Notice for the OJ

 

Action brought on 16 April 2004 by Elisabetta Righini against the Commission of the European Communities

Case T-145/04

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 16 April 2004 by Elisabetta Righini, living in Brussels, represented by Eric Boigelot, lawyer.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

--    Annul the Commission's decisions classifying the applicant at Grade A7-3 on her entry into service, whether as a member of the temporary staff or as a probationary official, such decisions having been notified to her on 27 May 2003 and 30 June 2003;

--    Order the Commission to pay the costs, pursuant to Article 87(2) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant challenges her classification in Grade A7, Step 3, on her appointment as a probationary official on 21 May 2003.

In support of her claims, she alleges:

--    infringement of Article 31(2) of the Staff Regulations;

--    infringement of the Commission's decision of 1 September 1983, as amended on 7 February 1996, specifying the criteria to be applied when classifying members of the temporary staff and officials in their grade and step upon recruitment;

--    infringement of certain general principles of law, such as the principle of equal treatment, the protection of legitimate expectations and the duty to have due regard to the welfare of officials, and also of the principles requiring the appointing authority to make a decision only on the basis of relevant grounds, not vitiated by an obvious error of assessment.

The applicant argues that both her exceptional qualifications and the profile of the post in question, which required that a particularly qualified person be appointed, justified her classification in Grade A6.

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