CELEX: C1997/054/45
Language: en
Date: 1997-02-22 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 2 December 1996 by Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano and Società Cooperativa Latteria Sociale Spadarotta arl against Commission of the European Communities (Case T-197/96)

22 . 2 . 97          ΓEN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                  No C 54/27
She considers in that regard that the appointing authority            The pleas in law and main arguments are the same as
misused its power of assessment in taking the view that               those previously relied on in Cases T-128/96 Lebedef v.
her extensive experience in the field in which she was                Commission (M and T-161 /96 Bosetti v. Commission ( 2 ).
established and her significant intellectual and human
qualities were not so exceptional as to justify appointment           (') OJ No C 318 , 26 . 10 . 1996 , p. 17.
to grade A6 .                                                         ( 2 ) Not yet published in the Official Journal .
According to the applicant, the contested decision
therefore infringes Article 31 ( 2 ) of the Staff Regulations,
as well as the 1983 decision on the criteria applicable to
appointment in grade and classification in step on
recruitment .                                                         Action brought on 2 December 1996 by Consorzio del
                                                                      Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano and Società Cooperativa
                                                                      Latteria Sociale Spadarotta ari against Commission of the
(>) [ 1995 ] ECR-SC 11-683 .                                                                European Communities
                                                                                                ( Case T-197/96 )
                                                                                                   ( 97/C 54/45 )
                                                                                         (Language of the case: Italian)
Action brought on 14 October 1996 by Giorgio Lebedef
   against the Commission of the European Communities                 An action against the Commission of the European
                                                                      Communities was brought before the Court of First
                         ( Case T-196/96 )                            Instance of the European Communities on 2 December
                            ( 97/C 54/44 )                            1996 by Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano,
                                                                      whose registered office is at Reggio Emilia ( Italy ), and
                                                                      Societa Cooperativa Latteria Sociale Spadarotta arl, whose
                 (Language of the case: French)                       registered office is at Montecchio Emilia ( Italy ),
                                                                      represented by Fausto Capelli and Luigi Sordelli, of the
                                                                      Milan Bar, and Louis Schiltz, of the Luxembourg Bar, with
An action against the Commission of the European                      an address for service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of
Communities was brought before the Court of First                     Louis Schiltz, 2 rue du Fort Rheinsheim .
Instance of the European Communities on 14 October
1996 by Giorgio Lebedef, residing at Senningerberg
( Luxembourg ), represented by Gilles Bouneou, of the                 The applicants claim that the Court should:
Luxembourg Bar, with an address for service in
Luxembourg at his Chambers, 15 avenue du Bois .                       — declare that the applicants have capacity to bring this
                                                                            action,
The applicant claims that the Court should :                          — annul Commission Decision ( 96/536/EEC ) of 29 July
                                                                             1996 ( ] ) in so far as it mentions in the Annex the
— annul the Commission's decision of 31 October 1995,                       German cheeses 'Kase von Typ Parmesan', ' Parmesan'
                                                                            and 'Duramont-Typ Parmesan',
— annul the refusal to admit the independent trade union              — order the Commission to pay all the costs of the
      'Action & Defense — Luxembourg' to the framework                      proceedings .
      agreement,
                                                                      Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
— annul the prohibition against carrying on trade union
      activities during working hours and on the                      The applicants contest the inclusion of the names 'Kase
      Commission's premises,                                          von Typ Parmesan', ' Parmesan ' and 'Duramont-Typ
                                                                      Parmesan' in the list drawn up by the Commission of
                                                                      milk-based products in respect of which Member States
— order the Commission to pay all the costs .                         are authorized to grant individual or general derogations
                                                                      pursuant to Article 8 ( 2 ) of Directive 92/46/EEC ( 2 ) laying
                                                                      down the health rules for the production and placing on
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                   the market of raw milk, heat-treated milk and milk-based
                                                                      products .
The applicant, secretary-general of the trade union 'Action
&c Defense — Luxembourg', contests in particular the                  According to the applicants, the designations of the
defendant's refusal to admit that trade union to the                  cheeses so protected constitute obvious imitation of the
framework agreement of 20 September 1974 concerning                   names of famous Italian cheeses . It should be noted in this
relations between the Commission and trade unions and                 respect that the term 'Parmesan' is the literal translation
staff associations .                                                  of the Italian term 'parmigiano'.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 54/28                EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                  22 . 2 . 97
In support of their claims, the applicants allege breach of               for service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of Evelyne
Article 39 of the EC Treaty read in conjunction with                      Korn , 21 , rue de Nassau .
