Action brought on 10 September 2013 – Oikonomopoulos v Commission

(Case T-483/13)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: Athanassios Oikonomopoulos (Athens, Greece) (represented by: N. Korogiannakis and I. Zarzoura, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

Award damages ;

Declare that a series of OLAF’s actions and measures are legally non- existent and constitute inadmissible evidence.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicant relies on three pleas in law.

First plea in law, alleging misuse of powers by OLAF, as it was not entitled to conduct an investigation in the context of contractual relations between the Commission and a third party and acted ultra vires in the relevant investigation infringing several articles of the relevant legal framework, such as Council Regulation No 2185/96¹ and Regulation No 1073/1999² .

Second plea in law, alleging infringement of Regulation No 45/2001³ on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data, violation of Article 8 of Regulation No 1073/1999, breach of the obligation to maintain confidentiality, violation of the right to private life, violation of the principle of sound administration, as OLAF and different DGs of the Commission acted unlawfully when processed personal data of the applicant and transmitted such personal data within the Commission, and third parties.

Third plea in law, alleging violation of the right of defense, as the applicant has very limited information on the facts that concern him in the context of the relevant investigation and consequently was not given the opportunity to defend himself against any eventual accusation.

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¹ Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to protect the European Communities' financial interests against fraud and other irregularities (OJ 1996 L 292, p. 2)

² Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) (OJ 1999 L 136, p. 1)

³ Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (OJ 2001 L 8, p. 1)