Action brought on 26 April 2004 by Gerasimos Potamianos against Commission of the European Communities

(Case T-160/04)

(2004/C 168/23)

Language of the case: French

An action against the Commission of the European Communities was brought before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 26 April 2004 by Gerasimos Potamianos, residing in Brimbergen (Belgium), represented by Sébastien Orlandi, Albert Coolen, Jean-Noël Louis and Etienne Marchal, lawyers, with an address for service in Luxembourg.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant is challenging the appointing authority's refusal to renew his contract as a member of the temporary staff.

In that regard, it is made clear that the contested decision is based exclusively on the policy limiting the services of non-permanent staff in force in DG RTD, which has the effect of excluding from the scope of recruitment all servants with more than six years' seniority in the service of the Commission, seniority which is greater than that of other servants allowed to take part.

In the applicant's submission, that limitation is contrary to the first subparagraph of Article 12(1) of the Conditions of Employment of other servants, which states that recruitment is to be directed to securing for the institution the service of persons of the highest standard of ability, efficiency and integrity. It is also contrary to the decision of DG ADMIN to authorise the extension of contracts of temporary servants 2(b) (operating budget) or 2(d) (research budget) of short duration until 30 April 2004.

In support of his claims, the applicant further alleges breach of the principle of non-discrimination and also misuse of powers in the present case.