Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 3 May 2017.Leïmonia Sotiropoulou and Others v Council of the European Union.Non-contractual liability — Economic and monetary policy — Decisions addressed to a Member State with a view to remedying an excessive deficit situation — Reduction in and withdrawal of pension rights in Greece — Sufficiently serious infringement of a rule of law conferring rights on individuals.Case T-531/14.

Judgment // 03/05/2017 // 3 min read
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Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 3 May 2017 — Sotiropoulou and Others v Council

(Case T‑531/14)

(Non-contractual liability — Economic and monetary policy — Decisions addressed to a Member State with a view to remedying an excessive deficit situation — Reduction in and withdrawal of pension rights in Greece — Sufficiently serious infringement of a rule of law conferring rights on individuals)

  1. Actions for damages — Jurisdiction of the EU judicature — Limits — Jurisdiction to hear a claim for compensation for damage allegedly caused by a decision imputable to the Council — Inclusion

(Arts 268 TFEU and 340, second and third paras, TFEU)

(see paras 56-60)

  1. Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Damage — Causal link — One of the conditions not satisfied — Claim for compensation dismissed in its entirety

(Art. 340, second para., TFEU)

(see paras 64, 65)

  1. Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Sufficiently serious breach of a rule of law intended to confer rights on individuals — Rule of law intended to confer rights on individuals — Concept — Principles for allocating jurisdiction and of subsidiarity — Not included

(Arts 5 (2) and (3) TFEU and 340, second para., TFEU)

(see paras 69-72)

  1. Economic and monetary policy — Economic policy — Procedure for monitoring excessive public deficits — Council Decisions addressed to a Member State in excessive deficit with a view to reinforcing and deepening budgetary oversight and putting it on notice to take deficit reduction measures — No infringement of the principles for allocating jurisdiction and of subsidiarity

(Arts 5 (2) and (3) TFEU, 126(9) TFEU and 136 TFEU; Council Decisions 2010/320 and 2011/734)

(see paras 73, 74)

  1. Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Sufficiently serious breach of EU law — Requirement that the institutions manifestly and seriously disregard the limits of their discretion — Council Decisions putting a Member State in excessive deficit on notice to take deficit reduction measures, including reduction and suspension of pension rights in that Member State — Justification of the measures by the need to rationalise the budget, reduce public spending, support the pensions system, and maintain budgetary discipline and the financial stability of the eurozone — No unjustified and disproportionate restriction on rights of access to social security benefits and social services — EU not liable

(Arts 126 (9) TFEU, 136 TFEU and 340, second para., TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 34 and 52(1); Council Decisions 2010/320 and 2011/734)

(see paras 77-79, 81, 83-91)

Re:

ACTION on the basis of Article 268 TFEU seeking compensation for the loss allegedly suffered by the applicants as a result of the adoption of the decisions of the Council addressed to the Hellenic Republic in activation of the mechanism provided for in Article 126 TFEU.

Operative part

The Court:

  1. Dismisses the action;

  2. Orders Ms Leïmonia Sotiropoulou and the other applicants whose names are listed in the annex to the judgment to pay the costs;

  3. Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs.

Provisions governing the Institutions