Judgment;Information — ECLI:EU:T:2020:462
Date: 2020-10-05
Language of the case: French
Court formation: First Chamber
Based on: Merger Treaty (1965)
Subject matter: Staff regulations and employment conditions - EC
Procedure: Staff cases - unfounded

Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 5 October 2020 – CU v Committee of the Regions (Case T‑487/19) (Civil service – Officials – Basic monthly salaries of officials recruited before 1 May 2004 – Application of a multiplication factor of less than one – Reduction of the multiplication factor – Error of law – Equal treatment – Legitimate expectations) 1. Officials – Remuneration – Transitional rules applicable after the entry into force of Regulation No 723/2004 – Promotion obtained after 1 May 2004 by an official recruited before that date – Application of a multiplication factor – Purpose and functioning of the multiplication factor (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 44 and Annex XIII, Arts 2(2) and 7(1), (2), (6) and (7); Council Regulation No 723/2004) (see paras 38-47) 2. Officials – Remuneration – Transitional rules applicable after the entry into force of Regulation No 723/2004 – Promotion obtained after 1 May 2004 by an official recruited before that date – Determination of multiplication factor – Increase in the multiplication factor occurring at the same time as a promotion – Not permissible – Increase in the multiplication factor equivalent to advancement in step – No infringement of the principle of the protection of acquired rights (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 46 and Annex XIII, Art. 7(7); Council Regulation No 723/2004) (see paras 50-53, 57) 3. Officials – Staff Regulations – Regulation No 723/2004 amending the Staff Regulations – Transitional regime – Administration’s discretion – Scope – Autonomy of the institutions (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 110; Council Regulation No 723/2004, recital 37) (see para. 64) 4. Officials – Equal treatment – Promotion under Article 29 and Article 45 of the Staff Regulations – Non-comparable situations (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 29 and 45) (see paras 70-73) 5. Officials – Principles – Protection of legitimate expectations – Conditions – Specific assurances given by the authorities (see paras 79, 80) 6. Judicial proceedings – Measures of organisation of procedure – Measures of inquiry – Discretion of the EU Courts (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Arts 90 and 92) (see para. 85) Re: Application based on Article 270 TFEU seeking annulment of the Committee of the Regions’ decision of 18 October 2018 promoting the applicant to grade AD 14, step 1, in so far as it set his multiplication factor at 0.9589951. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders CU and the Committee of the Regions to bear their own costs; 3. Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs.