CELEX: C1997/252/79
Language: en
Date: 1997-08-16 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 23 June 1997 by Philippe Godts against the Commission of the European Communities (Case T-185/97)

16 . 8 . 97            EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 252/37
Finally, the 1997 Scheme is biased entirely in favour of the           subsequent extension of his contract, given the guidelines
incumbent French producers and their suppliers, who have               that the Commission was proposing to adopt concerning
already benefited substantially by the measures declared               temporary staff ( undertakings of 23 February and
illegal and incompatible in December 1996 ( but still in               16 March 1994 ). This action was brought following the
force today). In the result, France is levying discriminatory          refusal of the applicant's request that the Commission
taxation on imported production and the 1997 Scheme                    should apply to him its former policy, contained in its
accordingly cannot be given an exemption under                         decision of 18 March 1992, authorizing the extension of
Article 92 ( 3 ) (c ).                                                 temporary servants' contracts up to a maximum duration
                                                                       of five years .
In all these respects, the Commission has also failed to
comply with the duty to adduce sufficient reasons in its               The applicant makes the following pleas in law in support
decisions laid down in Article 190 of the Treaty.                      of his action :
                                                                       — disregard, in so far as he was concerned, of the duty
                                                                            to pay due regard to the welfare of officials,
Action brought on 23 June 1997 by Philippe Godts
    against the Commission of the European Communities                 — disregard of the principles of the protection of
                                                                            legitimate expectations and of non-retrospectivity, and
                         ( Case T-l 85/97)                                  the unenforceability against him of the Commission's
                           ( 97/C 252/79 )                                  decision of 16 March 1994 . Under that decision, new
                                                                            contracts are to be concluded, on an interim basis and
                                                                            pending a definitive decision on the reorientation of
                  (Language of the case: French)
                                                                            the whole of the Commission's policy on temporary
                                                                            servants, for a duration of three years with no
An action against the Commission of the European                            guarantee of extension or of the opportunity to
 Communities was brought before the Court of First                          participate in an internal competition. In so far as that
 Instance of the European Communities on 23 June 1997                       decision reduces the rights of temporary servants
 by Philippe Godts, residing in Brussels, represented by                    acknowledged by the Commission in its previous
 Nicolas Lhoest, of the Brussels Bar, with an address for                   selection notices published in 1993 , the applicant
 service in Luxembourg at the offices of Fiduciaire Myson                   maintains that it cannot be enforced against him,
 Sari, 30 Rue de Cessange.
 The applicant claims that the Court should:                            — disregard of the principle of equality of treatment, in
                                                                            that in this case temporary servants recruited before
                                                                             16 March 1994, unlike those recruited afterwards,
 — annul the Commission's decision of 1 August 1996,                         continue   to  benefit   without   restriction from  the
      expressly rejecting his request that he be allowed to                  principles contained in the Commission's decision of
      benefit from possible extension of his contract, up to a               18 March 1992 . It cannot reasonably be claimed that
      total of five years,                                                   the objective position of temporary servants recruited
                                                                             before and after that date is identical . Most of them
 — declare       the   Commission       decision    adopted    on            submitted their candidacy following the same pre­
      13 November 1996 unlawful in so far as it limits all                   selection notices, which referred to the possibility of
      temporary staff contracts falling under Article 2 ( a ) of             an extension of their contracts up to a duration of five
      the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants to a                    years ,
      maximum duration of three years, with a possibility of
      extension for a maximum of one year,
                                                                        — infringement of Articles 27 and 29 of the Staff
                                                                             Regulations inasmuch as, with its new policy, the
 — order the Commission to pay the costs.                                    Commission     restricted   the   recruitment   base  for
                                                                             competitions to become established officials in a way
 Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                         contrary to the interests of the service,
 The applicant entered the Commission's service in                      — illegality of the Commission's decision of 13 November
  October 1994, as a member of the temporary staff. Both                      1996 limiting the duration of temporary contracts to
  the selection notice, which appeared in the administrative                 three years, with a possible maximum extension of
  information sheet of 10 September 1993 and in the press,                    one year. The applicant considers that, by adopting
  and the information communicated to him concerning the                     that decision, the Commission renounced a right
  status of members of the temporary staff and details of the                 conferred upon it by Article 8 of the Conditions
  method of recruiting them expressly stipulated that the                     of Employment of Other Servants to conclude
  duration of contractrs, limited to three years, could be                    employment contracts for an indefinite period.
  extended up to a total of five years . However, by letters of
  23 and 30 September 1994, the Commission told the
  applicant that no guarantee could be given as to the