Action brought on 2 May 2007 - Fernandez García and García Rato v Court of Justice

(Case F-41/07)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicants: Brigida Fernandez García (Luxembourg, Luxembourg) and Carolina García Rato (Luxembourg, Luxembourg)(represented by: S. Orlandi, A. Coolen, J.-N. Louis and E. Marchal, lawyers)

Defendant: Court of Justice

Form of order sought

The applicants claim that the Tribunal should:

annul the decisions to appoint the applicants as officials of the European Communities in so far as they fix their grade of recruitment under Article 13 of Annex XIII to the Staff Regulations;

order the defendant to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicants, successful candidates in competition CJ/LA/25,¹ the notice of which was published before 1 May 2004, were recruited after the entry into force of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 723/2004 of 22 March 2004 amending the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities and the Conditions of Employment of other servants of the European Communities.²

In their action, the applicants claim, first, that the contested decisions misapplied the legal framework established by the notice of competition. Under Article 13 of Annex XIII to the Staff Regulations, they were recruited in a grade lower than that indicated in the notice of competition.

The applicants also plead that the contested decisions infringe Articles 5, 29 and 31 of the Staff Regulations, as well as the principle of equal treatment and non-discrimination. The grade and step of successful candidates in the same competition or in competitions at the same level was fixed at different levels depending on whether they were recruited before or after the entry into force of Regulation No 723/2004.

In addition, the applicants plead breach of the principle of the protection of legitimate expectations, since they legitimately expected to be recruited in the grade indicated in the notice of the competition for filling the posts for which they applied.

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¹ - OJ C 182 A of 31.07.2002, p. 8.

² - OJ L 124 of 27.04.2004, p. 1.