ORDER OF THE GENERAL COURT

8 November 2012

Case T‑616/11 P

Luigi Marcuccio

v

European Commission

(Appeal — Civil service — Officials — Action at first instance dismissed as manifestly devoid of any basis in law — Harm allegedly suffered by the appellant — Reimbursement of avoidable costs — Article 94(a) of the Rules of Procedure of the Civil Service Tribunal)

Appeal:      against the order of the Civil Service Tribunal of the European Union (Second Chamber) of 8 September 2011 in Case F‑69/10 Marcuccio v Commission [2011] ECR-SC seeking to have that order set aside.

Held:      The appeal is dismissed. Mr Luigi Marcuccio is to bear his own costs and to pay the costs incurred by the European Commission in the appeal proceedings.

Summary

1.      Officials — Non-contractual liability of the institutions — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Damage — Causal link — Decision vitiated by a breach of the right to confidentiality — Not a sufficient condition for the Union to incur non-contractual liability — Actual fact of damage and causal link — Burden of proof

(Art. 340, second para., TFEU)

2.      Appeals — Pleas in law — Plea against a ground of the judgment not necessary to support the operative part — Invalid plea in law

3.      Appeals — Pleas in law — Plea against the Civil Service Tribunal’s decision as to costs — Inadmissible if all other pleas are rejected

(Statute of the Court of Justice, Annex I, Art. 11(2))

1.      The Union incurs non-contractual liability only if a series of cumulative conditions are met as regards the unlawfulness of the acts alleged against the defendant institution, the actual fact of the alleged damage and the existence of a causal link between the contested acts and the damage complained of.

The fact that a decision of an institution is vitiated by an illegality such as a breach of the right to confidentiality is not a sufficient condition for the Union to incur non-contractual liability for unlawful acts of its bodies, since for such liability to be incurred the appellant must have been able to prove the actual fact of the damage he claims and the causal link between that damage and the illegality complained of.

(see paras 36-37, 41)

See:

T‑46/08 P Marcuccio v Commission [2009] ECR-SC I‑B‑1-77 and II‑B‑1-479, paras 66 and 67 and the case-law cited therein; judgment of 6 July 2010 in T‑401/09 Marcuccio v Commission, not published in the ECR, para. 26; T‑143/09 P Commission v Petrilli [2010] ECR-SC, para. 45 and the case-law cited therein

2.      See the text of the decision.

(see para. 44)

See:

C‑496/99 P Commission v CAS Succhi di Frutta [2004] ECR I‑3801, para. 68 and the case-law cited therein

3.      See the text of the decision.

(see paras 47, 52)

See:

T‑375/08 P Nijs v Court of Auditors [2009] ECR-SC I‑B‑1-65 and II‑B‑1-413, para. 71 and the case-law cited therein; order of 20 October 2010 in T‑515/09 P Marcuccio v Commission, not published in the ECR, para. 59; T‑256/10 P Marcuccio v Commission [2011] ECR-SC, para. 77