Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber) of 22 March 2018 –

HJ v EMA

(Case T‑579/16)

(Civil service — Temporary staff — Refusal to renew a fixed-term contract — First paragraph of Article 8 of the CEOS — Reclassification of a fixed-term contract as an indefinite contract — Manifest error of assessment — Duty to have regard for the welfare of staff — Duty to state reasons — Right to be heard — Appraisal report — Duty to state reasons — Manifest error of assessment)

1. Actions brought by officials—Action against a decision rejecting a complaint—Admissibility—Obligation to rule on pleas directed against the decision rejecting the complaint—Pleas devoid of independent content or purely confirmatory decision—None (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90 and 91; Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities, Art. 117) (see paras 18, 19)

2. Judicial proceedings—Application initiating proceedings—Formal requirements—Detailed statement of the pleas and arguments relied on before the Civil Service Tribunal (Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 21; Rules of Procedure of the Civil Service Tribunal, Art. 50(1)(e)) (see para. 25)

3. Actions brought by officials—Request within the meaning of Article 90(1) of the Staff Regulations—Period for lodging—Reasonable time—Request for reclassification of a contract—Criteria for assessment (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 90(1); Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities, Art. 2(a)) (see paras 29-33, 38)

4. Officials—Members of the temporary staff—Recruitment—Non-renewal of a fixed-term contract—Adoption of internal directives establishing a procedure for decisions on renewal—Administration’s failure to comply with the indicative time-limits laid down in those directives—Consequences (Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities, Art. 47) (see paras 47, 55, 56)

5. Officials—Decision adversely affecting an official—Obligation to state reasons—Scope—No statement of reasons—Rectified in the response to the complaint (Art. 296 TFEU; Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 25, second para.) (see paras 60-62)

6. Officials—Members of the temporary staff—Recruitment—Non-renewal of a fixed-term contract—Adoption of the decision without first giving the person concerned the opportunity to express his views on all the elements available to the administration—Infringement of the right to be heard (see paras 67-69)

7. Officials—Members of the temporary staff—Recruitment—Renewal of a fixed-term contract—Administration’s discretion—Limits—Duty to have regard for the welfare of officials—Account to be taken of the interests of the staff member concerned and of the service—Obligation to state reasons—Scope—Obligation to consider the possibility of reassigning the staff member concerned—None (Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities, Art. 8) (see paras 85-89)

8. Officials—Members of the temporary staff—Recruitment—Renewal of a fixed-term contract—Administration’s discretion—Judicial review—Limits—Manifest error of assessment—Meaning (see paras 94, 95)

9. Officials—Reports procedure—Appraisal report—Decline in the appraisal compared with the previous appraisal—Obligation to state reasons—Scope (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 43) (see paras 143-145, 155)

10. Officials—Reports procedure—Appraisal report—Discretion of assessors—Judicial review—Limits—Manifest error of assessment—Meaning (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 43) (see paras 160, 161)

11. Actions brought by officials—Application for damages linked to an application for annulment—Dismissal of claim for annulment leading to dismissal of the claim for compensation (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90 and 91) (see para. 168)

12. Officials—Non-contractual liability of the institutions—Conditions—Unlawfulness—Injury—Causal link—Cumulative conditions (see para. 173)

Re:

Application based on Article 270 TFEU and seeking, first, annulment of the applicants appraisal report relating to the period from 16 February 2014 to 31 December 2014, of the EMA’s decision dated 1 April 2015 not to renew the applicant’s contract as a member of the temporary staff and of the two decisions dated 26 October 2015 rejecting the complaints brought by the applicant against those measures and, secondly, an application for compensation in respect of the harm allegedly suffered by the applicant.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action