ORDER OF THE GENERAL COURT (Appeal Chamber)

16 September 2014

Case T‑83/13 P

BS

v

European Commission

(Appeal — Civil service — Officials — Social security — Article 73 of the Staff Regulations — Rules on insurance against the risks of accident and of occupational disease — Principle of collegiality — Legal nature of the dispute — Physical or mental disability rating — Appeal in part manifestly inadmissible and in part manifestly unfounded)

Appeal:      against the judgment of the European Union Civil Service Tribunal (Third Chamber) of 12 December 2012 in BS v Commission (F‑90/11, ECR-SC, EU:F:2012:188), seeking to have that judgment set aside.

Held:      The appeal is dismissed. BS is to bear his own costs and is ordered to pay those incurred by the European Commission in the course of the present proceedings.

Summary

1.      Officials — Social security — Insurance against the risk of accident and of occupational disease — Invalidity — Concept — Lesions of sufficient gravity — Included

(Staff Regulations, Art. 73)

2.      Officials — Social security — Insurance against the risk of accident and of occupational disease — Invalidity — Physical and mental disability rating scale — Application to burns and scarring

(Staff Regulations, Art. 73; Rules on insurance against the risk of accident and of occupational disease, Annex A, point X)

1.      An invalid within the meaning of Article 73 of the Staff Regulations must be regarded as a person who, as a result of an accident or an occupational disease, is totally or partially unable to lead a normal active life. It clearly follows from that provision that no cutaneous lesion could entail recognition of a physical or mental disability rating. Only lesions totally or partially preventing the pursuit of a normal active life fall within the scope of that provision.

(see paras 58, 59)

See:

judgment of 2 October 1979 in B. v Commission, 152/77, ECR, EU:C:1979:220, para. 10

2.      Point X of the European physical and mental disability rating scale for medical purposes laid down in Annex A to the Common rules on the insurance of officials against the risks of accident and of occupational disease applies to deep burns or pathological scarring, the use of the conjunction ‘or’ merely making it clear that the lesion concerned need not be both a deep burn and pathological scarring in order to be recognised under the European scale. However, burns which are not deep and scarring which is not pathological do not qualify for an allowance.

(see para. 61)