Judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 2 April 2020 –

UG v Commission

(Case T‑571/17)

(Civil service — Contract staff — Contract of indefinite duration — Article 47(c)(i) of the CEOS — Termination with notice — Grounds for termination — Conduct in the service and attitude at work incompatible with the interests of the service — Manifest error of assessment — Review of the accuracy of the facts — Lack of evidence — Liability — Material harm — Payment of salaries owed)

1. Actions brought by officials — Act adversely affecting an official — Definition — Letter from the Commission informing a member of its contract staff of its intention to terminate his or her contract of indefinite duration — Not included — Decision to terminate a contract of indefinite duration — Included (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90(2) and 91(1); Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, Arts 3a, 47(c)(i) and 138) (see paras 31-35)

2. Actions brought by officials — Act adversely affecting an official — Decision adopting a final assessment report — No prior administrative complaint — Inadmissibility (Art. 270 TFEU; Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 43, first para., 90(2) and 91(2); Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, Arts 3a and 87(1)) (see paras 36-39)

3. Officials — Members of the contract staff — Termination of a contract concluded for an indefinite period — Administration’s discretion — Administration’s duty to have regard for the interests of officials — Account taken of the interests of the staff member concerned — Judicial review — Limits (Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, Art. 47(c)) (see paras 59-61, 77, 78)

4. Officials — Non-contractual liability of the institutions — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Harm — Causal link — Burden of proof (Art. 340, second para. TFEU) (see paras 82-85, 88)

5. Actions brought by officials — Action for damages brought without a pre-litigation procedure in accordance with the Staff Regulations — Inadmissibility (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90 and 91) (see paras 94-96)

6. Actions brought by officials — Subject matter — Directions to the administration — Inadmissibility (Arts 266 and 270 TFEU; Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 91) (see paras 101, 108)

Re:

Application based on Article 270 TFEU seeking, first, annulment of the decision of 17 October 2016 by which the Commission’s Office for ‘Infrastructure and Logistics in Luxembourg’ (OIL) terminated the applicant’s employment contract pursuant to Article 47(c)(i) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union as from 20 August 2017 and, second, compensation for the material harm allegedly suffered by the applicant following that decision and the non-material harm she allegedly suffered as a result of the degrading treatment she claims to have been subject to because of her trade union activity and her period of parental leave.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Annuls the decision of the European Commission of 17 October 2016 terminating the contract of indefinite duration of Ms UG;

2. Orders the parties to forward to the Court, within three months of the delivery of this interim judgment, either the jointly agreed amount of financial compensation resulting from the illegality of the decision of 17 October 2016 or, failing agreement, their submissions on that amount;

3. Dismisses the action as to the remainder;