Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber) of 13 December 2018 –

Haeberlen v ENISA

(Case T‑632/16)

(Civil service — Remuneration — Annual adjustment of remunerations and pensions of officials and other agents — Regulations (EU) Nos 422/2014 and 423/2014 — Adjustments of salaries and pensions for 2011 and 2012 — Obligation to state reasons — Proportionality — Legitimate expectations — Rules on social dialogue)

1. Plea of illegality — Scope — Measures the illegality of which may be pleaded — General measure providing the basis of the contested decision — Need for a legal connection between the contested measure and the contested general measure — Effect of illegality of a measure of general scope (Art. 277 TFEU) (see paras 54, 55)

2. Acts of the institutions — Procedure for adoption — Rules laid down in the Treaties — Mandatory nature — Whether an institution can establish secondary legal bases — No such legal basis (see paras 61, 67)

3. Officials — Remuneration — Weightings — Regulations implementing the Staff Regulations — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 64 and 65 and Annex XI) (see paras 80-83, 89)

4. Officials — Remuneration — Weightings — Fixing — Judicial review — Limits (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 64 and 65 and Annex XI) (see paras 104, 105)

5. Officials — Remuneration — Annual adjustment — Allocation of powers among the different institutions (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 65 and Annex XI, Arts 3 and 10) (see paras 106, 117, 118)

6. Officials — Remuneration — Annual adjustment — Carve-out clause — Discretion of the institutions — Scope (Staff Regulations of Officials, Annex XI, Arts 3 and 10) (see paras 109-113)

7. Actions for annulment — Judgment annulling a measure — Effects — Obligation to implement — Scope — Both the operative part and the grounds of the judgment to be taken into account (Art. 266 TFEU) (see paras 126, 127)

8. Acts of the institutions — Temporal application — Immediate application of the new rule to the future effects of a situation which arose under the old rule — Adoption of Regulations No 422/2014 and 423/2014 adjusting the remuneration and pensions of officials and other servants — Infringement of acquired rights — None (see paras 134-137)

9. Officials — Remuneration — Annual adjustment — Carve-out clause — Scope — Weightings — Observance of the principle of proportionality — Judicial review — Limits (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 64 and 65 and Annex XI, Art. 10) (see paras 145-147)

10. Officials — Remuneration — Annual adjustment — Carve-out clause — Scope — Weightings — Respect for the principle of legitimate expectations — Scope (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 64 and 65 and Annex XI, Art. 10) (see paras 162, 163, 165-167)

11. Fundamental rights — Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Workers’ right to information and consultation within the undertaking — Right to collective bargaining — Possibility of relying on those rights in relations between the Union institutions and their staff — Limits (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 27 and 28) (see para. 189)

Re:

Application based on Article 270 TFEU seeking, first, annulment of the decision of ENISA of 21 October 2015, ordering the applicant to pay the sum of EUR 3 133.19, following the application to his remuneration of the adjustment of 0% for 2011 provided for in Regulation (EU) No 422/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 adjusting with effect from 1 July 2011 the remuneration and pensions of officials and other servants of the European Union and the correction coefficients applied thereto (OJ 2014 L 129, p. 5), and the adjustment of 0.8% for 2012 provided for in Regulation (EU) No 423/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 adjusting with effect from 1 July 2012 the remuneration and pensions of officials and other servants of the European Union and the correction coefficients applied thereto (OJ 2014 L 129, p. 12), and, second, compensation for the non-material harm the applicant allegedly suffered as a result of that decision.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;

2. Orders Mr Thomas Haeberlen to bear his own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security;