Case T-202/05: Action brought on 18 May 2005 by Caroline Ogou against Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2005-08-06
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, action by staff, competition (EU), electronic mail, equal treatment, servant (EU)

6.8.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 193/33

(cid:1) award the applicant default

interest based on the rate
applied by the European Central Bank for its main refinan-
cing operation, during the period concerned, plus 2 points,
on all the sums corresponding to the difference between
the salary corresponding to his classification in his recruit-
ment decision and the classification to which he should
have been entitled up to the date of the decision properly
classifying him in grade;

(cid:1) order the defendant to pay all the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The pleas in law and main arguments are identical to those
invoked in Case T-58/95, Centeno Mediavilla and Others v
Commission (1).

(1) OJ C 93 of 16.4.2005, p. 38.

Action brought on 18 May 2005 by Caroline Ogou against
Commission of the European Communities

(Case T-202/05)

(cid:1) annul the decision of the (cid:4)Internal Competition Task Force(cid:5),
which was notified to her by an electronic message of 12
May 2004, rejecting the application, delivery of which she
had procured on the same day by another method;

(cid:1) annul

the subsequent
procedure, in particular;

formal steps in the competition

(cid:1) the list of candidates who meet the requirements of
Article 28(a),
the Staff Regulations,
adopted by the Appointing Authority and transmitted
to the Selection Board with the applicants’ files;

(b) and (c) of

(cid:1) the list, adopted by the Selection Board, of candidates
who satisfy the requirements of the competition notice;

(cid:1) the list of suitable candidates adopted by the Selection

Board at the conclusion of its work;

(cid:1) and the decisions of appointment which were or will be
adopted by the Appointing Authority on that basis;

(cid:1) annul, if necessary, the decision of 3 February 2005 of the
Director-General of Personnel and Administration rejecting
her complaint of 12 August 2004 against the preceding
contested acts,

(cid:1) order the Commission to pay the costs.

(2005/C 193/56)

Pleas in law and main arguments

(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 18 May 2005 by Caroline Ogou,
resident in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), represented by M.-A. Lucas,
lawyer.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

(cid:1) annul the notice of competition COM/PB/04 of 6 April
2004 and the instructions relating to the electronic entry
procedure to which it refers, or at least Paragraph IX.1 of
the notice;

(cid:1) declare illegal

the exclusion of her candidature which
resulted from the impossibility with which she was
confronted, on 12 May 2004, of obtaining access to the
electronic entry form by following the procedure prescribed
by the competition notice;

The applicant, a member of the local staff of the Commission,
was faced with the impossibility of entering electronically
internal competition COM/PB/04 to pass from category C to
category B, in accordance with the competition notice, since
the Commission had configured the computer system for
entering in such away as to obstruct the candidature of local
staff.

The applicant claims that Paragraph III.1 of the competition
notice, which provides that officials and temporary staff are
eligible and which therefore excludes local staff, is contrary to
Articles 4, 27 and 29(1)(b) of the Staff Regulations, as well as
to the principle of equal treatment. The obstacle to her entry
(cid:4)on line(cid:5) is, as a result, illegal. The applicant maintains in that
regard that local staff who are in the service of the institution
because of a connection under public law, form part of the
internal or statutory staff and have, as a rule, the right of access
to internal competitions, that they are entrusted with tasks
equivalent to those of officials or temporary staff, and that their
exclusion from internal competitions is therefore neither justi-
fied by the requirements of the posts to be filled nor compa-
tible with the interests of the service.

C 193/34

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

6.8.2005

The applicant also claims that Paragraph IX of the competition
notice, as well as Paragraph 2 of the instructions to candidates
are contrary to Articles 2, 4 and 5 of Annex III to the Staff
Regulations, because they prescribe a mandatory electronic
entry procedure which was such as to exclude her candidature.

ware used is available in several languages, infringes the prin-
ciple of non-discrimination, because the complete mastery of
the computer necessitates a knowledge, no less complete, of
the English language, superior to the level which can reason-
ably be expected of a European official who is not anglophone
by birth.

Action brought on 23 May 2003 by Giorgio Lebedef and
Others against Commission of the European Communities

The applicants also rely on alleged infringements of the duty to
have regard for the welfare of officials, of the prohibition of
arbitrary procedures and of the duty to state reasons, as well as
an alleged misuse of powers.

(Case T-204/05)

(2005/C 193/57)

(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 23 May 2005 by Giorgio Lebedef,
residing in Luxembourg, Armand Imbert, residing in Brussels,
Jean-Marie Rousseau, residing in Brussels, and Maria Rosario
represented by G.
residing in Brussels,
Domenech Cobo,
BounØou and F. Frabetti, lawyers, with an address for service in
Luxembourg.

The applicants claim that the Court should:

(cid:1) annul the express rejection, of 12 July 2004, of application
D/393/04 by which the applicants requested that the oper-
ating system and all the software used to operate their
personal computers be made available, by the competent
service, in their mother tongue, or alternatively, in another
official language of the European Union of their choice;

(cid:1) order the Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicants, all officials of the Commission, applied to their
superiors for the operating system and all the software used to
operate their personal computers to be made available in their
mother tongue or, alternatively, in another official language of
the European Union of their choice. That application and their
complaints having been rejected, the applicants brought this
action. They claim that the practice of installing the entire
configuration of the computers in English, although the soft-

Action brought on 17 May 2005 by European Dynamics
SA against the Commission of the European Communities

(Case T-205/05)

(2005/C 193/58)

(Language of the case: English)

An action against the Commission of the European Commu-
nities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 17 May 2005 by European
Dynamics SA, established in Athens (Hellenic Republic), repre-
sented by N. Korogiannakis, lawyer.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

1) annul the decision of the Commission communicated to the
applicant through a letter dated 3 March 2005, to issue a
recovery order for an amount of 59 485 euros against the
applicant related to the (cid:4)eEBO(cid:5) project, the decision of the
Commission communicated to the applicant
through a
letter dated 12 November 2004 by which the Commission
decided to reimburse an amount of labour not exceeding
85 971 euros, as well as the decision of the Commission
communicated to the applicant by letter dated 16 May
2003 to terminate the contract EDC-53007 eEBO/27873:
eContent exposure and business opportunities.

2) order the Commission to pay the applicant’s legal and other
costs and expenses incurred in connection with this applica-
tion.