CELEX: 62010FJ0042
Language: en
Date: 2012-05-16
Title: Judgment of the Civil Service Tribunal (Third Chamber) of 16 May 2012. # Carina Skareby v European Commission. # Civil service - Duty to provide assistance - Articles 12a and 24 of the Staff Regulations - Psychological harassment by a hierarchical superior. # Case F-42/10.

JUDGMENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION CIVIL SERVICE TRIBUNAL (Third Chamber)
      16 May 2012 (*)
      
      (Civil service — Duty to provide assistance — Articles 12a and 24 of the Staff Regulations — Psychological harassment by a hierarchical superior)
      In Case F‑42/10,
      ACTION brought under Article 270 TFEU, applicable to the EAEC Treaty pursuant to Article 106a thereof,
      Carina Skareby, official of the European Commission, residing in Louvain (Belgium), represented by S. Rodrigues and C. Bernard-Glanz, lawyers,
      
      applicant,
      v
      European Commission, represented by J. Currall and J. Baquero Cruz, acting as Agents,
      
      defendant,
      THE CIVIL SERVICE TRIBUNAL (Third Chamber)
      composed of S. Van Raepenbusch (Rapporteur), President, R. Barents and K. Bradley, Judges,
      Registrar: W. Hakenberg,
      having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 30 November 2011,
      gives the following
      Judgment
      1        By application received at the Registry of the Tribunal on 3 June 2010, Ms Skareby seeks annulment of the decision of the
         European Commission of 23 July 2009 rejecting her request for assistance in respect of a complaint of psychological harassment
         and, if necessary, annulment of the decision of the appointing authority of 19 February 2010 rejecting her complaint.
      
       Legal context
      2        Article 41(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, relating to the ‘right to good administration’ states:
      
      ‘This right includes: 
      (a) the right of every person to be heard, before any individual measure which would affect him or her adversely is taken;
      …’
      3        Article 12a of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union (‘the Staff Regulations’) provides: 
      
      ‘1. Officials shall refrain from any form of psychological or sexual harassment.
      2. An official who has been the victim of psychological or sexual harassment shall not suffer any prejudicial effects on the
         part of the institution. An official who has given evidence on psychological or sexual harassment shall not suffer any prejudicial
         effects on the part of the institution, provided the official has acted honestly. 
      
      3. “Psychological harassment” means any improper conduct that takes place over a period, is repetitive or systematic and involves
         physical behaviour, spoken or written language, gestures or other acts that are intentional and that may undermine the personality,
         dignity or physical or psychological integrity of any person.
      
      …’
      4        Under the terms of Article 24 of the Staff Regulations, in the version applicable at the material time:
      
      ‘The Communities shall assist any official, in particular in proceedings against any person perpetrating threats, insulting
         or defamatory acts or utterances, or any attack to person or property to which he or a member of his family is subjected by
         reason of his position or duties.  
      
      They shall jointly and severally compensate the official for damage suffered in such cases, in so far as the official did
         not either intentionally or through grave negligence cause the damage and has been unable to obtain compensation from the
         person who did cause it.’ 
      
       Facts 
      5        The applicant has been an official of the European Union since 1 December 1996. On 18 April 2003 she was posted to the Commission
         Delegation in Almaty (Kazakhstan). After Kyrgyzstan was assigned a ‘regionalised’ delegation, the applicant was posted, on
         19 April 2004, to Bichkek (Kyrgyzstan). In the verbal note of 8 June 2004 presenting her to the Minister for Foreign Affairs
         of Kyrgyzstan and to the diplomatic community working in that country, it was stated, first, that she would occupy the position
         of ‘Head of Section with the rank of Chargé d’Affaires ad interim in the absence of the Head of Delegation’, who would be
         accredited to Kyrgyzstan and, second, that ‘the regionalised delegation in Bichkek [was] subject to the [regional] delegation
         of the Commission … in Almaty’. In August 2007 the applicant returned to the Commission Directorate-General (DG) for External
         Relations in Brussels (Belgium). 
      
