WRITTEN QUESTION E-0661/02

by Vitaliano Gemelli (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 March 2002)

Subject: Administrative cases brought by officials and other staff of the European Commission

In its White Paper on administrative reform, the Commission maintains that it wants to make its staff policy more effective by means of a clear definition of tasks and greater managerial responsibility for staff, who in certain circumstances would be awarded financial premiums.

In the light of this, can the Commission indicate for the past five years:

- the number and subject of actions brought in the Court of First Instance and the Court of Justice by officials and other staff, involving the application of the Staff Regulations, other than cases brought by the Ombudsman;

- how many of these actions were upheld, even in part, by the Court of First Instance and the Court of Justice and what were the main grounds for the decisions;

- what measures have been taken to remedy management failings established by the Court of First Instance?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(24 May 2002)

In terms of the extent to which actions of officials and other servants were upheld by the Community judicature, the following evaluation does not take account of applications for the adoption of interim measures, which by their very nature have a purely provisional effect and are without prejudice to the judgment of the Court on the substance of the case. Any action that was not dismissed in its entirety was classified as a successful action, even if the findings against the defendant only concerned a point of minor importance. If the Commission applies this very wide interpretation, the overall proportion of cases brought before the Court of First Instance and deemed to be successful actions amounts to 34,5 % for the period from 1 January 1996 to 30 June 2001 (five and a half years), although slight variations were apparent from Institution to Institution (30,5 % for actions against the Commission). Over the same period, 13,2 % of the appeals brought by officials and other servants against judgments of the Court of First Instance were considered well founded by the Court of Justice.

These cases concerned a wide variety of issues, ranging from promotion and grading to the granting of installation allowance and sick leave. Where the Community judicature did not confirm the decisions of the Administration, its judgments were based on a divergent assessment of the facts of the case or a different interpretation of the relevant provisions, and not on general findings relating to the management of the Administration. It is not possible to draw from the proportion of successful actions any general conclusions as to administrative shortcomings on the part of the Institutions concerned given that the Courts have to deal with individual claims in specific cases which, naturally, vary in detail and character.

In this context it should be emphasised that one of the key objectives of the reform is to put in place simplified and more transparent rules and procedures. The grading system, for example, which has been a constant source of conflicts between officials and their administrations, would be radically simplified. Under the new Staff Regulations, each newly recruited official would be graded in the first step of the grade published in the respective competition notice. Professional experience would be taken into account only up to a maximum of 24 months (which equals one step). It should also be noted that the Commission has reinforced its Mediation Service with a view to reaching an informal settlement of disputes which may arise in the context of working relations. In the future, the mediator may in particular make oral or, in exceptional cases, written recommendations for amicable arrangements to resolve conflicts, in particular in the context of complaint proceedings under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations. Whilst legitimate rights will continue to be respected, the number of court cases is likely to be reduced by this measure.

On the further question of the Honourable Member as to what measures have been taken to remedy management failings established by the Court of First Instance, the Commission is collecting the information needed to answer this question and will communicate its findings as soon as possible.