Case T-386/19: Judgment of the General Court of 11 September 2024 – CQ v Court of Auditors (Law governing the institutions – Member of the Court of Auditors – Activity incompatible with the duties of a Member of the Court of Auditors – Expenditure considered to be undue – Recovery decision – Decision of the Court of Justice ruling on a breach of the obligations arising from the office of Member of the Court of Auditors – Regularity of OLAF’s investigation and final report – Obligation to state reasons – Limitation period – Article 98(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 – Legitimate expectations – Error of assessment – Non-contractual liability – Non-material damage)
Date: 2024-09-11
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: European Anti-fraud Office, allowances and expenses, claim, indemnification, interest, limitation of legal proceedings, member of the Court of Auditors (EU)








C_202406247EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/6247


28.10.2024






Judgment of the General Court of 11 September 2024 – CQ v Court of Auditors


(Case T-386/19)
                (1)

(Law governing the institutions - Member of the Court of Auditors - Activity incompatible with the duties of a Member of the Court of Auditors - Expenditure considered to be undue - Recovery decision - Decision of the Court of Justice ruling on a breach of the obligations arising from the office of Member of the Court of Auditors - Regularity of OLAF’s investigation and final report - Obligation to state reasons - Limitation period - Article 98(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 - Legitimate expectations - Error of assessment - Non-contractual liability - Non-material damage)
(C/2024/6247)
Language of the case: French

Parties


Applicant: CQ (represented by: L. Levi, lawyer)

Defendant: European Court of Auditors (represented by: K. Kantza and B. Schäfer, acting as Agents)

Re:

By his action, the applicant seeks (i) on the basis of Article 263 TFEU, annulment of the decision of the European Court of Auditors of 11 April 2019 establishing a claim against him and the amount to be recovered from him, by which the European Court of Auditors classified the sum of EUR 153 407,58 as having been unduly received under mission expenses, daily allowances, representation expenses and use of chauffeur services, and ordered the recovery of that sum, and (ii) on the basis of Article 268 TFEU, compensation for the non-material damage which he claims to have suffered.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1.


Annuls the decision of the European Court of Auditors of 11 April 2019 establishing a claim against CQ and the amount to be recovered from him, classifying the sum of EUR 153 407,58 as an unduly received payment and ordering its recovery, in so far as that decision concerns an amount of EUR 19 254,20, and annuls the decision contained in the letter from the Accounting Officer of the Court of Auditors of 7 June 2019 in so far as it stipulates the payment of default interest at the rate of three and a half percentage points on that amount;










2.


Declares that the sum of EUR 19 254,20 shall bear, from 7 June 2019, default interest at the rate of three and a half percentage points, until full payment by the Court of Auditors;










3.


Dismisses the action as to the remainder;










4.


Orders CQ to pay the costs of the Court of Auditors and to bear four fifths of his own costs, and orders the Court of Auditors to pay the remaining fifth.






(1)  
            OJ C 288, 26.8.2019.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/6247/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)