Language of document :

Action brought on 13 January 2006 - Nicola Scafarto v Commission

(Case F-6/06)

Language of the case: Italian

Parties

Applicant: Nicola Scafarto (Luxembourg, Luxembourg) (represented by: A. D'Antuono and G. Somma, lawyers)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

declare inapplicable, within the meaning of Article 241 EC, Article 12 of Annex XIII to the Staff Regulations;

annul the decision by which the appointing authority (AIPN) implicitly dismissed the applicant's complaint against Decision No 000617 of 17 March 2005;

annul only the part of that decision in which the AIPN placed the applicant in Grade A*6, first step, instead of A*8, first step;

order the defendant to replace the contested part of that decision with a part placing the applicant, with retroactive effect, in Grade A*8, first step;

order the defendant to pay the applicant all the amounts which he did not receive owing to the unlawfulness of the contested decisions, including interest;

order the defendant to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant, who was included on the reserve list for Competition EUR/A/155/2000 for Grades A6 and A7, was subsequently recruited by the Commission at Grade A*6 after the new Staff Regulations had come into force.

By his application he claims primarily that the decision determining his grade infringes Article 31 of the Staff Regulations.

He goes on to submit that, in any event, that decision is unlawful, in so far as its legal basis, Article 12 of Annex XIII to the Staff Regulations, is unlawful on the ground that it infringes the following principles: legal certainty, the protection of legitimate expectations, non-discrimination, equal treatment, reasonableness and proper administration. Finally and in the alternative, the applicant adds that even if the protection of legitimate expectations is not always absolute, any exception thereto and/or derogation therefrom must be duly justified, a condition which was not fulfilled in this case.

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