2

The background to the dispute is set out in paragraphs 4 to 19 of the judgment under appeal, as follows: ‘4 On 30 October 1996, the applicant was recruited by the EMA as a member of the auxiliary staff, for the period of one year with effect from 16 November 1996, to act as information technology coordinator within the information technology sector (“the IT sector”) under the technical coordination unit. 5 Having successfully completed a selection procedure for temporary staff, he then entered into a contract with the EMA, under which he was appointed to the post of lead administrator for a period of five years, on a renewable basis, with effect from 1 February 1997 and as a Grade A 5 temporary agent under Article 2(a) of the CEOS. He continued to carry out his duties within the IT sector. 6 On 15 November 1998, the applicant was appointed deputy head of the IT sector. He also came to perform the role of interim head of the IT sector during the period 2001/2003. 7 On its expiry on 1 February 2002, the applicant’s temporary contract was renewed for a further period of five years. 8 By a supplemental agreement of 6 August 2002, the applicant was promoted to Grade A 4. 9 Having been successful in an external selection procedure for the post of head of the IT sector, the applicant entered into a temporary contract with the EMA on 15 April 2003 as Grade A 4 under Article 2(a) of the CEOS. This was a five-year renewable contract, effective from 1 May 2003. 10 On 1 May 2004, following reform of the regulations, the applicant’s grade was re-classified as A*12. 11 By a supplemental agreement signed by the authority empowered to conclude contracts of employment and by the applicant on the 14 and 15 August 2007 respectively, the applicant’s contract was renewed for five years with effect from 1 May 2008. 12 By a memorandum of 5 June 2009, the applicant was informed of his appointment as head of the information and communication technology sector within the information and communication technology unit (“the ICT unit”) under an internal restructuring of the Agency. 13 On 15 September 2011, the head of the Human Resources sector within the Administration unit informed the applicant that he had been placed on the list of successful candidates from the selection procedure for the post of head of the ICT unit, valid until 31 December 2012. 14 On 30 July 2012, that is, nine months after the expiry of the applicant’s contract, the EMA’s Human Resources sector sent to the head of the applicant’s unit a form relating to the potential renewal of the applicant’s contract. On 17 August 2012, the head of the applicant’s unit issued a notice stating that “no action needed to be taken in relation to renewing the contract”. 15 Following the issue of that notice, the executive director, in his capacity as the authority empowered to conclude contracts of employment, confirmed to the applicant by letter of 30 August 2012 that his contract would terminate on 30 April 2013 (“the decision of 30 August 2012”) and that “in the interests of the Agency [he would be] placed on ‘garden leave’ with effect from 1 September 2012 until expiry of the contract”. 16 By letter of 31 August 2012, the applicant objected to being placed on compulsory leave with immediate effect, claiming that, in accordance with the relevant legislation, after a working relationship with the EMA of almost 16 years, he should be regarded as a “permanent employee”. On the same day, the authority empowered to conclude contracts of employment responded to the applicant stating that his contract, which was entered into on 15 April 2003 for five years with effect from 1 May 2003, had been renewed on 1 May 2008 for a period of five years. By letter of 3 September 2012, the applicant was informed of the administrative arrangements for his departure from the EMA. 17 On 12 September 2012, the applicant sent a complaint to the EMA under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union (“the Staff Regulations”) in relation to the decision of 30 August 2012, invoking the five temporary contracts or contract renewals which had existed without interruption since 1997 and which, he said, had therefore placed him in an employment relationship of indefinite duration. In support of this reclassification, the applicant emphasised the impeccable and significant work that he had carried out for the Agency. On 15 October 2012, he submitted a supplemental complaint consisting, first, of a claim for automatic reclassification of his last contract under Article 8 of the CEOS as a contract of indefinite duration commencing on the date when his second five-year temporary contract was replaced by the new contract entered into on 15 April 2003; secondly, of a claim for reclassification of the first auxiliary contract which took effect on 16 November 1996 as a temporary contract, meaning that the second renewal actually occurred on 9 May 2001; and, thirdly, of a claim for EUR 10000 by way of compensation for the damage suffered as a result of unlawfully being placed on compulsory leave. 18 On 19 December 2012, the authority empowered to conclude contracts of employment rejected the complaint of 12 September 2012, as supplemented by the letter of the following 15 October, on the grounds that the fixed-term contract which took effect on 1 May 2003 had been renewed only once and that, in the absence of a second renewal, under Article 8 of the CEOS, it could not be regarded as a contract of indefinite duration. 19 On 24 December 2012, the applicant submitted a new complaint under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations, this time in relation to the decision of 19 December 2012 which had rejected his claims for reclassification of his initial auxiliary contract as a temporary contract and of his ongoing temporary fixed-term contract as a temporary contract of indefinite duration, and invited the Agency to examine whether it was actually possible to renew that latter contract. That new complaint, together with the request for a renewal of the contract, was rejected by the authority empowered to conclude contracts of employment by letter of 26 February 2013 (“the decision of 26 February 2013”).’