CELEX: C2002/056/26
Language: en
Date: 2002-03-02 00:00:00
Title: Case T-307/01: Action brought on 10 December 2001 by Jean-Paul François against Commission of the European Communities

C 56/14                EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                      2.3.2002
Action brought on 10 December 2001 by Jean-Paul                          Action brought on 12 December 2001 by Peter Biegi
François against Commission of the European Communi-                     Nahrungsmittel GmbH against the Commission of the
                                ties                                                           European Communities
                         (Case T-307/01)                                                          (Case T-309/01)
                                                                                                   (2002/C 56/27)
                          (2002/C 56/26)
                                                                                             (Language of the case: German)
                   (Language of the case: French)
                                                                         An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-                ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the               European Communities on 12 December 2001 by Peter Biegi
European Communities on 10 December 2001 by Jean-Paul                    Nahrungsmittel GmbH, of Frankfurt am Main (Germany),
François, residing in Wavre (Belgium), represented by Anne               represented by K. Landry and L. Harings, lawyers.
Colson, lawyer.
                                                                         The applicant claims that the Court should:
The applicant claims that the Court should:                              —     annul the Commission’s decision No REC 4/00 of
                                                                               14 August 2001 in so far as it orders the subsequent
—     annul, in so far as necessary, the opinion of the Disciplin-             entry in the accounts of import duties amounting to
      ary Board of 9 March 2000;                                               DEM 218 605,65;
                                                                         —     order the defendant to reimburse to the applicant the
—     annul the decision of the appointing authority of 5 April
                                                                               costs necessarily incurred in the proceedings.
      2001 relegating the applicant in step;
—     annul the decision of the appointing authority of 10 Sep-
      tember 2001 rejecting the complaint lodged by the                  Pleas in law and main arguments
      applicant;
—     uphold the application for damages and order the Com-              On the basis of oral information provided by the competent
      mission to pay to the applicant EUR 37 500, subject to             customs authority, to the effect that production of import
      increase or decrease as may be decided in the course of            certificates for the importation of chickens in the context of
      proceedings, as compensation for the economic and non-             two specific quotas was not necessary, the applicant submitted
      material damage suffered;                                          a declaration in respect of the import of frozen chicken pieces
                                                                         originating in Thailand under CN Code No 020 741 10. The
                                                                         authority initially granted relief from import duties, but
—     order the Commission to pay the costs.                             subsequently charged the applicant import duties amounting
                                                                         to DEM 259 270,23. The applicant raised an objection to that
                                                                         decision and the national authorities referred the matter to the
                                                                         Commission.
Pleas in law and main arguments
                                                                         The applicant claims that the contested decision infringes the
                                                                         EC Treaty and the general principles of Community law,
In support of his application, the applicant claims infringement         as well as Article 220(2)(b) of Regulation No 2913/92 (1).
of the provisions of the Staff Regulations governing disciplin-          According to the applicant, the German customs authorities
ary proceedings, as well as manifest error of assessment.                undeniably committed an error, and that error could not
According to the applicant, his rights of the defence have not           reasonably have been detected by the applicant. The legal
been observed, in particular because he has not been given full          position was unclear, and the applicant fulfilled its obligation
access to the file. Furthermore, certain charges against the             to exercise due care.
applicant have not, in his view, been fully substantiated.
Finally, the applicant alleges breach of the principle of non-
discrimination and breach of legitimate expectations.                    (1) Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992
                                                                             establishing the Community Customs Code (OJ 1992 L 302, p. 1).