Order — ECLI:EU:F:2015:44
Date: 2015-04-30
Language of the case: French
Court formation: Third Chamber
Based on: Merger Treaty (1965)
Subject matter: Staff regulations and employment conditions - EC
Procedure: Staff cases - inadmissible;Action for damages - inadmissible

Summary 1. Actions brought by officials — Prior administrative complaint — None — Inadmissibility (Staff Regulations, Arts 90(2) and 91(1) and (2)) 2. Actions brought by officials — Prior administrative complaint — Definition — Classification for the courts to assess (Staff Regulations, Art. 90) 1. Under the provisions of Article 90(2) in conjunction with Article 91(1) and (2) of the Staff Regulations, an official may lodge an appeal with the Civil Service Tribunal only if he has previously submitted to the appointing authority a complaint against an act adversely affecting him, either where the said authority has taken a decision or where it has failed to adopt a measure prescribed by the Staff Regulations. In that regard, in the absence of a decision taken by the appointing authority and where it is not required to adopt a measure prescribed by the Staff Regulations, the official can always submit to the appointing authority a request that it take a decision in accordance with Article 90(1) of the Staff Regulations, in order to be able, where appropriate, to challenge the authority’s position, first in a complaint and then in proceedings before the courts. (see para. 28) 2. The precise legal classification of a letter or a note is a matter for the Civil Service Tribunal alone and not for the parties or for one of them. A letter in which a staff member requests the appointing authority to take a decision to pay him ‘his entire remuneration’, including the allowances and benefits to which he claims to be entitled, as well as compensation for the harm he has suffered must be regarded as a request within the meaning of Article 90(1) of the Staff Regulations, and not as a complaint, as its title suggests. (see paras 29, 32) See: Judgment in Politi v ETF, C‑154/99 P, EU:C:2000:354, para. 16