Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2018:160
Date: 2018-03-20
Language of the case: French
Court formation: Second Chamber
Based on: Merger Treaty (1965)
Subject matter: Staff regulations and employment conditions - EC
Procedure: Staff cases - successful
Origin: Belgium

Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 20 March 2018 — Argyraki v Commission (Case T‑734/16) (Civil service — Officials — Pensions — Calculation of years — Taking into account periods of service completed as a member of the auxiliary staff — Conditions — Legal basis) 1. Officials — Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities — Temporary staff — Member of the auxiliary staff — Difference — Whether the employment is of a permanent nature — Precarious nature of contracts for the employment of auxiliary staff (Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, Arts 2 and 3) (see paras 30-32) 2. Officials — Auxiliary staff — Reclassification of a contract as a member of the staff for auxiliary tasks as a temporary contract for the calculation of pension rights — Conditions — Burden of proof (Staff Regulations of Officials, Annex VIII, Art. 3(d)) (see paras 33-36, 39, 47-49, 51) 3. Court of Justice — Judgments — Interpretation of the rules of law — Application to legal relationships arising and established before delivery of the decision (Staff Regulations of Officials, Annex VIII, Art. 3; Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, Art. 2) (see para. 64) 4. Officials — Internal directive of an institution — Legal effects — Limits — Observation of the hierarchy of norms (Staff Regulations of Officials, Annex VIII, Art. 3; Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, Art. 2) (see para. 66) 5. Officials — Decision adversely affecting an official — Obligation to state reasons — Complete lack of reasoning — Regularisation during the proceedings — Not permissible (Art. 296 TFEU; Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 25) (see para. 70) Re: Application on the basis of Article 270 TFEU and seeking annulment of the decision of the Office for the Administration and Payment of Individual Entitlements (PMO) dated 29 January 2016 by which the latter refused the applicant’s request to have the periods of service she supplied as a member of the auxiliary staff validated as periods completed as a member of the temporary staff in the calculation of her pension rights. Operative part The Court: 1. Annuls the decision of the European Commission’s Office for the Administration and Payment of Individual Entitlements (PMO) dated 29 January 2016 by which the latter refused Ms Vassilia Argyraki’s request to have the periods of service she supplied as a member of the auxiliary staff validated as periods completed as a member of the temporary staff in the calculation of her pension rights; 2. Orders the European Commission to pay the costs.