Keywords

Summary



Keywords

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1. Officials ° Actions ° Action against a decision rejecting a complaint ° Admissibility

(Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90 and 91)

2. Officials ° Reports procedure ° Staff report ° Evaluation of knowledge required for post occupied ° Identical assessments where officials have different training ° Infringement of the principle of equal treatment ° None

(Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 5(3) and 43)

3. Officials ° Reports procedure ° Staff report ° Review by the Court ° Limits

(Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 43)

4. Officials ° Rights and duties ° Right of union activity ° Scope

((Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 24a)

5. Officials ° Reports procedure ° Internal directive of an institution concerning the reports procedure ° Infringement ° Consequences ° Annulment of staff report

(Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 43)

Summary

1. The action before the Court, even if formally directed against the rejection of the official' s complaint, has the effect of bringing before the Court the decision adversely affecting the applicant against which the complaint was submitted.

2. The fact that in the staff reports, under the heading "Knowledge required for post occupied", two officials occupying comparable posts receive identical assessments even though only one of them has specific training corresponding to the duties performed does not, in the absence of other factors, constitute proof of an infringement of the principle of equal treatment. The evaluation of the knowledge required for the post occupied calls for a specific assessment, taking account of all the actual knowledge of the official concerned, in particular his specific knowledge corresponding to the post which he occupies, not an abstract assessment of the level of his training, purely in terms of his qualifications and diplomas.

3. It is not for the Court to determine whether the assessment made by the administration in the context of a staff report of the occupational ability of an official is well founded when it involves complex value judgments which, by their very nature, are not capable of objective proof. However, the Court is required to carry out a review concerning any irregularities of form or procedure, manifest errors of fact vitiating the assessments made by the administration and any misuse of power.

4. The freedom of trade union activity recognized under Article 24a of the Staff Regulations means not only that officials have the right without hindrance to form associations of their choosing, but also that those associations are free to do anything lawful to protect the interests of their members as employees, in particular by means of bringing court proceedings. Furthermore, the Community institutions, and the bodies treated as such for the application of the Staff Regulations of Officials by virtue of Article 1 thereof, must refrain from doing anything which might impede the freedom of trade union activity recognized by Article 24a of the said regulations.

5. Where an internal directive of an institution concerning the reports procedure, such as a guide to staff reports, provides that the official assessed must be put in a position to state his point of view regarding all the information on the basis of which the appeal assessor adopts his final decision, a reports procedure in which that rule has been disregarded is irregular and the staff report subsequently adopted must be annulled.