6

The General Court summarised the background to the dispute in the following paragraphs of the order under appeal: ‘1 The applicant, Mr Claudio Necci, was employed at the European Commission … as a member of the contract staff between 1 July 2009 and 30 June 2011. 2 On 27 October 2010, the applicant requested the transfer of the pension rights … which he had acquired during his service with the Italian administration to the pension scheme of the institutions of the European Union (‘the PSEU’), pursuant to Article 11(2) of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations [as amended by Regulation No 723/2004]. 3 On 1 July 2011, the applicant left the Commission and retired at the age of 64. 4 By decision of 18 July 2011, the Commission determined the applicant’s pension rights. It also terminated his membership of the [JSIS] on the basis of Article 95 of the [CEOS], which makes the continued application of the JSIS, for a member of the contract staff who has remained in the service of the European Union until retirement age, subject to a condition of service of more than three years as a member of the contract staff. The decision of 18 July 2011 has not been challenged. 5 On 12 February 2014, the Italian pension fund informed the Commission that the capital value representing the applicant’s pension rights on the date of the application [for the transfer of pension rights] was EUR 383 570.92. 6 By email of 18 March 2014, the Commission’s services sent the applicant a note for information purposes concerning the provisional calculation of his years of pensionable service and asked him to take a decision on the transfer of his pension rights. That document, which referred to Article 95 of the CEOS, drew attention to the condition that three years’ actual service within the EU institutions were necessary to qualify for sickness cover with those institutions and drew to the applicant’s attention the possible consequences of the [transfer of his pension rights]. 7 On 11 April 2014, the applicant sent an email to the Office for the Administration and Payment of Individual Entitlements (PMO) requesting an extension of the deadline for taking a decision on the [transfer of his pension rights]. He added: “I know that I will lose the Italian sickness insurance and that I would not have cover under the Commission’s JSIS. I would like to ask for more information about private cover”. He was granted an extension of the deadline until 5 May 2014. 8 On 6 May 2014, the applicant accepted the provisional offer [to transfer his pension rights], which led to 16 years, 9 months and 17 days of additional pensionable years being credited to him in the PSEU. … 11 On 14 August 2017, the Italian pension fund paid the sum of EUR 387 768.73 to the PSEU in respect of the applicant’s national pension rights. 12 On 19 September 2017, the Commission adopted an initial decision crediting years of pensionable service, culminating in the applicant being credited with an additional contribution period in the PSEU of 14 years and 9 days. Following a complaint lodged by the applicant on 18 December 2017 and accepted on 14 March 2018, that credit was extended to 16 years, 9 months and 17 days. 13 On 18 December 2017, following the transfer of his pension rights, the applicant submitted a request to the PMO to join the JSIS. 14 That request was impliedly rejected on 18 April 2018, [that implied rejection constituting the contested decision], in accordance with Article 90(1) of the Staff Regulations [as amended by Regulation No 1080/2010]. 15 On 18 July 2018, the applicant submitted a complaint under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations [as amended by Regulation No 1080/2010] against [the contested decision]. 16 His complaint was rejected by decision of 19 November 2018. That decision is based on the fact that the complaint was inadmissible on the ground that it should have been submitted against the decision of 18 July 2011 determining the applicant’s pension rights, in which it was stated that he was not a member of the JSIS.’