Order of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 26 March 2020 –

AF v FRA

(Case T‑31/19)

(Action for annulment and damages — Civil service — Members of the temporary staff — Contract for an indefinite period — Duties as an administrator as a policy adviser in grade AD 12 — Assignment to the type of post ‘administrator’ — 2014 Staff Regulations — No eligibility for reclassification in the grade above — 2017 reclassification exercise — Refusal to consider the applicant for the purposes of his reclassification in grade AD 13 — Action manifestly lacking any foundation in law)

1. Judicial proceedings — Decision taken by way of reasoned order — Conditions — Appeal manifestly inadmissible or manifestly lacking any foundation in law — Scope (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 126) (see paras 17-19)

2. Officials — Organization of departments — Assignment of staff — Reassignment — Compliance with the rule on correspondence between grade and post — Scope (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 7(1)) (see paras 22, 23)

3. Actions brought by officials — Prior administrative complaint — Decision to classify an official in a type of post introduced by Regulation No 1023/2013 — Complaint against the non-inclusion of the person concerned on the list of officials eligible for promotion to the grade above, revealing for the first time his classification in the type of post ‘Administrator’ — Admissibility (Art. 336 TFEU; Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90(2) and 91(1), and Annex XIII, Art. 30(2); European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1023/2013) (see paras 28-30, 74, 75)

4. Actions brought by officials — Action against a decision rejecting a complaint — Effect — Disputed measure referred to the Court — Exception — Decision not confirmatory in character (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90 and 91) (see paras 32-35)

5. Officials — Careers — Introduction of transitional rules accompanying passage from the old to the new system of officials’ careers — Rules for classification in types of post — Classification of temporary staff in grade AD 11 in the type of post ‘Administrator’ or ‘Head of unit or equivalent’ — Administration's discretion — Limits — Respect for the principle of equal treatment (Staff Regulations of Officials, Annexes I, section A, point 1, and XIII, Art. 30(2); Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, Annex, Art. 1; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1023/2013, Recitals 17 to 19) (see paras 42, 43, 53, 55, 57, 69)

6. Officials — Careers — Introduction of transitional rules accompanying passage from the old to the new system of officials’ careers — Rules for classification in types of post — Classification of officials of grades AD 9 to AD 14 carrying out particular responsibilities in the type of post ‘Head of unit or equivalent’ or ‘Adviser or equivalent’ — Option for the contracting authority to make use or not to make use of that derogation regime (Staff Regulations of Officials, Annex XIII, Art. 30(3); European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1023/2013) (see paras 60, 61)

7. Officials — Administration's duty to have regard for the interests of officials — Principle of sound administration — Scope — Taking into account of official’s interests (see paras 68, 70)

8. Officials — Promotion — Regrading — Adoption of a new promotion system — Transition from the old to the new system — Administration's discretion — Limits — Respect for acquired rights — Breach of principle of the protection of legitimate expectation — None (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 45 and Annex XIII, Art. 30(2); European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1023/2013) (see paras 73, 81, 85, 86)

9. Actions brought by officials — Application for damages linked to an application for annulment — Dismissal of claim for annulment leading to dismissal of the claim for compensation (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90 and 91) (see paras 91, 92)

10. Judicial proceedings — Costs — Costs caused unreasonably or vexatiously — Conduct of an institution making a dispute more likely (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41; Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 25, second para., Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 135(2)) (see paras 94-96)

Re:

Action under Article 270 TFEU seeking, first, annulment of the FRA decision of 9 May 2018 not to include the applicant’s name in the list of temporary staff eligible for reclassification to grade AD 13 in the 2017 reclassification exercise and, secondly, compensation for the loss he has allegedly suffered as a result of that decision.

Operative part

1. The action is dismissed.

2. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) shall bear its own costs and pay one quarter of the costs incurred by AF.