C-33/80
ECLI:EU:C:1980:138
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ORDER OF T H E PRESIDENT OF T H E FIRST CHAMBER OF T H E COURT OF 22 MAY 1980 1
Renato Albini ν Council and Commission of the European Communities
Case 33/80 R
In Case 33/80 R
RENATO ALBINI, a former official of the Commission of the European Communities and nine other former officials of the Commission, represented and assisted by Raimondo Marini-Garelli, of the Rome Bar, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of Victor Biel, Advocate, 18 A Rue des Glacis, applicants, v
COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, represented by its Legal Adviser, John Carbery, acting as Agent, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the Office of Douglas Fontein, Director of the Legal Department of the European Investment Bank, 2 Place de Metz, COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, represented by its Legal Adviser, Joseph Griesmar, and by Oreste Montalto, a member of the Legal Department, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the office of its Legal Adviser, Mario Cervino, Jean Monnet Building, Kirchberg, defendants,
APPLICATION for the adoption of interim measures ordering the defendants to desist forthwith from applying in the case of the applicants Council Regulations Nos 3085/78 and 3086/78 of 21 December 1978 (Official Journal L 369 of 29 December 1978, pp. 6 and 8) amending the Staff Regulations of Officials with particular reference to the monetary
I — Language of the Case: Italian.
ORDER OF 22. 5. 1980 — CASE 33/80 R
parities to be used in the payment in particular of remuneration and pensions respectively, and consequently adjusting the weightings applicable to such monetary entitlements,
T H E PRESIDENT OF THE FIRST CHAMBER OF THE COURT,
on hearing the views of the Advocate General,
has made the following
ORDER
Facts and Issues
Council Regulations Nos 3085/78 and Communities are to be adjusted 3086/78 adjusted the monetary parities pursuant to the alteration of the to be used in the calculation of remuner- monetary parities (Articles 1 and 2 of ation and pensions of officials as well as Regulation No 3086) : the weightings applied to these. They provide as follows:
— The transferable . part of the remuneration is also to be 1. Remuneration paid in a currency transferred at the exchange rates other than Belgian francs shall be used for the implementation of the calculated on the basis of the general budget of the European exchange rates used for the Communities on 1 July 1978; implementation of the general budget of the European Communities on 1 July 1978, a date which may be changed at the time of the annual review of remuneration provided for — The amounts transferred are to be in Article 65 of the Staff Regulations; adjusted by the application of the weighting resulting from the relationship existing between the weighting fixed for the country in whose currency the transfer is 2. The weightings applied to the made and the weighting fixed for remuneration and pensions of officials the country where the official and other servants of the European performs his duties.
ALBINI ν COUNCIL AND COMMISSION
The applicants, who are former commitments and obligations on the Commission officials receiving their basis of the resources which they thought pension in Italy, lodged, within the with good reason were guaranteed to specified period, a complaint within the them for their entire lifetime. These meaning of Article 90 (2) of the Staff resources are now reduced by more than Regulations of Officials in order to half and the problems which this challenge the decisions contained in the situation causes to pensioners and the said regulations. As yet no decision has difficulties which they are now been taken on those complaints. In the compelled to face may well be imagined. meantime the applicants have brought an action for the annulment of Regulations Nos 3085/78 and 3086/78 or, in any The Commission seeks the dismissal of case, a declaration that their provisions the application for the adoption of do not apply to the various applicants. interim measures on the following grounds: On 1 April 1980, pursuant to Article 186 of the Treaty and Article 83 of the Rules — Since Application 33/80 appears to of Procedure, the applicants made an be inadmissible, the application for application for the adoption of pro visional measures in which they ask the the adoption of interim measures Court to order the suspension, with must be dismissed as inadmissible; regard to them, of the operation of Council Regulations Nos 3085 and 3086/78. — Article 83 (2) of the Rules of Procedure stipulates that an application to suspend the operation The Commission submitted written of any measure or for the adoption observations on 22 April 1980 and the of any other interim measure must Council on 23 April 1980. state the subject-matter of the dispute, the circumstances giving rise to urgency and the factual and legal The applicants claim that the application grounds establishing a prima facie of the regulations referred to above will case for the interim measures applied entail a reduction by more than 50% of for; the amounts paid to them as pension. In fact from September 1979 the difference between the net amounts resulting from — The application for the adoption of the application of the new regulations interim measures does not contain and the amount received in respect of any evidence of irreparable damage September 1979 is reduced by 10% each caused to the applicants by the month until it is completely absorbed in application of Regulations Nos 3085 July 1980. Furthermore, the very serious and 3086/78; damage suffered by the applicants, which is increasing month by month and will become stabilized as from July 1980, — It has been held inter alia that the justifies this application and will be irrep suspension of remuneration "is . . . arable in the event of the main action's not of such a nature . . . as to cause succeeding. serious or irreparable damage" to the rights and interests of the applicant (Case 62/74, Vel/ozzi ν Commission The pensioners have arranged their [1974] ECR 895; Case 75/72, standard of living and entered into Perinciolo ν Council [1972] ECR
