Notice for the OJ

 

Action brought on 12 December 2003 by Jean-Pierre Castets against Commission of the European Communities

(Case T-398/03)

(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 12 December 2003 by Jean-Pierre Castets, residing in Saint Victor Des Oules (France), represented by Grégory Crétin, lawyer.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

-    Annul the decision of 4 September 2003 by which the appointing authority rejected complaint R/311/03 made by the applicant on 16 June 2003;

-    Order the Office for administration and payment of individual entitlements to recalculate the amount of the invalidity pension to be paid to the applicant on the basis of the old-age pension which would have been paid to him at the age of 65 if he had remained in service until that age, and to apply that calculation retroactively from 1 May 2003;

-    Order the Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant was retired and granted an invalidity pension with effect from 1 May 2003.

According to the applicant, when the Commission calculated his invalidity pension, it manifestly misinterpreted Article 78 of the Staff Regulations in taking as the rate of the invalidity pension the rate of the old-age pension to which the applicant would have been entitled at the age of 65 if he had remained in service until that age and, as his basic salary, the salary he would receive if he were still in service. The applicant claims that the pension should, rather, be calculated on the basis of the old-age pension which would have been paid to him if he had remained in service until the age of 65.

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