Judgment of the General Court of 13 December 2023 – Van Oosterwijck v Commission

(Case T-622/22) ¹

(Civil service – Officials – Surviving spouse – Survivor’s pension – Refusal to grant – Eligibility conditions – Duration of the marriage – Article 20 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations – Plea of illegality – Equal treatment)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: Viviane Van Oosterwijck (Kontich, Belgium) (represented by: F. Moyse and L. Heisten, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: M. Brauhoff and G. Niddam, acting as Agents)

Interveners in support of the defendant: European Parliament (represented by: S. Bukšek Tomac and A. Krachler, acting as Agents), Council of the European Union (represented by: M. Bauer and X. Chamodraka, acting as Agents)

Re:

By her action based on Article 270 TFEU, the applicant seeks the annulment of the decision of the European Commission of 15 December 2021 by which it rejected her application for the grant of a survivor’s pension.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

Dismisses the action;

Orders Ms Viviane Van Oosterwijck to bear her own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission;

Orders the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament to bear their own costs.

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¹     OJ C 441, 21.11.2022.