Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2019:272
Date: 2019-04-30
Language of the case: French
Court formation: Eighth Chamber
Based on: Merger Treaty (1965)
Subject matter: Staff regulations and employment conditions - EC
Procedure: Staff cases - unfounded

Judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 30 April 2019 — Ardalic and Others v Council (Cases T‑523/16 and T‑542/16) (Civil service — Officials — Members of the contract staff — Reform of the Staff Regulations — Less favourable scheme for the flat-rate payment of travel expenses and for the increase in annual leave by way of additional days off as travelling time — Link between the grant of those entitlements and the expatriate status — Abolition of the reimbursement of annual travel expenses and travelling time) 1. Judicial proceedings — Objection of inadmissibility — Power of the General Court to dismiss an action on the merits without ruling on the objection of inadmissibility — Extent of its discretion (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Arts 126 and 130) (see para. 38) 2. Officials — Reimbursement of expenses — Annual travel expenses — Conditions and procedures — Discretion of the EU legislature — Judicial review — Limits (Staff Regulations of Officials, Annex VII, Art. 8) (see paras 47, 48, 64, 65, 105) 3. Officials — Reimbursement of expenses — Conditions and procedures — Reimbursement of annual travel expenses and travelling time — Requirement for there to be a link between the grant of those entitlements and the expatriate status — Discrimination against members of staff with dual nationality who are nationals of the Member State of employment and do not have such status — None (Staff Regulations of Officials, Annex V, Art. 7, and Annex VII, Art. 8, as amended by Regulation No 1023/2013) (see paras 63, 66-73) 4. Officials — Reimbursement of expenses — Reimbursement of annual travel expenses and travelling time — Reform of the Staff Regulations — Administration’s discretion — Observance of the principle of proportionality — Judicial review — Limits (Staff Regulations of Officials, Annex V, Art. 7, and Annex VII, Art. 8, as amended by Regulation No 1023/2013) (see paras 78-83) 5. Officials — Principles — Protection of legitimate expectations — Amendment of the rules concerning the reimbursement of annual travel expenses and travelling time — Infringement — None (Staff Regulations of Officials, Annex V, Art. 7, and Annex VII, Art. 8, as amended by Regulation No 1023/2013) (see paras 89, 90, 92) 6. Acts of the institutions — Temporal application — Immediate application of the new rule to the future effects of a situation which arose under the old rule — Adoption of Regulation No 1023/2013 amending the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants — Infringement of acquired rights — None (Staff Regulations of Officials, Annex V, Art. 7, and Annex VII, Art. 8, as amended by Regulation No 1023/2013) (see paras 97-99) Re Applications on the basis of Article 270 TFEU seeking annulment of the decisions no longer to grant the applicants, as from 1 January 2014, travelling time or reimbursement of annual travel expenses so that they may maintain a relationship with their place of origin. Operative part The Court: 1. Joins Cases T‑523/16 and T‑542/16 for the purposes of the judgment; 2. Dismisses the actions; 3. Orders Mr Jakov Ardalic and the other officials or members of staff of the Council of the European Union whose names appear in the annex to the judgment to pay the costs; 4. Orders the European Parliament to pay its own costs.