Council Regulation ( EEC ) No 2081 /92 (') on the
protection of geographical indications and designations of                The applicant claims that the Court should :
origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs and with
Commission Regulation ( EC ) No 1107/96 ( 4 ) on the                      — annul the decision classifying her in grade A7, of
registration of geographical indications and designations                       which she was notified by a note dated 5 January
of origin under the procedure laid down in Article 17 of                        1996 ,
Council Regulation ( EEC ) No 2081 /92 .
                                                                          — annul the decision rejecting her administrative
In this connection , according to the applicants , while                        complaint, of which she was notified by a note dated
Parmigiano Reggiano was included in the list of                                 1 August 1996 , received on 3 September 1996 ,
registrations under Regulation No 2081 /92 ('), no
designation of German cheese was registered under the                     — annul , in so far as may be necessary, notice of
name 'Parmesan ', since such a designation must be                              competition COM/T/A/94, inasmuch as it provides
considered to be unlawful if it is used to indicate cheese                      that members of the temporary staff recruited as
produced outside the area of protection supervised by the                       officials are to be classified , subject to certain
Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano . On the                            conditions , in the grade which they occupied at the
other hand, they claim that the derogation provided for by                      time when the list of suitable candidates was drawn
Article 13 ( 2 ) of Regulation ( EEC ) No 2081 /92 cannot                       up ,
apply to the German cheeses listed in the contested
decision, because the products covered by the protective                  — order the Commission to pay the costs .
term must have been marketed legally for at least five
years before the date of publication of Regulation ( EEC )                Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
No 2081 /92 . There exists a bilateral agreement between
Italy and Germany as a result of which the fundamental                    The applicant, an official in grade A7, step 6 , contests the
condition that the products referred to in Article 13 ( 2 ) of            decision of the Commission expressly refusing her
Regulation No 2081 /92 must have been lawfully marketed                   appointment to grade A6 .
is not satisfied . On the basis of that agreement, Germany
undertook to recognize and protect various typical                        She pleads infringement of the second sentence of the
designations of traditional Italian products , including                  second paragraph of Article 25 of the Staff Regulations,
Parmigiano Reggiano .                                                     claiming that the contested decision contained no
                                                                          statement of the grounds on which is was based . The
The applicants also claim that the Commission failed to                   applicant further considers that the Commission
perform its duties under Article 155 of the EC Treaty. In                 committed a manifest error of assessment in failing to
that connection they consider that not only did the                       regard her professional and academic qualifications as
defendant fail to take steps to prevent a Member State                    exceptional , so as to allow the application of Article 31
from acting in breach of Article 13 ( 2 ) of Regulation                   ( 2 ) of the Staff Regulations, and maintains that there has
( EEC ) No 2081 /92 , but it even ratified that breach by                 been a breach of the duty to have regard for the welfare
                                                                          and interests of officials .
recognizing as lawful the designation of a cheese which
was on the contrary prohibited , since such designation is
reserved for a product covered by Community protection .
(')   OJ No  L 230,  11 . 9.   1996 , p. 12 .
(2)   OJ No  L 268 , 14 . 9.   1992 , p. 1.
O     OJ No  L 208 , 24 . 7.   1992 , p. 1.                               Action brought on 4 December 1996 by Laboratoires
(4 )  OJ No  L 148 , 21 . 6.   1996 , p. 1.                               Pharmaceutiques Bergadem SA and Jean-Jacques Goupil
                                                                              against the Commission of the European Communities
                                                                                                  ( Case T- 199/96 )
                                                                                                     ( 97/C 54/47 )
                                                                                           (Language of the case: French)
Action brought on 3 December 1996 by Christine Dalby
     against the Commission of the European Communities                   An action against the Commission of the European
                             ( Case T-198/96 )                            Communities was brought before the Court of First
                                                                          Instance of the European Communities on 4 December
                                ( 97/C 54/46 )
                                                                          1996 by Laboratoires Pharmaceutiques Bergadem SA, the
                                                                          registered office of which is at Rungis ( France ), in the
                  (Language of the case: French)                          person of Jacqueline Cariven, its administrator appointed
                                                                          by judgment of the Tribunal de Commerce ( Commercial
An action against the Commission of the European                          Court ), Creteil , of 5 October 1995 , and Jean-Jacques
Communities was brought before the Court of First                         Goupil , residing at Chevreuse ( France ), represented by
Instance of the European Communities on 3 December                        Jean-Pierre Spitzer, of the Paris Bar, with an address for
1996 by Christine Dalby, residing in Brussels, represented                service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of Aloyse May,
bv Marc-Albert Lucas , of the Liege Bar, with an address                  31 Grand-Rue .