First hearing of the European Union Civil Service Tribunal - Main contents

CJE/06/28

24 March 2006

Press and Information

PRESS RELEASE No 28/06

24 March 2006

First hearing of the European Union Civil Service Tribunal

in Case F-16/05 Falcione v Commission

on 28 March 2006.

The European Union Civil Service Tribunal will hold its first hearing, in plenary session, at 9.30 on 28 March 2006 in the courtroom of the 'Allegro' building (35 A, avenue J. F. Kennedy, L-2925 Luxembourg), where this Tribunal is based.

Following the changes made by the Treaty of Nice, the Council of the European Union, by its Decision 2004/752/EC,[1] established the European Union Civil Service Tribunal, which thus constitutes the first specialised Community judicial panel. The seven judges who make up the Tribunal took up their duties on 1 October 2005.

In December 2005, after the appointment of the Tribunal's Registrar, the 117 staff cases pending before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities in which the written procedure had not yet been concluded were transferred to the Tribunal. Since then, approximately thirty new actions have been brought by officials or other staff.

The first hearing concerns Case F-16/05 Falcione v Commission. This action seeks the annulment of a Commission decision of 24 March 2004 establishing the definitive classification of the applicant, at the time he took up his post at the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) as a Principal Administrator, at grade A5, step 4. The applicant complains that the Commission did not take sufficient account of his professional experience and, more specifically, that it did not take into account the professional experience he acquired before being awarded his university-level qualification.

[1] Decision No 2004/752/EC, Euratom of 2 November 2004 (OJ 2004 L 333, p. 7)