CELEX: C1996/233/26
Language: en
Date: 1996-08-10 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 24 May 1996 by Christos Apostolidis and 64 others against the Commission of the European Communities (Case T-81/96)

No C 233/ 14           EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                      10 . 8 . 96
 Commission in order to combat the difficulties caused by               she carried out in Portugal , as an employee in the private
the tropical storms 'Debbie', ' Iris ', 'Luis ' and 'Marilyn' that      sector, various duties as an 'empregada ' and 'escriturâria ',
adaptation of the tariff quota should have enabled, and                 involving work as a secretary and/or shorthand typist.
 must enable, the Community market to be adequately
 supplied and compensation to be paid to operators who                  The applicant maintains that there has been a breach of the
have suffered damage through being unable to supply the                 notice of competition and a manifest error of assessment.
 Community market with bananas from the regions or                      The special conditions for admission to the competition in
countries affected by the disaster, and that analogous                  question included point ( d ), which required an in-depth
measures were previously taken by the national authorities              knowledge of the French language . In addition, point ( d ) of
 before the common organization of the market took effect.              those special conditions required candidates to show that, at
There was, and therefore still is, an obligation to take the            the date of publication of the notice of competition, they had
same action in the context of that organization . These                 two years ' professional experience as a secretary and/or
arguments are also valid in the case of the insufficient                shorthand typist. The conditions laid down by the notice of
availability of Somalian bananas , since the fact that this was         competition do not state that the professional experience
caused by a war rather than a cyclone is of little                      required has to have been obtained in French . According to
relevance .                                                             the applicant, however, the express rejection clearly
                                                                        establishes that, having regard to the nature of the
On that basis, Camar views the Commission's failure to                  competition, only activities carried on within the
adopt measures as a breach of the principles underlying the             Commission could be regarded as valid experience for the
common organization of the market in bananas, namely                    purposes of the competition .
that all economic operators should be protected, that
Community rules should be adapted in the face of                        Second, the selection board committed a manifest error of
unforeseen or special difficulties, and that there may be no            assessment in considering that the terms 'empregada ' and
discrimination .
                                                                        'escrituraria ' do not necessarily entail work as a secretary or
                                                                        shorthand typist .
Action brought on 24 May 1996 by Ana Maria Fernandes
 Leite Mateus against the Council of the European Union
                          ( Case T-80/96 )                              Action brought on 24 May 1996 by Christos Apostolidis
                            ( 96/C 233 /25 )                            and 64 others against the Commission of the European
                                                                                                   Communities
                 (Language of tbe case: French)                                                 ( Case T-81/96 )
                                                                                                  ( 96/C 233/26 )
An action against the Council of the European Union was
brought before the Court of First Instance of the European                              (Language of the case: French)
Communities on 24 May 1 996 by Ana Maria Fernandes
Leite Mateus, residing at Zaventem ( Belgium ), represented
by Jean-Noël Louis, Thierry Demaseure and Ariane Tornel ,              An action against the Commission of the European
of the Brussels Bar, with an address for service in                     Communities was brought before the Court of First
Luxembourg at the offices of Fiduciaire Myson Sàrl , 1 Rue             Instance of the European Communities on 24 May 1996 by
Glesener .                                                              Christos Apostolidis and 64 others, all employed in the
                                                                       European Institute for Transuranic Elements ( Karlsruhe ),
                                                                       represented by Jean-Noël Louis, Thierry Demaseure and
The applicant claims that the Court should :                           Ariane Tornel, of the Brussels Bar, with an address for
                                                                       service in Luxembourg at the offices of Fiduciaire Myson
— annul the decision of the selection board in competition             Sàrl , 1 Rue Glesener.
    Conseil/C/360 of 3 October 1995 not to admit her to the
    competition,
                                                                       The applicants claim that the Court should :
— order the defendant to pay the costs .
                                                                       — declare that the Commission has acted wrongfully by
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                         failing to adopt the measures required in order to comply
                                                                            with the judgment of the Court of First Instance ( Fourth
The applicant, an official of the Commission, contests the                  Chamber ) of 27 October 1994 in Case T-64/92 ,
decision of the selection board not to admit her to the tests in
competition Conseil/C/360 for the constitution of a reserve            — annul        the   Commission's      decision   rejecting     the
for future recruitment of French-language secretaries, on the               applicants ' request for the drawing-up of their pay slips
ground that she had failed to show that she had two years '                 for January 1992 and for the payment to each applicant
professional experience as a secretary and/or shorthand                     of the sum of Bfrs 50 000 by way of compensation for
typist . She states in that regard that between 1973 and 1979               the non-material damage suffered,
 ---pagebreak--- 10 . 8 . 96             EN                 Official Journal of the European Communities                               No C 233/ 15
— order the Commission to pay to each applicant, as                   Action brought on 29 May 1996 by Associaçâo dos
     compensation for the non-material damage suffered , the          Refinadores de Açucar Portugueses ( ARAP), Alcantara
     sum of Bfrs 50 000,                                              Refinarias — Açucares SA and RAR Refinarias de Açucar
                                                                      Reunidas SA against the Commission of the European
                                                                                               Communities
— order the defendant to pay the costs .
