities

(Case T-96/04)

(2004/C 106/160)

(Language of the case: French)

An action against the Commission of the European Commu-
nities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 12 March 2004 by Laura Gnemmi,
residing in Hünsdorf
(Luxembourg), and Eugénia Aguiar,
residing in Brussels, represented by Gilles Bounéou and Frédéric
Frabetti, avocats, with an address for service in Luxembourg.

The applicants claim that the Court should:

An action against the Commission of the European Commu-
nities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 5 March 2004 by Michael Cwik,
residing at Tervuren (Belgium), represented by Nicolas Lhoëst,
avocat, with an address for service in Luxembourg.

— annul the 2001-2002 reports in so far as the applicants are

concerned;

— in the alternative, annul the applicants' career development
reports (REC/CDR) for the period from 1 July 2001 to
31 December 2002;

The applicant claims that the Court of First Instance should:

— rule on costs, expenses and fees and order the Commission

of the European Communities to pay same.

— annul he decision of the Director General of DG ECFIN of
24 April 2003 confirming without amendment the appli-
cant's career development report for the period from 1 July
2001 to 31 December 2002;

— annul, so far as is necessary, the Commission's decision of
19 November 2003 rejecting the applicant's complaint (R/
383/03);

— order the defendant to pay symbolic damages of one euro;

— order the defendant to pay all the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments:

In the present case, the pleas in law and main arguments
invoked by the applicants are identical to those invoked by the
applicants in Cases T-43/04 and T-47/04.