CELEX: C1996/370/32
Language: en
Date: 1996-12-07 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 26 July 1996 by Italo Telchini against the Commission of the European Communities (Case T-116/96)

No c 370/ 14        L en                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                       7 . 12 . 96
of the Brussels Bar, with an address for service in                   use of the third option laid down in the third paragraph of
Luxembourg at the Chambers of Carlos Zeyen, 67 Rue                    Article 45 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations, that is he
Ermesinde, v. Commission of the European Communities                  elected to have his pension paid in the currency of the
( Agent: Xavier Lewis ) — application for suspension of               country where the institution in question has its seat. Thus
operation of a Commission ' decision' contained in the letter         no change was necessary with respect to the situation prior
of 25 June 1996 to the Permanent Representative of the                to retirement ( same currency, same bank , same account
Republic of Finland to the European Union and                         number to which to credit the monthly payments ).
communicated to the applicant by the Finnish
Elintarvikevirasto, in so far as it concerned the Voilevi and
Voimariini brands — the President of the Court of First
                                                                      However, in June 1995 the applicant received a
Instance made an order on 14 October 1996 , the operative             communication concerning the ' recovery of amounts
part of which is as follows:                                          overpaid in the context of the annual review of
                                                                      remunerations for 1995 '. It should be pointed out that Bfrs
1 . The application for interim measures is dismissed.                163 270 were credited in June 1993 , whereas Bfrs 228 215
                                                                      were credited in December 1994 . On the basis of those
                                                                      facts , the applicant puts forward the following pleas in law:
2.  The costs are reserved.
                                                                      — Infringement of Articles 63 and 64 of the Staff
                                                                           Regulations inasmuch as a weighting which was
                                                                           arbitrarily calculated was unlawfully applied to the
                                                                           remunerations. It is obvious that such a weighting
Action brought on 26 July 1996 by Italo Telchini against                   cannot be established arbitrarily or discretionally as
       the Commission of the European Communities                          regards the criteria to be applied even where the
                        ( Case T- 116/96 )                                 declared intention is to make the purchasing power of
                          ( 96/C 370/32 )
                                                                           all beneficiaries equal . In this instance, however, at least
                                                                           recently, more importance has been attached to the
                                                                           criterion of the relationship between the rates of
                (Language of the case: Italian)                            exchange of the various currencies, in comparison with
                                                                           that of the cost of living, namely factors not envisaged
                                                                           in the provisions of the Staff Regulations .
An action against the Commission of the European
Communities was brought before the Court of First
Instance of the European Communities on 26 July 1996 by
                                                                      — Breach of the principles of the protection of legitimate
Italo Telchini , residing at Bolzano ( Italy ), represented by
Bruno Telchini, of the Bolzano Bar, with an address for
                                                                           expectations and acquired rights in respect of amounts
                                                                           of pension inasmuch as his expectations with regard to
service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of Becker &
                                                                           pension have been disappointed . The applicant
 Cahen, 3 rue des Foyers .
                                                                           emphasizes that during his period of employment he
                                                                           was always remunerated in Belgian francs and he has
The applicant claims that the Court should :                               therefore acquired rights to a pension in that currency.
                                                                           To deprive him of part of such remuneration on the
                                                                           ground of the cost of living of the place where he resides
— annul the applicant's pension statements as from                         constitutes unjustified discrimination and thus wrongful
    January 1996 and order the Commission to adjust said                   conduct by the Commission .
     remuneration as appropriate henceforth, pursuant to
     Council Regulation ( EC, Euratom, ECSC ) No 2963/95
     of 18 December 1995 f 1 ) adjusting the remuneration
     and pensions of officials and other servants of the              — Erroneous and contradictory application of the
                                                                           principle of legal certainty in the matter of retrospective
     European Communities and the weightings applied
     thereto .                                                             revocation of lawful acts and recovery of the alleged
                                                                           overpayment. The Commission's conduct to the
                                                                           detriment of its retired officials has become even more
 — order the defendant to pay interest at the current rate                 prejudicial and arbitrary by retroactively recovering
     and the costs of the proceedings .                                    overpaid sums in application of Regulation ( EC,
                                                                           Euratom , ECSC ) No 2963/95 . In the past, in cases
                                                                           where the amount of the pension was to be adjusted,
 Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                       the Commission did not recover the negative amount.
                                                                            Now it has instead withheld it, setting the number of
 The applicant, a retired official of Italian nationality,                  monthly payments below that permitted by the Council
                                                                            Regulation .
 contests the way in which the defendant has applied to him
 Regulation ( EC, Euratom, ECSC ) No 2963/95 .
                                                                       (') OJ No L 310 , 22 . 12 . 1995 , p . 1 .
 The applicant observes in this regard that, upon retirement
 in December 1983 , he decided to return to Italy, making