Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2004:416
Date: 2004-07-08
Language of the case: German
Based on: Merger Treaty (1965)
Subject matter: Staff regulations and employment conditions - EC
Procedure: Appeal - unfounded;Staff cases

Summary of the Judgment 1. Officials – Staff of the European Central Bank – Nature of the employment relationship – Contractual and not governed by public law 2. Officials – Staff of the European Central Bank – Organisation of departments – Definition or redefinition of the duties assigned to staff – Discretion of the administration – Limits – Interests of the service – Due consideration to be given to grade and classification 1. The employment relationship between the European Central Bank and its staff is contractual rather than governed by public service regulations. However, the employment contract is concluded with a Community body, entrusted with public interest responsibilities and authorised to lay down, by regulation, provisions applicable to its staff. It follows that the consent of the parties to such a contract is necessarily circumscribed by all manner of obligations deriving from those particular responsibilities and incumbent upon both the management bodies of the Bank and its staff. (see paras 33-34) 2. The Community institutions have a broad discretion to organise their departments to suit the tasks entrusted to them and to assign the staff available to them in the light of such tasks, provided such assignment is made in the interest of the service and conforms with the principle of assignment to an equivalent post. The European Central Bank must, similarly, have a wide discretion to organise its departments to suit the responsibilities entrusted to it, and, consequently, having regard to those responsibilities, to define or redefine the duties which are assigned to its staff, provided that that discretion is exercised solely in the interest of the service and giving due consideration to the grade and classification which each member of staff may claim under the Conditions of Employment. (see paras 42-43)