Action brought on 3 August 2020 — SATSE v Commission

(Case T-484/20)

(2020/C 304/29)

Language of the case: Spanish

Parties

Applicant: Sindicato de Enfermería (SATSE) (Madrid, Spain) (represented by: M. Sesmero González, lawyer)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the General Court should:

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Annul Commission Directive (EU) 2020/739 of 3 June 2020 amending Annex III to Directive 2000/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the inclusion of SARS-CoV-2 in the list of biological agents known to infect humans and amending Commission Directive (EU) 2019/1833, published in the Official Journal of the European Union of 4 June 2020 (OJ 2020 L 175, p. 11).

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicant relies on two pleas in law.

First plea in law, alleging infringement of Articles 2 and 18 of Directive 2000/54/EC and Annex III thereto.

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In that regard, the applicant relies on the absence of any effective treatment or prophylaxis for the biological agent SARS-CoV-2, the fact that it is a virus that is considered to be highly contagious and which mutates and, therefore, is highly likely to spread to the community and the fact that the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 causes serious conditions and symptoms resulting in severe human disease, presenting a serious hazard to workers.

Second plea in law, alleging infringement of essential procedural requirements on account of the failure to state reasons for the classification of the biological agent SARS-CoV-2 in group 3.

—	In that regard, the applicant submits that although the Commission acknowledged that there was no vaccine or effective treatment and despite what was provided for in Article 2 of Directive 2000/54/EC, it classified SARS-CoV-2 in risk group 3 rather than in risk group 4.