Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2002:170
Date: 2002-06-27
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Third Chamber
Based on: Merger Treaty (1965)
Subject matter: Staff regulations and employment conditions - EC
Concepts: Scope of judicial review;European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO);General;European Central Bank
Procedure: Staff cases - unfounded;Staff cases - decision unnecessary

SUMMARY — JOINED CASES T-373/00, T-27/01, T-56/01 AND T-69/01 
Held: Cases T-373/00, T-27/01, T-56/01 and T-69/01 are joined 
for the purposes of the judgment. The application in Case 
T-373/00 is dismissed. There is no further need to 
adjudicate in Cases T-27/01, T-56/01 and T-69/01. Each 
party in Case T-373/00 is ordered to bear its own costs. 
The applicant in Cases T-27/01, T-56/01 and T-69/01 is 
ordered to bear his own costs and to pay a third of those 
incurred by the defendant. 
Summary 
1. Officials - Staff of the European Central Bank - Actions - Conditions of 
admissibility - Decisions extending the probationary period and dismissing a 
member of staff during that period - Exhaustion of internal procedures not 
necessary 
(Conditions of Employment of Staff of the European Central Bank, Arts 41 and 42) 
2. Officials - Staff of the European Central Bank - Actions - Subject-matter -
Direction to the administration — Inadmissible 
(Conditions of Employment for Staff of the European Central Bank, Art. 42) 
3. Officials - Staff of the European Central Bank - Recruitment — Probation -
Opportunity to serve a period of probation under normal conditions — Not given — 
Decision of dismissal - Illegality 
(Staff Rules of the European Central Bank, Art. 2.1.3) 
4. Officials — Staff of the European Central Bank - Recruitment — Probation -
Assessment of the outcome - Appraisal of suitability for a permanent appointment 
- Judicial review — Limits 
(Staff Rules of the European Central Bank, Art. 2.1.3) 
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TRALLI v ECB 
1. Under the first paragraph of Article 42 of the Conditions of Employment for Staff 
of the European Central Bank, an action may be brought before the Community 
judicature only after the internal procedures provided for in the first paragraph of 
Article 41 of those conditions of employment have been exhausted. It follows that, 
pursuant to those provisions, the admissibility of actions brought by staff of the 
European Central Bank is contingent upon compliance with those internal 
procedures. 
However, under subparagraph (iii) of the second paragraph of Article 41 of those 
conditions of employment, those internal procedures 'may not be used to challenge 
any decision not to confirm the appointment of a member of staff serving a 
probationary period'. It follows unequivocally from that provision that decisions 
extending the probationary period and dismissing a member of staff during the 
probationary period may not form the subject of a request for a preliminary 
administrative review or of a complaint. Consequently, the addressee of such 
decisions is entitled, under Articles 41 and 42 of the Conditions of Employment, to 
bring an action before the Community judicature without exhausting the internal 
procedures provided for in Article 41. 
(see paras 38, 93, 99) 
See: 16/86 P v ESC [1987] ECR 2409, paras 6 to 9; T-144/00Tiretti v Parliament [2001] 
ECR-SC I-A-45 and II-171, para. 25 
2. Where, by his heads of claim, an applicant requests the Court to make 
declarations of principle which the Community judicature has no jurisdiction to 
make, as in so doing it would infringe the prerogatives of the European Central 
Bank, those heads of claim must be dismissed as inadmissible. Moreover, where 
he requests the Community judicature to issue certain directions to the European 
Central Bank, in particular to order it to employ the applicant, those requests are 
caught by the prohibition on the Community judicature's addressing directions to the 
administration and must likewise be dismissed as inadmissible. 
(see paras 41-42) 
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SUMMARY — JOINED CASES T-373/00, T-27/01, T-56/01 AND T-69/01 
See: T-583/93 P v Commission [1995] ECR-SC I-A-137 and II-433, paras 17 and 18; 
T-27/00 Staff Committee of the ECB and Others v ECB [2000] ECR-SC I-A 217 and 
II-987, para. 37; T-333/99 X v ECB [2001] ECR-SC I-A-199 and II-921, paras 47 and 
48 
3. A decision of dismissal at the expiry of a probationary period must be annulled 
if the applicant has not had the opportunity to serve the probationary period under 
normal conditions. 
(see para. 69) 
See: 3/84 Patrinos v ESC [1985] ECR 1421, paras 20 to 24; T-568/93 Correia v 
Commission [1994] ECR-SC I-A-271 and II-857, para. 34 
4. It is not for the Community judicature to intervene in the assessment made by the 
institutions of the outcome of a probationary period and in their appraisal of the 
suitability of a candidate for a permanent appointment in the Community civil 
service, except where there are manifest errors of assessment or a misuse of powers. 
(see para. 76) 
See: Patrinos v ESC, cited above, paragraph 25; T-96/95 Rozand-Lambiotte v 
Commission [1997] ECR-SC I-A-35 and II-97, para. 112 
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