CELEX: C1999/136/36
Language: en
Date: 1999-05-15 00:00:00
Title: Case T-51/99: Action brought on 12 February 1999 by Sophia Fantechi against the Commission of the European Communities

C 136/16               EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                       15.5.1999
The applicants claim that the Court should:                              Action brought on 12 February 1999 by Sophia Fantechi
                                                                           against the Commission of the European Communities
— annul Article 2(a) of Commission Decision 98/653/EC of
     18 November 1998 to the extent to which it prohibits the                                      (Case T-51/99)
     despatch from Portugal to the Kingdom of Spain and the
     French republic of fighting bulls (‘toiros de raça brava de                                  (1999/C 136/36)
     lide’) intended for cultural and sporting events within the
     meaning of Council regulation No 820/97 which are held
     in those member States;                                                                 (Language of the case: French)
                                                                         An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
— Order the Commission to pay the cost in their entirety.                ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
                                                                         European Communities on 12 February 1999 by Sophia
                                                                         Fantechi, residing at Tervuren (Belgium), represented by Eric
Pleas in law and main arguments                                          Boigelot, of the Brussels Bar, with an address for service in
                                                                         Luxembourg at the Chambers of Louis Schiltz, 2 rue du Fort
                                                                         Rheinsheim.
The applicant seek the annulment of Commission Decision
98/653/EC of 18 November 1998 concerning emergency                       The applicants claim that the Court should:
measures made necessary by the occurrence of bovine spongi-
form encephalopathy (BSE ) in Portugal (1). Articles 2 and 4 of          — annul the defendant’s decision of 7 July 1998, in the form
that decision prohibit Portugal from exporting from its                       of a note drawn up by J. Schuijt and signed by him
territory bovine animals and products made from them. These                   on behalf of the head of the unit responsible for the
proceedings are directed specifically against the prohibition of              administration of individual rights, bearing reference num-
exporting live bovine animals to the extent to which that                     ber 982902, by which the applicant was refused the 16 %
prohibition applies to fighting bulls for export to Spain and                 expatriation allowance provided for by Article 4 of Annex
France.                                                                       VII to the Staff Regulations;
                                                                         — annul the implicit decision rejecting her complaint, the
According to the decision, those measures are required                        said rejection being deemed, in the absence of any express
because, as a result of deficiencies existing until very recently in          reply thereto within the period of 4 months prescribed by
the implementation of Community legislation on identification                 the Staff Regulations, to have occurred on 23 November
and registration of animals, and of measures on transmissible                 1998;
spongiform encephalopathy surveillance and BSE eradication,
no adequate guarantees can be provided regarding the BSE                 — order the defendant to pay the expatriation allowance to
history of the herds of origin and herds through which bovine                 the applicant with effect from 1 May 1998, subject to
animals pass and regarding the dams of bovine animals.                        deduction therefrom, in respect of the past, of such sums
                                                                              as have been paid to her by way of foreign residence
                                                                              allowance as at the date on which judgement is delivered
The following pleas in law are forward:                                       herein, together with default interest at the rate of 8 % per
                                                                              annum calculated from the date on which each of the
                                                                              sums due became respectively payable until the date of
— Error concerning circumstances alleged and breach of the                    actual payment;
    duty to state reasons, in that the measures adopted by the
    Commission are based on the alleged detection of an                  — order the defendant to pay the costs in any event.
    increasing number of cases of BSE, associated with
    deficiencies affecting surveillance, with consequent risks of
    propagation of the disease. According to the applicants,             Pleas in law and main arguments
    those circumstances do not affect fighting bulls.
                                                                         The applicant states that the administration decided not to
                                                                         grant her the expatriation allowance, taking the view that the
— Infringement of Articles 30, 34 and 36 of the EC Treaty in             period during which she had worked for the Joint European
    so far as the measures at issue place unjustified obstacles          Torus and the Joint research Centre, Ispra, should not be taken
    in the way of intra-Community trade.                                 into consideration for the purposes of calculating the reference
                                                                         period provided for in Article 4(1)(a) of Annex VII to the Staff
— Breach of the principle of proportionality since fighting              Regulations, with the consequence that, as at the date resulting
    bulls are a breed from BSE and that breed is subject                 from the ‘corrected’ reference period, the applicant was
    to particularly rigorous controls both in Spain and in               residing in Belgium. The applicant claims that, in adopting
    Portugal.                                                            that decision, the defendant misapplied and misinterpreted
                                                                         Article 4(1)(a) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations, inasmuch
                                                                         as it based its decision on incorrect reasoning, both as to the
                                                                         facts and as to the law. She also considers that she has been
(1) OJ L 311, 20.11.1998, p. 23.                                         discriminated against by comparison with other officials in the
                                                                         same situation who have nevertheless received the expatriation
                                                                         allowance.