Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2000:292
Date: 2000-12-12
Based on: Merger Treaty (1965)
Subject matter: Staff regulations and employment conditions - EC
Concepts: Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities
Procedure: Action for annulment - successful

SUMMARY - CASE T-223/99 
from 16 February 1999 to 30 November 1999 inclusive, 
to the difference between the monthly salary which he 
would have received from the Office and that paid 
following his reinstatement in the Commission, less the 
termination compensation paid by the Office to the 
applicant pursuant to Article 47(1) of the Conditions of 
employment of other servants of the European 
Communities. The Office for Harmonisation in the 
Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) is ordered to 
pay to the applicant the token sum of EUR 1 by way of 
compensation for the non-material damage suffered by 
him. The remainder of the application is dismissed. The 
Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade 
Marks and Designs) is ordered to pay the costs. 
Summary 
1. Officials - Member of the temporary staff - Dismissal - Termination of a 
fixed-term contract before its expiry - Discretion of the administration as to the 
choice between disciplinary or contractual grounds for termination 
(Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, Arts 47(1) (b) and 49 to 50a) 
2. Officials - Members of the temporary staff - Interests of the service -
Discretion of the administration - Scope - Account to be taken of the interests of 
the employee concerned 
(Staff Regulations, Art. 7; Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, Art. 10) 
3. Officials - Members of the temporary staff - Rights and obligations -
Observance of obligations under the Staff Regulations - Obligation to act on a 
request to reiterate undertakings made at the time of recruitment - None 
(Conditions of Employment of Other Servants ) 
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DEJAIFFE v OHIM 
4. Officials - Members of the temporary staff - Dismissal - Termination of a 
fixed-term contract before its expiry - Legitimate interest of the employee in the 
implementation of the contract until its expiry - Obligation of the administration 
to take account of such interest 
(Conditions of Employment of Other Setyants, Art. 47(1 )(b)) 
5. Officials - Members of the temporary staff - Termination of a fixed-term 
contract before its expiry - Termination with a view to ruling out the employee 
from any internal competition - Misuse of powers 
(Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, Art. 47(1)(b)) 
1. The decision to base termination of the contract of a member of the temporary 
staff on the contractual clause provided for that purpose by Article 47(1 )(b) of the 
Conditions of Employment of Other Servants rather than on Articles 49 to 50a of 
those conditions concerning disciplinary measures is within the scope of a wide 
discretion of the administration, so that review by the Community judicature must 
be confined to ascertaining that there was no manifest error or misuse of powers. 
Article 47(1) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants cannot be 
interpreted as meaning that the administration could not in any circumstances make 
use of the early-termination clause for a fixed-term contract by invoking grounds 
related to the conduct in the service of the employee concerned. 
(see para. 38) 
2. The institutions have wide discretion in evaluating the interests of the service, so 
that review by the Community judicature of a decision based on the interests of the 
service must be confined to the question whether the competent authority remained 
within reasonable limits and did not use its discretion in a manifestly wrong way. 
As regards evaluation of the interests of the service, the competent authority should, 
when taking a decision concerning the situation of an official, take into 
consideration all the factors which may affect its decision and, in particular, the 
I-A - 279 
SUMMARY - CASE T-223/99 
interests of the official concerned. That is a consequence of the duty of the 
administration to have regard for the interests of its officials which reflects the 
balance of rights and obligations established by the Staff Regulations and, by 
analogy, the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, in the relationship 
between the public authority and its civil servants. 
(see para. 53) 
See: C-298/93 P Klinke v Court of Justice [1994] ECR I-3009, para. 38; T-13/95 
Kyrpitsis v ESC[1996] ECR-SCI-A-167 and II-503,para. 52; T-79/98 Carrasco Benítez 
v EMEA [1999] ECR-SC I-A-29 and SC II-127, para. 55 
3. A member of the temporary staff is, by virtue of having signed his contract, 
subject to the provisions of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants. That 
means that, when he takes up his duties, he formally undertakes to observe the 
obligations under the Staff Regulations stemming from those provisions subject to 
disciplinary measures. However, no provision of the Conditions of Employment of 
Other Servants requires an employee to act on a request formally to reiterate that 
undertaking made at the time of recruitment. 
Accordingly, refusal by a member of the temporary staff to act on such a request 
cannot constitute a valid reason for the early termination of his contract. Nor is the 
institution justified in invoking such refusal as an element which undermines the 
trust which must exist between itself and the applicant. 
(see paras 74, 76) 
I-A - 280 
DEIAIFFE v OHIM 
4. So far as concerns the principle of good faith, Article 47(1 )(b) of the Conditions 
of Employment of Other Servants must be interpreted as meaning that any member 
of the temporary staff who has agreed to sign a fixed-term contract is entitled to 
specific protection, such that, where the competent authority sees fit to terminate 
such a contract prematurely, it must take into account the legitimate interest which 
the employee concerned may claim to have in that contract being implemented, in 
the usual way, until its expiry and must, therefore, be circumspect in its use of the 
power to terminate the contract conferred by the abovementioned provision. 
(see para. 79) 
5. The authority empowered to conclude contracts misuses its powers where it 
terminates the contract of a member of the temporary staff before it expires for the 
purpose of ruling out the employee from any internal competition. By taking such 
a decision, that authority makes use of the discretion it enjoys under Article 47(1 )(b) 
of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants in order to attain an objective 
other than that for which that power was conferred on it. 
(see para. 83) 
See: T-589/93 Ryan-Sheridan v EFIL WC [1996] ECR-SC I-A-27 and II-77, para. 117 
I-A - 281