Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 25 February 2016

Data

Court: General Court

Case date: 25 februari 2016

Verdict

Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 25 February 2016 —

Musso v Parliament

(Joined Cases T‑589/14 and T‑772/14)

"Emoluments of Members of the Parliament - Old-age pension - Obligation for French Members to claim their pension rights from national schemes - Rule against overlapping - Implementing measures for the Statute for Members - Decision adopted at the conclusion of the complaints procedure - Debit note - Decision to suspend payment of the pension - Adversarial principle - Reasonable period - Obligation to state reasons"

1. Judicial proceedingsApplication initiating proceedingsPleasAlteration once proceedings have been startedCondition (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 76(e)) (see paras 30, 31)

2. EU lawPrinciplesRights of the defenceRight to be heardScopeNo obligation to place the person concerned in a position to state his views orally (see para. 59)

3. Acts of the institutionsStatement of reasonsObligationScopeAssessment of the duty to state reasons by reference to the circumstances of the case (Art. 296 TFEU) (see para. 71)

4. Actions for annulmentGroundsLack of or inadequate statement of reasonsError of assessmentDistinction (Arts 263 TFEU and 296 TFEU) (see para. 78)

5. Judicial proceedingsIntroduction of new pleas during the proceedingsPlea raised for the first time at the hearingInadmissibility (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 84(1)) (see para. 80)

6. EU budgetFinancial regulationRecovery of debts from third partiesRequest for reimbursement in the form of a debit noteNotification periodDuty to act within a reasonable timeCriteria for assessmentInfringementConsequences (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 966/2012, Art. 81; Council Regulation No 1605/2002, Art. 73a) (see paras 90-92, 96, 103, 104, 128)

7. EU lawPrinciplesVested rightsLimitsDecision fixing the pension rights of an MEP and demanding repayment of overpaid pensionNo acquired rights (European Parliament Decision 2005/684) (see paras 117, 118)

Re:

First, application for annulment of the decision of the Bureau of the Parliament of 26 June 2014 confirming the decision of the Secretary-General of the Parliament of 17 October 2011 which determined the monthly amount of pension rights, taking into account the sums received from two French pension schemes, and by which recovery of EUR 127 065,19 was determined and, second, application for annulment of the decision of the Parliament of 22 September 2014.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the actions;

2. Orders Mr François Musso to bear his own costs and to pay those of the European Parliament.