62020TJ0555_INF
Judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 8 September 2021 –QB v ECB
(Case T‑555/20)
(Civil service – ECB staff – Appraisal report – 2015 appraisal exercise – Compliance with a judgment of the General Court – Article 266 TFEU – Duty of impartiality – ECB staff appraisal guide – Manifest errors of assessment – Liability)
1.
Actions brought by officials – Staff of the European Central Bank – Judgment annulling a measure – Effects – Obligation to implement – Annulment, on the basis of procedural irregularity, of an appraisal report – Adoption of an identical act complying with the procedural rules – Whether permissible – Observance of the principle of good faith – Need for an effective reappraisal of the applicant’s merits
(Art. 266 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(1))
(see paras 37-46, 52, 57)
2.
Actions brought by officials – Staff of the European Central Bank – Judgment annulling a measure – Effects – Obligation to implement – Annulment of an appraisal report on account of the second appraiser’s lack of impartiality – No obligation to replace the first appraiser – Allocation of the role of second appraiser to the line manager of the initial second appraiser – Whether permissible
(Art. 266 TFEU)
(see paras 71-73, 85, 86)
3.
Officials – Staff of the European Central Bank – Assessment – Appraisal report – Drawing up – No obligation to obtain the agreement of the person being appraised in order to set the objectives to be achieved for the next appraisal exercise
(see para. 93)
Re:
Application under Article 270 TFEU and Article 50a of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union seeking, first, annulment of the applicant’s appraisal report for the 2015 appraisal period and, second, compensation for the non-material damage which the applicant claims to have sustained as a result of that document.
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Dismisses the action;
2.
Orders QB to bear her own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Central Bank (ECB).