Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 7 June 2018 –

Winkler v Commission

(Case T‑369/17)

(Civil service — Officials — Transfer of national pension rights — Decision establishing the number of pensionable years of service — Reasonable period — Right to be heard — Legal certainty — Equal treatment — Legitimate expectations — Liability — Material damage)

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) (see para. 22)

2. Officials—Pensions—Pension rights acquired before entry into the service of the EU—Transfer to the EU scheme—Procedures—Division of powers between the EU institutions and the national authorities (Staff Regulations of Officials, Annex VIII, Art. 11(2)) (see paras 27, 28)

3. EU law—Principles—Duty to act within a reasonable time—Administrative procedure—Criteria for assessment (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(1)) (see paras 33, 34)

4. Officials—Pensions—Pension rights acquired before entry into the service of the EU—Transfer to the EU scheme—Decision to credit pensionable years adopted following transfer of the capital representing acquired pension rights—Jurisdiction linked to the administration—No margin of discretion (Staff Regulations of Officials, Annex VIII, Art. 11(2)) (see paras 38, 62)

5. Officials—Principles—Rights of defence—Obligation to hear the person concerned before adopting a measure adversely affecting him—Scope (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(2)(a)) (see paras 44-46)

6. Judicial proceedings—Application initiating proceedings—Formal requirements—Brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based—Similar requirements for submissions made in support of a plea—Imprecise formulation of a claim—Inadmissibility (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 76(d)) (see paras 53, 54, 63)

7. Officials—Equal treatment—Meaning (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 1d) (see para. 59)

8. Officials—Principles—Protection of legitimate expectations—Conditions—Specific assurances given by the authorities (see para. 67)

9. Actions brought by officials—Subject-matter—Directions to the administration—Inadmissibility (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 91) (see para. 74)

10. Officials—Non-contractual liability of the institutions—Conditions—Unlawfulness—Injury—Causal link—Cumulative conditions (Art. 340, second para., TFEU) (see para. 78)

11. Judicial proceedings—Costs—Order for the successful party to bear its own costs (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Arts 134(1) and 135(1)) (see paras 85-87)

Re:

Action brought under Article 270 TFEU seeking, first, annulment of the decision of the Office for the Administration and Payment of Individual Entitlements (PMO) of the Commission of 26 September 2016, establishing the number of pensionable years of service to be taken into account in the pension scheme of the EU institutions following the applicant’s request to transfer pension rights acquired before he entered the service of the European Union, and, second, compensation for the damage allegedly suffered by the applicant as a result of the Commission’s unlawful conduct in processing his transfer request.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;