Judgment_paragraph 53 · Alessandro Accorinti and Others v European Central Bank (T-79/13)

53As regards the ECB’s main argument, it should be borne in mind that under the first paragraph of Article 21 of the Statute of the Court of Justice, read with the first paragraph of Article 53 thereof, and Article 44(1) of the Rules of Procedure of 2 May 1991, an application must set out the subject-matter of the proceedings and a summary of the pleas in law on which it is based. That statement must be sufficiently clear and precise to enable the defendant to prepare its defence and the Court to rule on the action, if necessary, without any further information. In order to guarantee legal certainty and the sound administration of justice it is necessary, in order for a plea to be admissible, that the essential matters of law and fact relied on are stated, at least in summary form, coherently and intelligibly in the application itself. More specifically, in order to satisfy those requirements, an application for compensation for damage said to have been caused by an EU institution must indicate the evidence from which the conduct which the applicant alleges against the institution can be identified, the reasons why the applicant considers that there is a causal link between the conduct and the damage which it claims to have sustained, and the nature and extent of that damage (see judgment of 2 March 2010 in Arcelor v Parliament and Council, T‑16/04, ECR, EU:T:2010:54, paragraph 132 and the case-law cited).