Language of document :

Appeal brought on 1 September 2020 by Danilo Poggiolini against the order of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) delivered on 3 July 2020 in Joined Cases T-347/19 and T-348/19, Enrico Falqui and Danilo Poggiolini v European Parliament

(Case C-408/20 P)

Language of the case: Italian

Parties

Appellant: Danilo Poggiolini (represented by: F. Sorrentino, A. Sandulli, B. Cimino, avvocati)

Other party to the proceedings: European Parliament

Form of order sought

The appellant claims that the Court should:

declare admissible Mr Poggiolini’s action for annulment of (i) Note No D(2019) 14435 of 11 April 2019 of the European Parliament Directorate-General for Finance and (ii) Note D309419 of 8 July 2019 of the European Parliament Directorate-General for Finance – Directorate for Member’s Financial and Social Entitlements – Members’ Salaries and Social Entitlements Unit – Head of Unit; consequently, annul those notes or refer the case back to the General Court of the European Union for judgment;

order the European Parliament to pay the costs of the present proceedings and those of the proceedings before the General Court.

Grounds of appeal and main arguments

The appellant relies on three grounds in support of his action for annulment of order No 951576 of 3 July 2020 made by the General Court of the European Union, Sixth Chamber, in Case T-348/19, concerning in particular:

the late submission, in respect of the time limit of two months set out in the combined provisions of Article 81 and Article 130(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court, of the European Parliament’s claim that the action brought by Mr Poggiolini before the General Court is inadmissible, and the applicability to submissions made via e-Curia of Article 60 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court, which provides that ‘the procedural time limits shall be extended on account of distance by a single period of 10 days’;

the claim that Note No D(2019) 14435 of 11 April 2019 of the European Parliament Directorate-General for Finance is open to challenge, in so far as it has direct effect, and the resulting admissibility of the legal proceedings for its annulment;

the admissibility of the action for annulment of Note D309419 of 8 July 2019 of the Directorate-General for Finance – Directorate for Member’s Financial and Social Entitlements – Members’ Salaries and Social Entitlements Unit – Head of Unit made by statement of modification of the application pursuant to Article 86 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court and, given that all the requirements have been met, the need to convert that statement into an application.

The appellant relies on three further grounds relating to the unlawfulness of Note No D(2019) 14435 of 11 April 2019 and Note D309419 of 8 July 2019, alleging in particular:

infringement of the decision of the Bureau of the European Parliament of 19 May and 9 July 2008 concerning Implementing measures for the Statute for Members of the European Parliament;

failure by the European Parliament to disapply invalid national legislation (introduced by Resolution No 14/2018 of the Ufficio di Presidenza della Camera dei deputati italiana (Office of the President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies));

unlawful application, by the European Parliament, of national legislation contrary to the fundamental principles of the EU legal system, in particular the principle of the protection of legitimate expectations, and failure to observe the principle of the primacy of EU law.

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