Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2000:113
Date: 2000-04-13
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Single Judge
Based on: Merger Treaty (1965)
Subject matter: Staff regulations and employment conditions - EC
Concepts: Foreign residence allowance
Procedure: Staff cases - unfounded

SUMMARY - CASE T-18/98 
Summary 
Officials — Remuneration — Expatriation allowance — Purpose — Conditions of 
payment — Cumulative conditions 
(Staff Regulations, Annex VII, Art. 4(1) (a)) 
In accordance with Article 4(1)(a) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations, in order 
for the expatriation allowance to be paid, the official must have neither habitually 
resided nor habitually carried on his main occupation in the country of the place of 
employment during the five years ending six months before he entered the service. 
Where one of those conditions is not satisfied, the expatriation allowance cannot be 
paid. The purpose of the allowance is to compensate officials for the extra expense 
and inconvenience of taking up employment with the Communities and being 
thereby obliged to change their residence and move to the country of employment 
and to integrate themselves in their new environment. The reason why that 
provision, for the purpose of determining cases of expatriation, is based on the 
concepts of the habitual residence and main occupation of the official on the 
territory of the State of employment during a certain reference period is in order to 
lay down simple, objective criteria. 
(see paras 18, 19 and 25) 
See: 188/83 Witte v Parliament [1984] ECR 3465, para. 8; T-18/91 Costacurta Gelabert v 
Commission [1992] ECR II-1655, para. 42 
I-A - 74