JUDGMENT OF THE GENERAL COURT (Appeal Chamber)

3 July 2012

Case T‑594/10 P

Luigi Marcuccio

v

European Commission

(Appeal — Civil service — Officials — Social security — Reimbursement of medical expenses — Acts adversely affecting the applicant — Implied refusal)

Appeal:      against the order of the Civil Service Tribunal of the European Union (First Chamber) of 6 October 2010 in Case F‑2/10 Marcuccio v Commission [2010] ECR-SC seeking to have that order set aside.

Held:      the order of the Civil Service Tribunal of the European Union (First Chamber) of 6 October 2010 in Case F‑2/10 Marcuccio v Commission is set aside. The case is referred back to the Civil Service Tribunal. The costs are reserved.

Summary

Officials — Actions — Acts adversely affecting the applicant — Definition — No reply received to the request made — Implied decision rejecting the request

(Staff Regulations, Art. 90)

A letter by which the person concerned is informed that his request is under consideration does not entail acceptance of the request at issue, even if the letter in question indicates that the request will probably be accepted. In such circumstances, if no reply to the request has been received in the period prescribed by Article 90(1) of the Staff Regulations, this is deemed to constitute an implied decision rejecting it, against which a complaint may be lodged in accordance with Article 90(2) thereof. To adopt the view that the existence of such a letter precludes the implied rejection of a request would effectively deprive the person concerned of any remedy if the administration were to fail to take a view on the request at issue. Such an outcome would be contrary to both the spirit and the letter of Article 90 of the Staff Regulations.

(see paras 21, 22)