Suzanne Culmsee and others v Economic and Social Committee (175/83)

Contents

Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber)4 July 1985^noteIn Case 175/83Suzanne Culmsee and Others, officials of the Economic and Social Committee, assisted and represented by Jean-Noël Louis of the Brussels Bar, 51 rue Langeveld, PO Box 16, 1180 Brussels, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of Nicolas Decker, advocate at the Cour d'appel, Luxembourg, 16 avenue Marie-Thérèse, PO Box 335,vEconomic and Social Committee, Brussels, represented by Marius Simond, acting as Agent, assisted by Yvette Hamilius, of the Luxembourg Bar, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the latter's Chambers, 11 boulevard Royal,THE COURT (Third Chamber)composed of: C. Kakouris, President of Chamber, U. Everling and Y. Galmot, Judges,Advocate General: G. F. ManciniRegistrar: H. A. Rühl, Principal Administratorafter hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General delivered at the sitting on 31 January 1985,gives the following

Judgment

(The account of the facts and issues which is contained in the complete text of the judgment is not reproduced)

Decision

1By application lodged at the Court Registry on 16 August 1983, Suzanne Culmsee and other officials of the Economic and Social Committee brought an action for the annulment of their salary slips for December 1982 in respect of salary arrears paid pursuant to Council Regulation (ECSC, EEC, Euratom) No 3139/82 of 22 November 1982 (Official Journal L 331, of 26.11.1982, p. 1) and, in so far as is necessary, for the annulment of the express or implied decisions rejecting the complaints lodged under Article 90 (2) of the Staff Regulations. The applicants seek the annulment of those measures in so far as the salary arrears for the period commencing on 1 July 1980 were not increased, in spite of the loss of purchasing power resulting from the delay in payment, by default interest calculated at the normal rate to which they claim to be entitled. The applicants also seek an order requiring the Economic and Social Committee to pay them compensatory interest on account of the loss of purchasing power.

2On 20 January 1981 the Council adopted Regulation (Euratom, ECSC, EEC) No 187/81 adjusting the salaries and pensions of officials and other servants of the European Communities and the weightings applying thereto (Official Journal L 21, of 24.1.1981, p. 18), acting on a proposal to that effect submitted by the Commission on 9 December 1980.

3In pursuance of that regulation, on 10 February 1981 the Council adopted Regulation (Euratom, ECSC, EEC) No 397/81 fixing the tables of salaries and other components of remuneration (Official Journal L 46, of 19.2.1981, p. 1).

4On 16 March 1981 the Commission brought an action requesting the Court to declare void Regulation No 187/81 and Articles 1 (a), 2 (a), 2 (b) and the first paragraph of Article 11 of Regulation No 397/81.

5In its judgment of 6 October 1982 in Case 59/81 (Commission v Council [1982] ECR 3329), the Court declared void Regulation No 187/81 and the aforesaid provisions of Regulation No 397/81.

6In order to comply with that judgment, the Council adopted Regulation No 3139/82 of 22 November 1982, acting on a proposal from the Commission dated 29 October 1982.

7The Economic and Social Committee proceeded to calculate and pay salary arrears pursuant to the aforesaid regulation.

8Each of the applicants lodged a standard-form complaint under Article 90 (2) of the Staff Regulations contending that account had to be taken of the loss of purchasing power during the period in respect of which the arrears were paid pursuant to Council Regulation No 3139/82 and claiming default interest which, in their view, should have been paid together with those arrears.

9The complaints were rejected by express or implied decisions whereupon the applicants commenced these proceedings.

10By a separate document lodged at the Court Registry on 19 October 1983, the Council raised an objection of inadmissibility in so far as the application was directed against the Council and applied to the , Court for a decision on that objection without considering the substance of the case.

11By order of 26 September 1984 the Court (Third Chamber), having regard to Article 91 (3) and (4) of the Rules of Procedure, upheld the objection raised by the Council and dismissed the application as inadmissible in so far as it was directed against the Council.

Admissibility

12As the Court held in its judgment of 22 October 1975 in Case 9/75 (Meyer-Burckhardt v Commission [1975] ECR 1171), a dispute between an official and the institution by which he is employed, even if it involves an action for damages, is pursued, where it originates in the relationship of employment between the person concerned and the institution, under Article 179 of the EEC Treaty and Articles 90 and 91 of the Staff Regulations. Accordingly, the applicants have locus standi to submit both a claim for annulment and a claim for damages provided that they satisfy the conditions laid down by the Staff Regulations, which are the same for both means of redress.

13It must be noted that, in this case, as is clear from the documents before the Court, the applicants claimed only default interest in their standard complaints and not compensatory interest which they claimed for the first time in their application to the Court. Consequently, their application is inadmissible in so far as it concerns the payment of compensatory interest.

Substance

14As regards the substance, the case raises certain questions which should be reserved for consideration by the full Court.

Costs

15It is appropriate at this stage of the proceedings to reserve the costs.

Operative part

On those grounds,THE COURT (Third Chamber)before giving judgment on the substance of the case, hereby:

(1).Dismisses the application as inadmissible in so far as it contains a claim for the payment of compensatory interest;

(2).Refers the other claims in the application to the full Court for consideration of the substance;

(3).Reserves the costs.

Delivered in open court in Luxembourg on 4 July 1985.