ORDER OF 22. 5. 1980 — CASE 33/80 R
1202; and Case 48/79, Ooms and acts within the meaning of Article 90 (2), Others v Commission, [1979] ECR that is to say either a decision taken by 1705); the appointing authority or where the said authority has failed to "adopt a — Nothing in the applicants' arguments measure prescribed by the Staff Regu- leads to the belief that there are in lations". Regulations Nos 3085 and this case "circumstances giving rise to 3086/78 lie entirely outside that urgency". Six months have already definition of an act adversely affecting gone by since the disputed regu- an official and may not therefore be lations were brought into force. It is referred to the Court under the remedies difficult to understand, in these available under the Staff Regulations, circumstances, why the applicants which are intended to enable the Court should suddenly discover, at the the to review acts and omissions by the beginning of April, that the matter appointing authority which are likely to will admit of no delay. affect the position of officials under the Staff Regulations. Moreover the Council The Council primarily recalls that it has is not the appointing authority in regard raised an objection of inadmissibility to the applicants and it has never against the main action and confirms the received from them a complaint within arguments which it submitted when the meaning of Article 90 (2) of the Staff doing so. Regulations. The measures challenged are in fact The Council then puts forward the same Council regulations, which puts them arguments as the Commission regarding outside the scope of application of the the application for the adoption of remedies available under Articles 90 and interim measures. 91 of the Staff Regulations. Under that system, which derogates from the In the absence of the President of the ordinary law laid down in Article 173 of Court, the President of the First the Treaty, acts adversely affecting an Chamber decided to hear the oral official and capable of being submitted in submissions of the parties on 19 May the Court are in fact defined as being 1980.
Decision
1 The applicants ask the Court to order that the application of Council Regu- lations Nos 3085/78 and 3086/78 of 21 December 1978 (Official Journal L 369 of 29 December 1978, pp. 6 and 8) be suspended in regard to them.
2 These regulations, which adjust the monetary parities to be used in the calcu- lation of remuneration and pensions of officials as well as the weightings applied to them, is claimed to cause a reduction of more than 50% in the
ALBINI ν COUNCIL AND COMMISSION
amounts paid to the applicants as pensions, thus causing them serious financial damage.
3 Article 83 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court provides that:
— "An application to suspend the operation of any measure adopted by an institution . . . shall be admissible only if the applicant is challenging that measure in proceedings before the Court." That condition is fulfilled in the case of the applicants.
— An application of this kind is required to "state the subject-matter of the dispute, the circumstances giving rise to urgency and the factual and legal grounds establishing a prima facie case for the interim measures applied for".
4 In numerous previous cases the Court has held that an applicant seeking the adoption of interim measures must be in such a position as to be likely to suffer irreparable damage.
5 The application by the applicants does not show that they are suffering damage which cannot be made good by the definitive judgment. If the applicants succeed they will be entitled to the difference between the net amounts resulting from the application of Regulations Nos 3085/78 and 3086/78 and the pensions payable before those regulations came into force.
6 If, on the other hand, the applicants are not successful and a suspension of the operation of Regulations Nos 3085/78 and 3086/78 has in the meantime been ordered, the Commission would be empowered under Article 85 of the Staff Regulations of Officials to recover the sums overpaid. This situation might also entail financial difficulties for the applicants.
7 Consequently the application for the adoption of interim measures must be dismissed.
Costs
8 It is appropriate, at this stage, to reserve costs.
ORDER OF 22. 5. 1980 — CASE 33/80 R
On those grounds,
T H E PRESIDENT OF THE FIRST CHAMBER OF THE COURT,
as an interlocutory decision,
hereby orders as follows:
1. The application for the adoption of interim measures is dismissed.
2. The costs are reserved.
Luxembourg, 22 May 1980.
A. Van Houtte A. O'Keeffe Registrar President of the First Chamber