Action brought on 6 October 2022 — Van Oosterwijck v Commission

(Case T-622/22)

(2022/C 441/41)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: Viviane Van Oosterwijck (Kontich, Belgium) (represented by: F. Moyse, lawyer)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

—	annul the decision of 7 July 2022 and to the extent necessary the decision of 15 December 2021, decisions by which the Commission refused to grant a survivor’s pension to the applicant;

—	accordingly, recognise the applicant as being entitled to a survivor’s pension under Articles 19 and 20 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations;

—	in any event, order the Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicant relies on a single plea in law, based on a plea of illegality of Article 20 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union (‘the Staff Regulations’) on account of the violation of the principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination on the basis of the duration of her relationship with her spouse. The applicant claims, inter alia, that the distinction that must be established in the present case, namely the fact that the requirement relating to the minimum duration of the marriage, in the situations covered by the abovementioned Article 20 is much greater than that in the situations covered by Article 19 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations, even though that all those situations are comparable, had to be regarded as arbitrary or manifestly inappropriate in the light of the objective pursued by the legislature.