CELEX: C1997/054/54
Language: en
Date: 1997-02-22 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 17 December 1996 by Européenne Automobile Sàrl against the Commission of the European Communities (Case T-211/96)

22 . 2 . 97           EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                     No C 54/33
— order the Commission to pay the costs of the                       — pursuant to the provisions of Article 215 of the Treaty,
     proceedings.                                                         find that the Community has incurred non-contractual
                                                                          liability and that this has resulted in damage to
                                                                          Europeenne Automobile for which reparation must be
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                       made,
The applicant, an official in grade A 7, step 3 , claims that
there has been an error of law in the application of                 — consequently, award Européenne Automobile the sum
Article 31 ( 2 ) of the Staff Regulations, particularly in so             of ECU 246 000 as compensation ,
far as the statement of reasons of the appointing authority
makes it impossible for that provision to have any
independent application vis-a-vis the first paragraph of             — order the Commission to pay the costs .
Article 27 and Article 32 of the Staff Regulations, which
are, however, designed to cover different situations
                                                                     Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
regarding the classification in grade of recently recruited
officials .   Furthermore,     the    Commission 's    conduct
constitutes a breach of the principle of equal treatment of          The applicant, an undertaking carrying on business as an
officials since the Commission places in the same grade all          intermediary in the distribution of motor vehicles by way
external candidates, irrespective of the fact that they have         of parallel imports made by it as agent for the final
very different qualifications as regards relevant                    consumer, in accordance with the provisions of
professional experience, and officials recruited as a result         Commission Regulation ( EEC ) No 123/85 , states that it
of integral ' establishment' competitions retain the grade           lodged a complaint with the Commission on 27 July 1994
which they had as temporary staff prior to establishment.            criticizing the steps taken by the Peugeot Group ( PSA ) in
In contrast to candidates recruited directly as officials,           relation to Peugeot concessionaries of its subsidiaries
temporary staff are graded in accordance with rules that             outside France to dissuade them from selling vehicles to
allow full account to be taken of experience acquired                French intermediaries, with a view to partitioning the
before they entered the Commission's service .                       market. By letter of 9 October 1996 , the Commission
                                                                     informed the applicant of its decision to reject the
Finally, the applicant considers that the appointing                 complaint. That decision forms the subject-matter of the
authority manifestly erred in its assessment of the facts            present case (').
when it formed the view that her professional and
academic qualifications were unexceptional, whether in
general or with reference to the requirements of the post            The applicant takes the view that it has adduced sufficient
in question .                                                        evidence to establish the existence of the agreement of
                                                                     which it complains and that the contested decision is
                                                                     vitiated by a manifest error as to the probative value of
                                                                     that evidence . It also considers that the Commission had
                                                                     no excuse for not investigating the matter since it was well
                                                                     aware that failure by it to state its position would allow
                                                                     the untrammelled development of as serious an illegal
Action brought on 17 December 1996 by Européenne                     course of conduct as a partitioning of the market, directly
Automobile Sari against the Commission of the European               detrimental to the applicant, but also jeopardizing the
                          Communities                                development of the wider market and adversely affecting
                       ( Case T-211 /96 )                            the interests of consumers . Finally, the applicant contests
                                                                     the argument that there was insufficient Community
                          ( 97/C 5.4/54 )                            interest, on which the Commission relies in its reasons for
                                                                     the contested decision .
                (Language of the case: French)
                                                                     With regard to its action for damages, the applicant
An action against the Commission of the European                     submits that, by refusing to examine the documents which
Communities was brought before the Court of First                    indicated anti-competitive practices on the part of PSA,
Instance of the European Communities on 17 December                  the Commission erred and caused the Community to incur
1996 by Europeenne Automobile Sari , having its                      non-contractual liability. It also argues that this refusal to
registered office in Carcassonne ( France ), represented by          intervene and to adopt appropriate measures has had, and
Jean Claude Fourgoux, of the Paris Bar, with an address              continues to have , particularly deleterious effects on its
for service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of Pierrot                 supplies and development. From this it concludes that it is
Schiltz, 4 rue Beatrix de Bourbon .                                  entitled to damages for the harm which it has suffered .
The applicant claims that the Court should :                         (') An action for failure to act and for damages which was
                                                                         brought by the applicant in the context of the same complaint
                                                                         is pending before the Court of First Instance ( Case T-9/96 , OJ
— pursuant to the provisions of Article 173 of the Treaty,               No C 95 , 30 . 3 . 1996 ).
     annul the decision which the Commission notified to
     Europeenne Automobile on 9 October 1996 not to
     investigate the complaint lodged on 27 July 1994,