CELEX: C2003/213/79
Language: en
Date: 2003-09-06 00:00:00
Title: Case T-254/03: Action brought on 8 July 2003 by José Manuel López Cejudo against Commission of the European Communities

C 213/40               EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                             6.9.2003
Action brought on 7 July 2003 by Fédération Nationale                      processors agreed on a temporary ban on imports and the
de l’Industrie et des Commerces en Gros des Viandes                        application of a fair schedule of purchase prices, in exchange
(FNICGV) against Commission of the European Communi-                       for lifting the blockades on abattoirs.
                                ties
                                                                           In support of its action, the applicant claims that there was an
                         (Case T-252/03)
                                                                           absence of consent and an absence of freedom at the stage of
                                                                           concluding the agreement, which in its submission constitutes
                         (2003/C 213/78)                                   a ground for exempting it from liability for implementing the
                                                                           agreement. It claims to have been under duress characterised
                                                                           by threats and violence on the part of farmers against the
                    (Language of the case: French)                         applicant’s members, failure on the part of the French public
                                                                           authorities to take action to maintain order and strong pressure
                                                                           on the part of the Minister for Agriculture. The applicant
                                                                           further claims that it was unable to complain of the pressure
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-                  brought to bear on its members, since the Minister for
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the                 Agriculture had initiated, encouraged and permitted the con-
European Communities on 7 July 2003 by the Fédération                      clusion of the agreement. Last, the applicant states that it had
Nationale de l’Industrie et des Commerces en Gros des Viandes              no economic interest in concluding the agreement.
(FNICGV), whose registered office is in Paris, represented
by Pierre Abegg, lawyer, with an address for service in
Luxembourg.                                                                Finally, the applicant claims that the fact that the Commission
                                                                           acknowledged in the decision at issue that the applicant acted
                                                                           under duress whilst ordering it to pay a fine means that the
The applicant claims that the Court should:                                statement of reasons in the decision is contradictory.
primarily:
                                                                           The applicant also pleads infringement of Article 15(2) of
                                                                           Regulation No 17 (1) as regards reduction of the fine. The
—     annul the fine imposed by the Commission in its decision             applicant relies in that regard on infringement of the principle
      of 2 April 2003;                                                     of proportionality and of the obligation to state reasons. The
                                                                           applicant points out that the amount of the fine is also liable
                                                                           to impair freedom of trade union activity, since the applicant’s
in the alternative:                                                        budget no longer allows it to represent the interests of its
                                                                           members.
—     significantly reduce the amount of the fine imposed by
      the Commission in its decision of 2 April 2003;
                                                                           (1 ) EEC Council: Regulation No 17: First Regulation implementing
                                                                                Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty (English Special Edition 1959-
in any event:                                                                   1962, p. 87).
—     order the European Commission to pay all the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
                                                                           Action brought on 8 July 2003 by José Manuel López
The applicant seeks annulment or reduction of the fine                     Cejudo against Commission of the European Communi-
imposed on it by the Commission decision of 2 April 2003 in
                                                                                                           ties
Case COMP/C.38.279/F3 — French bovine meat, relating to
an infringement of Article 81(1) EC in the form of an
agreement intended to suspend imports of bovine meat into                                           (Case T-254/03)
France and to set a minimum price for certain categories of
beasts.
                                                                                                    (2003/C 213/79)
The applicant states that, during the second mad cow crisis,
certain cattle breeders encountered experienced an unpre-                                      (Language of the case: French)
cedented crisis in October 2001. In France, groups of breeders
blockaded abattoirs, mounted demonstrations and stopped
trucks to check the origin of the meat and destroy non-French
meat. Subsequently, at the prompting of the French Minister                An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
for Agriculture, the federations representing breeders and                 ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
 ---pagebreak--- 6.9.2003              EN                        Official Journal of the European Union                                         C 213/41
European Communities on 8 July 2003 by José Manuel López                In support of his action the applicant alleges infringements of
Cejudo, residing in Brasilia (Brazil), represented by Georges           Annex X to the Staff Regulations and breach of the principle
Vandersanden and Laure Levi, lawyers.                                   of equal treatment and of the principle patere legem quam ipse
                                                                        fecit. As regards the decision concerning his allowance for
                                                                        living conditions, the applicant also alleges unjust enrichment
                                                                        on the part of the Communities and breach of the duty to state
The applicant claims that the Court should:                             reasons and breaches of the principles of lawfulness and sound
                                                                        administration.
—     annul the decision of the appointing authority of 12 June
      2002 concerning the allocation of housing to the appli-           (1 ) Judgment of 12 November 2002 in Case T-271/01 José Manuel
      cant and annul the decision of the appointing authority                López Cejudo v Commission of the European Communities
      contained in the applicant’s salary slip for July 2002                 [2002] ECR SC II-1109, communicated in OJ No C 19 of
      relating to the application of the allowance for living                25 January 2003, p. 33.
      conditions referred to in Article 10 of Annex X to the
      Staff Regulations;
—     annul, so far as may be necessary, the decision of
      28 March 2003 rejecting the applicant’s complaint lodged
      on 5 September 2002;
—     order the defendant to pay default interest running from
      July 2000 on the difference between the amount received
      by the applicant as allowance for living conditions and           Action brought on 14 July 2003 by Bundesverbandes der
      the amount which he ought to have received, having                Nahrungsmittel- und Speiseresteverwerter e.V. and Josef
      regard to his four dependent children, until payment in           Kloh against the Commission of the European Communi-
      full, the rate of default interest applied having to be                                            ties
      calculated on the basis of the rate set by the European
      Central Bank for principal refinancing operations appli-
      cable during the period in question, increased by two
                                                                                                 (Case T-256/03)
      points;
—     order the defendant to pay one euro as a token in                                          (2003/C 213/80)
      reparation of non-material damage;
                                                                                           (Language of the Case: German)
—     order the defendant to pay the costs.
                                                                        An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
Pleas in law and main arguments                                         ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
                                                                        European Communities on 14 July 2003 by Bundesverbandes
                                                                        der Nahrungsmittel- und Speiseresteverwerter e.V., Bochum
                                                                        (Germany) and Josef Kloh, Eichenried (Germany), represented
                                                                        by R. Steiling and S. Wienhues, lawyers.
The applicant, a Commission official posted to the Brasilia
delegation, has four children now living with their mother, the
applicant’s ex-wife. None the less, the applicant contributes to
the children’s actual maintenance, as has already been recog-           The applicants claim that the Court should:
nised by the Court of First Instance in other proceedings
brought by the applicant (1). The present dispute concerns two
decisions of the Commission, one refusing the applicant                 —      annul Articles 1 and 6 of the Commission Decision of
authorisation for housing including five bedrooms in order to                  12 May 2003 (2003/328/EC) in so far as, as derogations
accommodate his four children, on the ground that they live                    regarding category 3 catering waste in feed for pigs and
with their mother in Europe ,and the other, communicated to                    the intra-species recycling ban on the feeding of swill to
the applicant by means of his salary slip for July 2002 taking                 pigs, they apply until 31 October 2006 at the latest;
into account, for the purpose of defining the allowance for
living conditions (Article 10 of Annex X to the Staff Regu-
lations), of two children only instead of four.                         —      order the defendant to pay the costs of the proceedings.