Notice for the OJ

 

Action brought on 19 February 2004 by Jean-Pierre Castets against Commission of the European Communities

    (Case T-80/04)

    (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 19 February 2004 by Jean-Pierre Castets, residing in Saint Victor Des Oules (France), represented by Grégory Crétin, lawyer.

The applicants claim that the Court should:

Annul the decision of 9 December 2003 whereby the appointing authority rejected complaint No R/456/03 formulated by the applicant on 29 July 2003;

Order the Office for the administration and payment of individual entitlements of the European Commission to recalculate the number of days' annual leave not taken by the applicant on the date on which he left the service and to adjust, in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 4 of Annex V to the Staff Regulations, payment for the 31 days not taken in 2002, plus interest at the applicable rate;

Order the Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant in the present case, who was retired and awarded an invalidity pension, disputes the number of days of leave in respect of which he received compensation when he left the service.

In support of his claims, he alleges that it follows from the applicable provisions of the Staff Regulations that:

- the conclusions of the Heads of Administration No 53A/70 of 9 January 1970, which limit to 12 working days the amount of annual leave that can be carried forward, even in the event of prolonged sickness, cannot be applied, since they are contrary to the applicable provisions of the statute;

- an official on sick leave cannot apply to carry forward days of annual leave, since such an act is a step of an occupational nature which an official on sick leave is not required to carry out;

- an official who has not used up his annual leave upon leaving the service is entitled, without any limit, to payment of compensation for the whole of his annual leave which could not be used up owing to the needs of the service;

- the fact of being on sick leave for a full year clearly constitutes a need of the service which justifies days of leave in excess of 12 days being carried forward.

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