A regulation of the European Parliament and the Council adapting the remunerations and pensions of officials and other servants of the European Union and the weighting coefficients affecting those remunerations and pensions, adopted on the basis of Article 336 TFEU, in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, falls within the category of measures of general application, in respect of which, under the fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU, the admissibility of actions for annulment brought by natural or legal persons is subject to observance of the conditions of direct and individual concern.

In the case of an action brought by trade unions, the possibility that they might have a right to information and consultation in respect of the remuneration and pension adjustment proposal submitted by the Commission to the Parliament and the Council, which led to the adoption of the said regulation, does not establish that they are directly affected by that regulation. The fact that a person intervenes in some way in the process leading to the adoption of an act of the European Union is sufficient to distinguish that person individually as regards the act in question only if the applicable rules of the Union grant him certain procedural guarantees. Unless there is an explicit provision to the contrary, neither the process of drawing up measures of a general nature, nor the measures themselves, require, by virtue of general principles of Union law, such as the right to be heard, the participation of affected persons, their interests being deemed to be represented by the political bodies called upon to adopt those measures.

In that regard, Article 10 of Annex XI to the Staff Regulations, which allows derogation, subject to certain conditions, from the regular annual adjustment method for remuneration and pensions provided for in Article 3 of that Annex, does not apply in the procedure that led to the adoption of the regulation in question. Accordingly, the applicants cannot rely on procedural rights purportedly derived from that provision to show that they have locus standi. The same applies to Article 10a of the Staff Regulations, Article 9(3) of the Staff Regulations, Article 1 of Annex II to the Staff Regulations, Article 24b of the Staff Regulations, and Article 55 of the Staff Regulations. However, the fact that trade unions cannot derive procedural rights from those provisions does not preclude them from availing themselves of such rights on the basis of other provisions of EU law, including of the Staff Regulations. Thus, Article 10b and 10c of the Staff Regulations each allows the Commission to consult the representative trade unions on proposals for revision of the Staff Regulations and each institution to conclude, with its representative trade unions, agreements pertaining to its staff. The fact that such agreements may not entail any amendment of the Staff Regulations or any budgetary commitments, or affect the working of the institution concerned, and that the signatory trade unions must operate in each institution subject to the statutory powers of the Staff Committee is not per se an impediment to those agreements’ being intended to confer procedural guarantees on those organisations.

(see paras 52-54, 69, 89, 95, 97-99, 101)