Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1998:24
Date: 1998-01-27
Language of the case: French
Based on: Merger Treaty (1965)
Subject matter: Staff regulations and employment conditions - EC
Procedure: Appeal - unfounded;Staff cases

Summary of the Judgment
Officials — Reimbursement of expenses — Installation allowance — Purpose — Official formerly
a national expert on detachment to a Community institution
(Staff Regulations, Annex VII, Arts 5(1) and 5(3), second para.)
It is clear from Article 5(1) of Annex VII to
the Staff Regulations, and from the second
subparagraph of Article 5(3) thereof, that the
installation allowance, which is flat-rate and
indivisible in nature, is automatically payable
to an official at the time of his establishment
— provided that he is entitled to the expa­
triation allowance and that it is established
that he has settled in the place of employ­
ment — and there is no need for that official
to show the existence of actual expenses.
I - 3273
SUMMARY— CASE C-62/97 P
The installation allowance is designed to off­
set the inevitable expenses entailed for the
official concerned in passing from a precari­
ous status (usually that of a probationary
official) to the stable position of an estab­
lished official, which requires an effort on his
part to become integrated, for an indetermi­
nate but substantial period of time, in his
place of employment. Entitlement to that
allowance is not affected by the fact that in
most cases the official continues when estab­
lished to be settled in the same place as
before. By the same token, when an official is
granted the installation allowance after being
established, the daily subsistence allowance
— which is intended to offset the disadvan­
tages stemming from the precarious situation
of a probationary official — is discontinued.
I - 3274