                                                                                            ( Case T-82/96 )
                                                                                              ( 96/C 233 /27 )
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
                                                                                     (Language of the case: English)
The applicants, Commission officials employed in the
Institute for Transuranic Elements, Karlsruhe, state that
they were also the applicants in Case T-64/92 , in which              An action against the Commission of the European
judgment was delivered by the Court of First Instance on              Communities was brought before the Court of First
27 October 1994 . In that judgment, the Court of First                Instance of the European Communities on 29 May 1996 by
Instance annulled their pay slips for January 1 992 , in so far       Associaçâo dos Refinadores de Açucar Portugueses ( ARAP ),
as they applied a weighting for Germany calculated by                 Alcantara Refinarias — Açucares SA and RAR Refinarias de
reference to the cost of living in Bonn , although Berlin had         Açucar Reunidas SA, represented by Gerard van der Wal ,
since October 1990 become the capital of the Federal                  member of the Bar of the Netherlands Supreme Court ( Orde
Republic of Germany . The applicants also state that the              van Advocaten bij de Hoge Raad der Nederlanden ), of
appointing authority had agreed to extend the effects of the          Barents & Krans, Advocaten Notarissen, with an address
judgment of the Court of First Instance to all pay slips drawn        for service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of A. May, 31
                                                                      Grand Rue .
up after January 1992 , in so far as they apply a weighting
calcualted by reference to the cost of living in Bonn .
                                                                      The applicants claim that the Court should :
In consequence of the judgment of the Court of First
Instance, the Commission sent to the Council a proposal for           — déclaré the application admissible ,
the fixing, with retroactive effect from 1 October 1990 , of a
weighting for Germany calculated on the basis of the cost of
living in Berlin , as well as specific weightings for Bonn and        — declare the decisions of 11 January 1996 and/or
                                                                          19 March 1996 and/or 23 November 1995 void :
Karlsruhe . At its meeting on 19 December 1994 , the Council
adopted Regulation ( EEC ) No 3161 /94 adjusting, with
effect from 1 July 1994, the remuneration and pensions of                 — 11 January 1996 ( SG ( 96 ) D/ 1245 aid No N 1 1 /95 ),
officials and other servants of the European Communities                      sent to the applicants on 1 April 1996 ,
and the weightings applied thereto, which provides , in
particular, for the fixing, in accordance with the                        — 19 March 1996 ( VI/012420 ) relating to complaint
Commission proposal , of a specific weighting for Karlsruhe .                 No 94/5122 , and
It nevertheless decided to send to Coreper the proposal for
the retroactived fixing of weightings for Germany .                       — 23 November 1995 ( Aid No N 832/95 ) ('),
                                                                      — order the Commission to pay the applicants 1 costs .
The applicants consider that, as a result of the annulment by
the Court of First Instance of their pay slips for January
 1992 ( which annulment must necessarily extend to all pay            Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
slips drawn up subsequently ), it was incumbent on the
Commission to draw up new pay slips applying to the
remuneration, in the absence of a specific weighting for              The applicants state that on November 1994 they sent a
Karlsruhe, a weighting calculated by reference to the cost of         complaint to the Commission requesting it to initiate the
 living in the capital of the country . They consider that, by        procedure provided for in Article 93 ( 2 ) of the EC Treaty
 refusing to do so , the Commission has infringed Article 176         concerning the State aid granted by the Portuguese
 of the EC Treaty.                                                    Government to DAI ( Sociedade de Desinvolvemento
                                                                      Agro-Industrial ) for the establishment of a beet-sugar
                                                                      factory . On 12 December 1994 , the Commission informed
The applicants further maintain that the Commission has               the applicants that it had decided not to initiate the
 breached its duty to have regard for the welfare and interests       procedure or to take the other measures requested . As the
 of officials ( Article 24 of the Staff Regulations of officials ),   letter appeared to constitute a decision confirming the
 and has infringed Articles 64 and 65 of the Staff Regulations        approval of the national aid schemes under Articles 92 and
 and Annex XI thereto , inasmuch as the proposals submitted           93 of the EC Treaty and contained the refusal of the
 by it to the Council unlawfully provide for the fixing, with         measures requested , the applicants brought an action
 retroactive effect, of a specific weighting for Karlsruhe .          against that decision before the Court of First Instance ( 2 ). In
                                                                      that case the Commission lodged an objection of
                                                                       inadmissibility in which it emphasized that it had not yet
                                                                      reached a final position . Under those circumstances , the
                                                                      applicants sent new complaints to the Commission .