Judgment — ECLI:EU:F:2008:97
Date: 2008-07-09
Language of the case: German
Court formation: First Chamber
Based on: Merger Treaty (1965)
Subject matter: Staff regulations and employment conditions - EC
Concepts: Conditions of engagement;Delegation;European Central Bank
Procedure: Staff cases - unfounded;Action for damages - unfounded;Staff cases - successful

Summary 1. Officials – Non-contractual liability of the institutions – Claim for nominal damages 2. European Communities – Community institutions and bodies – Exercise of powers – Delegation – Conditions – European Central Bank (Protocol on the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, Arts 12.3 and 36.1; Rules of Procedure of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, Art. 5; Conditions of Employment for Staff of the European Central Bank, Annex I, para. 6) 1. In a claim for compensation brought by an official, the fact that the official has applied for nominal damages does not relieve him of providing conclusive proof of the damage suffered. (see para. 36) See: 26/74 Roquette Frères v Commission [1976] ECR 677, para. 24 2. So far as concerns the delegation of powers within the Community institutions or bodies, the delegating authority, even when entitled to delegate its powers, must take an express decision transferring them and the delegation can relate only to clearly defined executive powers. Consequently, although the Executive Board of the European Central Bank may, under paragraph 6 of Annex I to the Conditions of Employment for Staff of the Bank, delegate the power to determine individual salary increases, a decision on the matter taken by an authority other than the Executive Board is, in the absence of any delegation to that effect, adopted by an authority which is not competent to do so and must therefore be annulled. Furthermore, the fact that it is impossible to determine who took a decision on an individual salary increase and which authority was deemed to have been empowered to do so through delegation by the Executive Board undermines the principles of good administration in staff management, which require the division of powers within a Community institution to be clearly defined and duly published. In that respect, the management bodies of the European Central Bank are not in any different position from that in which the management bodies of other Community bodies and institutions find themselves in their relations with their staff. (see paras 53, 54, 59, 61-63) See: C-409/02 P Pflugradt v ECB [2004] ECR I‑9873, para. 37; C-301/02 P Tralli v ECB [2005] ECR I‑4071, para. 43