Judgment — ECLI:EU:F:2015:107
Date: 2015-09-22
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

Summary 1. Officials — Pensions — Retirement pension — Early pension without reduction — Conditions for granting — Interests of the service — Criteria laid down by the general implementing provisions adopted by the administration — Criterion relating to applicant’s length of employment — Taking into account the career in its entirety, both within and outside the EU institutions — Lawfulness (Staff Regulations, Annex VIII, Art. 9(2)) 2. Officials — Pensions — Retirement pension — Early pension without reduction — Conditions for granting — Interests of the service — Definition solely on the basis of criteria relating to length of employment, age and merits of the applicant — Unlawful (Staff Regulations, Annex VIII, Art. 9(2)) 1. Under the general implementing provisions referred to in Article 9(2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations, as adopted by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), in order to calculate the length of employment of an official seeking early retirement without a reduction in his pension rights, the EESC is permitted to take into account all the professional experience of the applicants, acquired both within and outside the EU institutions. First, the ratio legis of Article 9(2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations is to facilitate personnel management in the EU institutions through the granting of early retirement without reduction of pension rights. That provision is not therefore designed to favour officials or other servants who at the end of their professional career have a greater number of years’ service within the EU institutions in comparison with those who have fewer years’ service in the EU institutions because more of their career has been spent outside those institutions. Secondly, according to Article 9(2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations, the facility of early retirement without any reduction of pension rights must be granted only in the interests of the service. It is also clear from that provision that the legislature intended to grant the appointing authority of each of the EU institutions discretion as to the criteria to be used to select the officials and other servants to whom the facility of early retirement without reduction in pension rights should be granted, on condition that those criteria are objective and laid down in advance. The abovementioned provision does not therefore require all the EU institutions to adopt common criteria for deciding between applicants. Consequently, since Article 9(2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations does not require the institutions to consider length of service within the EU institutions as an objective criterion for deciding between applicants for early retirement without reduction of pension rights, without nevertheless prohibiting them from doing so, it cannot be ruled out that an institution may choose to exercise its discretion by including in its general implementing provisions giving effect to Article 9(2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations, among other criteria, the criterion of length of service within the European Union. (see paras 54-57, 60) See: Judgment of 12 September 2006 in De Soeten v Council, F‑86/05, EU:F:2006:87, para. 48 2. The facility of early retirement without reduction of pension rights under Article 9(2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations may be granted where the interests of the service so justify, such interests being freely determined by each EU institution in its general implementing provisions giving effect to that provision. Next, in order to decide between applicants, the appointing authority must adopt and apply objective criteria and transparent procedures, also laid down in the general implementing provisions. The criterion of the length of professional experience of the persons concerned is not sufficient, either alone or jointly with the other criteria relating to age and merits, contained in the general implementing provisions adopted by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), to enable the EESC to assess the interests of the service, within the meaning of Article 9(2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations, in the light of which it is required to examine applications to benefit from early retirement without any reduction of pension rights. Criteria linked to age, length of professional experience and merits, designed simply to help decide between applicants, may identify the oldest officials, who have worked the most years during their career and have the highest number of points in their last performance reports, but do not alone meet the ratio legis of Article 9(2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations, which is to facilitate personnel management in the institutions. (see paras 67, 71, 72, 75, 76, 78)