Notice for the OJ
Action brought on 13 December 2002 by Dorte Schmidt-Brown against Commission of the European Communities
(Case T-387/02)
(Language of the case: French)
An action against the Commission of the European Communities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 13 December 2002 by Dorte Schmidt-Brown, residing in Wellen (Germany), represented by Albert Coolen, Jean-Noël Louis and Etienne Marchal, lawyers.
The applicant claims that the Court should:
(annul the decision of the Commission of 26 April 2002 rejecting the applicant's request seeking:
.aid and assistance from her institution in the action brought before the courts of the United Kingdom against Eurogramme Ltd;
.access, permission to copy and to produce before the courts all documents relating to the project PRODCOM concerning Eurogramme Ltd directly or indirectly and, in particular, those appearing in the list enclosed with the originating request together with all the elements of the internal investigation file carried out by the Head of Unit DG EUROSTAT/R.1 "Administrative and personnel matters" including the audit report of 21 December 2000;
.financial assistance to allow her to cover the entire cost of defending the action seeking compensation for non-material, professional and material damage suffered as a result of defamatory statements made against her;
(order the defendant to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
The applicant was an official of the Commission, working for DG EUROSTAT. She was responsible for the PRODCOM project in respect of which Eurogramme Ltd entered into a contract for the provision of statistical services.
According to the applicant, Eurogramme Ltd made serious accusations against the applicant in this respect. Subsequently, the applicant brought an action on the grounds of defamation against Eurogramme Ltd before the courts in the United Kingdom.
In that context, the applicant submitted a request within the meaning of Article 90(1) of the Staff Regulations seeking to obtain access and permission to copy and produce before the courts in the United Kingdom all documents relating to the PRODCOM project. That request also sought financial assistance to allow her to cover the entire cost of defending the action seeking compensation for damage suffered as a result of defamatory statements made against her by Eurogramme Ltd. That request was rejected by the contested decision.
In support of her application, the applicant alleges infringement of Decision No 94/90
1 on public access to Commission documents and infringement of Article 19 of the Staff Regulations. The applicant points out that the contested decision gives no reason for refusing access to the file and permission to produce such documents before the courts.