Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2014:2169
Date: 2014-09-04
Language of the case: German
Subject matter: Education, vocational training and youth
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber), 11 March 2015 1. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Jurisdiction of the Court — Definition of acts of the institutions — Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools — Included (Arts 267, first para., (b) TFEU and 352 TFEU) 2. International agreements — Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools — Sole jurisdiction of the Complaints Board — Scope ratione personae —Part-time teacher recruited by a European School not having been seconded by a Member State — Included (Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools, Art. 27(2), first para., first sentence) 3. International agreements — Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools — Sole jurisdiction of the Complaints Board — Concept of an ‘act … adversely affecting’ — Agreement concerning the fixed-term nature of the employment relationship contained in an employment contract concluded between the school and a part-time teacher — Included (Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools, Art. 27(2), first para., first sentence) 4. International agreements — Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools — Sole jurisdiction of the Complaints Board — Dispute concerning the legality of an agreement on limiting the duration of the employment relationship included in an employment contract concluded between a part-time teacher and the headteacher of a school — Included — No adverse effect on the right to effective judicial protection (Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools, Art. 27(2), first para., first sentence) 1. An international agreement, such as the Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools, which was concluded on the basis of Article 235 of the EC Treaty (which became Article 308 EC, now Article 352 TFEU) by the European Communities, which were empowered to do so by Council Decision 94/557 authorising the European Community and the European Atomic Energy Community to sign and conclude the Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools is, as far as the European Union is concerned, an act of an EU institution within the meaning of point (b) of the first paragraph of Article 267 TFEU. As from its entry into force, the provisions of such an agreement form an integral part of the EU legal system; within the framework of that system the Court has jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings concerning the interpretation of such an agreement. (see paras 29, 30) 2. The first sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 27(2) of the Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools must be interpreted as meaning that part-time teachers employed by a European school who are not seconded by the Member States are among the persons covered by that provision, unlike the administrative and ancillary staff, who are excluded from it. (see para. 29, operative part 1) 3. The first sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 27(2) of the Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools must be interpreted as not precluding an agreement concerning the fixed-term nature of the employment relationship, contained in the employment contract concluded between the school and the part-time teacher, from being regarded as constituting an act adversely affecting that part-time teacher. (see para. 59, operative part 2) 4. The first sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 27(2) of the Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools must be interpreted as not precluding an act carried out by the headteacher of a European school in the exercise of his powers from coming, in principle, within the scope of that provision. Points 1.3, 3.2 and 3.4 of the Conditions of Employment for Part-time Teachers recruited between 1 September 1994 and 31 August 2011 must be interpreted as meaning that a dispute concerning the legality of an agreement on limiting the duration of the employment relationship included in the employment contract concluded between a part-time teacher and that headteacher comes within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Complaints Board of the European Schools. The obligation, for part-time teachers, to bring a dispute relating to the legality of an agreement on limiting the duration of the employment relationship included in their employment contracts entered into with the headteacher of a European School before the Complaints Board of the European Schools, which rules in the first and final instance and is not entitled to apply to the Court for a preliminary ruling, does not affect their right to effective judicial protection. (see paras 75, 76, operative part 3)