Judgment of the General Court (Ninth Chamber) of 6 July 2017 — Bodson and Others v EIB

(Case T‑508/16)

(Civil service — EIB staff — Contractual nature of the employment relationship — Remuneration — Reform of the bonus scheme — Legitimate expectations — Legal certainty — Manifest error of assessment — Proportionality — Duty to have regard for the welfare of staff — Article 11(3) of the Rules of Procedure of the EIB — Equal treatment)

1. Officials — Staff of the European Investment Bank — Remuneration — Reform of the system of renumeration and salary progression — Administration's discretion — Conclusion of a protocol of agreement with staff representatives containing undertakings of the Bank as to bonuses — Irrelevant (Staff Regulations of the European Investment Bank, Arts 13, 15, 20, first and second paras, and 22, and Annexes I and II) (see paras 74-79)

2. Officials — Staff of the European Investment Bank — Remuneration — Reform of the awards scheme — Administration’s discretion — Respect for acquired rights — Modification for the future of the bonus scheme before carrying out assessments giving rise to bonuses — Lawfulness (Staff Regulations of the European Investment Bank, Art. 20) (see paras 96-100, 127)

3. Officials — Staff of the European Investment Bank — Remuneration — Reform of the awards scheme — Administration’s discretion — Respect for the principle of legitimate expectations — Need to provide for a sufficiently long transitional period — Scope (Staff Regulations of the European Investment Bank, Art. 20) (see paras 104, 106, 109, 116, 117)

4. Officials — Administration’s duty to have regard for the interests of officials — Scope — Implementation of economies to the detriment of staff — Lawfulness (see para. 133)

5. Officials — Staff of the European Investment Bank — Remuneration — Reform of the bonus scheme — Administration’s discretion — Observance of the principle of proportionality — Judicial review — Limits (Staff Regulations of the European Investment Bank, Art. 20) (see paras 139-142)

6. Judicial proceedings — Application initiating proceedings — Formal requirements — Brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application based (Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 21, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the European Union Civil Service Tribunal, Art. 35(1)(e)) (see para. 197)

7. Officials — Staff of the European Investment Bank — Remuneration — Reform of the bonus scheme — Administration’s discretion — Respect for the principle of equal treatment — Non-excessive change in the amount of individual rewards in a direction more favourable to managers — Lawfulness (Staff Regulations of the European Investment Bank, Art. 20) (see paras 220-222, 234, 235, 237, 241)

8. Judicial proceedings — Measures of organisation of procedure — Request for production of documents — Duties of the person making the request (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 89(3)(d)) (see para. 249)

Re:

ACTION under Article 270 TFEU seeking, first, annulment of the decisions, contained in the bonus statements for April 2013, applying to the applicants the decision of the EIB Board of Directors of 14 December 2010 and the decisions of the EIB Management Committee of 9 November 2010, 29 June 2011, 16 November 2011 and 20 February 2013; and, secondly, an order that the EIB pay to the applicants a sum corresponding to the difference between the amount of remuneration paid in application of the abovementioned decisions and the amount of remuneration due under the previous system, or, in the alternative, the amount of remuneration due under the new scheme when correctly implemented, as well as compensation for the material damage resulting from loss of purchasing power and for the non-material damage which the applicants claim to have suffered.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;