Case T-131/23: Action brought on 13 March 2023 — Nardi v ECB
Date: 2023-03-13
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: central bank, damages, financial loss, indemnification, interest, president of an institution, securities, single monetary policy, stock exchange








C_2023179EN.01005802.xml










22.5.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 179/58






Action brought on 13 March 2023 — Nardi v ECB
(Case T-131/23)
(2023/C 179/84)
Language of the case: Italian

Parties


Applicants: Anna Nardi (Naples, Italy) (represented by: M. De Siena, lawyer)

Defendant: European Central Bank

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the General Court should:






—


find and declare that the European Central Bank (ECB), represented by the President Christine Lagarde, is non-contractually liable:






(a)


for having caused a EUR 626 134,29 economic loss in the form of a collapse in the value of the securities owned by the applicant titled SI FTSE.COPERP, documented and described for the first time in the application in paragraph 2 of the section headed ‘Facts’, amounting to a loss equal to 81,54 % of the entire value of the capital invested, namely EUR 767 856,16, in so far as, on 12 March 2020, Christine Lagarde, in her capacity as President of the ECB, used the infamous phrase ‘We are not here to close spreads, this is not the function or the mission of the ECB’ and thereby caused a significant reduction in the value of securities on stock exchanges around the world and a reduction of 16,92 % on the Milan Stock Exchange, namely in a percentage never before seen in the history of that institution; the phrase was used in a press conference broadcast globally, and confirmed that the ECB would no longer guarantee the value of securities issued by countries in difficulty and, therefore, signalled a massive change in the direction of the monetary policy that had been adopted by the ECB under the presidency of the previous President, whose mandate finished in November 2019;










(b)


for having caused a reduction in the value of the applicant’s assets through that conduct and as a result of the huge drop in the index of the Milan Stock Exchange;










(c)


for having caused the applicant to suffer a financial loss of EUR 626 134,29 in the form of actual loss and of EUR 912 673,83 in the form of loss of profit;










(d)


for having therefore caused the applicant to suffer a financial loss amounting to EUR 1 538 808,12 in total;










(e)


for having caused non-financial loss in the form of the psychological suffering of the applicant and the applicant’s family and damage to honour, reputation and personal and professional identity quantifiable at EUR 500 000,00;










(f)


for having caused a loss of opportunity;














—


order the ECB, in the person of the President for the time being, to provide to the applicant compensation for financial loss (comprising actual loss and loss of profit), the non-financial loss outlined above and a loss of opportunity, assessed according to the criteria set out in the relevant chapters and paragraphs of the application, by making payments in the following amounts (i) EUR 1 538 808,12 for financial loss, (ii) EUR 500 000,00 for non-material loss and (iii) and, therefore, a total amount of EUR 2 038 808,12;










—


in the alternative, order the ECB, in the person of the President for the time being, to pay to the applicant compensation for the categories of loss listed above, in amounts different from those above, established in the course of proceedings, to the extent deemed fair, including by having recourse to an expert’s report commissioned by the Court, pursuant to Article 70 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court of the European Union;










—


order the EBC to pay the amount which the Court assesses, according to its own unbiased assessment, in respect of the loss of opportunity;










—


order the EBC to pay default interest to be calculated from 12 March 2020, the date of the event that gave rise to the loss, to the date on which the compensation is actually paid;










—


order the defendant to pay the legal costs.





Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicant relies on seven pleas in law.






1.


First plea in law, alleging that the ECB is liable under the third paragraph of Article 340 TFEU and Article 2043 of the Codice civile (Italian Civil Code) for the financial and non-material loss suffered by the applicant and indicating the amounts of those sums.










2.


Second plea in law, indicating the significance of the financial loss, non-material loss and loss of opportunity allegedly suffered by the applicant and explaining the principles applied to determine them.










3.


Third plea in law, referring to principles established in the case-law of the European Union, in particular in the judgments of 28 October 2021, Vialto Consulting v Commission (C-650/19 P, EU:C:2021:879), of 9 February 2022, QI and Others v Commission and ECB (T-868/16, EU:T:2022:58) and of 21 January 2014, Klein v Commission (T-309/10, EU:T:2014:19).
The applicant claims that the conditions for an EU institution to incur non-contractual liability vis-à-vis an EU citizen have been satisfied, as supported by a sworn statement provided by a technical consultant and annexed to the application, in accordance with the EU legislation governing the ECB, its bodies and their functions. The applicant alleges infringements by the ECB of primary and secondary EU law and infringements and abuse of power by the President of the ECB.
The applicant alleges that, on 12 March 2020, the ECB, acting through its President, infringed Article 127 TFEU under Chapter 2, which is headed ‘Monetary Policy’, Articles 3, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 38 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the ECB, and Article 17.2 and 17.3 of the Rules of Procedure adopted by a decision of the ECB on 19 February 2004. (1)











4.


Fourth plea in law, concerning the characterisation of, reasons for and documentation of the financial loss suffered by the applicant (actual loss and loss of profit).










5.


Fifth plea in law, concerning the characterisation of, reasons for and documentation of psychological harm and damage to reputation and personal and professional identity.










6.


Sixth plea in law, concerning the explanation of, reasons for and evidence of the presumption of and the calculation of the likelihood of loss of opportunity and a request that this be calculated on equitable principles.










7.


Seventh plea in law, concerning the principles established in the EU case-law concerning non-financial loss caused by the EU institutions vis-à-vis EU citizens in particular in the judgment of 12 September 2007, Combescot v Commission, (T-250/04, EU:T:2007:262).






(1)  Decision 2004/257/EC of the European Central Bank of 19 February 2004 adopting the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank (ECB/2004/2) (OJ 2004 L 80, p. 33), as amended by Decision ECB/2014/1 of the European Central Bank of 22 January 2014 (OJ 2014 L 95, p. 56).