      6        By letter of 10 November 2008, the applicant submitted a request for assistance (‘the request for assistance’) pursuant to
         Article 24 of the Staff Regulations, alleging she had suffered psychological harassment from her two successive hierarchical
         superiors, who, one after the other, had been Head of the Commission Delegation in Kazakhstan (‘the first Head of Delegation’
         and ‘the second Head of Delegation’, respectively). She requested in that regard that an administrative inquiry be opened
         to establish the facts of the psychological harassment alleged. It is apparent from that letter that the allegations against
         the first Head of Delegation related to the period between April 2003 and September 2005, while those against the second Head
         of Delegation related to the period between October 2005 and August 2007, the date on which the applicant returned to the
         Commission headquarters in Brussels. 
      
      7        By letter dated 28 November 2008, the applicant submitted additional information in support of the request for assistance.
         She stated, in particular, that the first and second Heads of Delegation had systematically undermined and minimised her role
         within the Almaty and Bichkek delegations which, she claimed, had discredited and humiliated her vis-à-vis her counterparts
         in the Governments of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the embassies of Member States of the European Union and international organisations
         and non-governmental organisations present in those countries.  
      
      8        Following the request for assistance, the Commission informed the applicant, by letter of 4 March 2009, that the Investigation
         and Disciplinary Office of the Commission (IDOC) had received a mandate to open an administrative inquiry into the allegations
         of psychological harassment made against the second Head of Delegation. In that letter, the Commission informed the applicant
         of its refusal to open such an inquiry against the first Head of Delegation, on the ground that the applicant had not presented
         the request for assistance within a reasonable period of time. 
      
      9        By letter of 28 May 2009, the applicant submitted a complaint, pursuant to Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations, against
         the Commission decision of 4 March 2009 refusing to open an inquiry against the first Head of Delegation. The Commission rejected
         that complaint by decision of 31 July 2009. On 13 November 2009 the applicant brought an action against the abovementioned
         decision of 4 March 2009. That action was upheld and the refusal which had been challenged was annulled by the Tribunal (judgment
         of 8 February 2011 in Case F‑95/09 Skareby v Commission, ‘the Skareby judgment’).
      
      10      In the meantime, the Commission, by letter of 23 July 2009, informed the applicant of the conclusions reached by IDOC in its
         report concerning the administrative inquiry opened against the second Head of Delegation (‘the inquiry report’). These conclusions
         state that the alleged harassment had not been established and the enquiry had therefore been closed, without any disciplinary
         follow-up. In that letter the Commission also informed the applicant that it had consequently decided not to grant the request
         for assistance and to close this file.
      
      11      By letter of 26 October 2009, the applicant submitted a complaint pursuant to Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations against
         the Commission’s decision, of 23 July 2009, not to act on her request for assistance and on 19 February 2010 that complaint
         was rejected by the appointing authority. 
      
       Forms of order sought and procedure 
      12      The applicant claims that the Court should:
      
      –        declare the action admissible; 
      –        ask the Commission to produce the inquiry report, with supporting evidence;
      –        annul the Commission’s decision of 23 July 2009 rejecting her complaint alleging psychological harassment against the second
         Head of Delegation and, so far as necessary, annul the decision of the appointing authority of 19 February 2010 rejecting
         her complaint;
      
      –        order the Commission to pay the costs. 
      13      The Commission contends that the Court should: 
      
      –        dismiss the action as inadmissible or in any event as unfounded;
      –        order the applicant to pay the costs. 
      14      In her application instituting the proceedings, the applicant asked the Court to request the Commission to produce the inquiry
         report, with supporting evidence, in order to determine whether an inquiry had actually been carried out.
      
      15      In its defence, the Commission stated that it could not release the documents in question to the applicant because they contained
         personal data that must be protected which, if divulged, would affect the interests of third parties. The Commission stated,
         however, that it was willing to provide a confidential version of those documents to the Tribunal if the Tribunal addressed
         a reasoned order to it asking for it. The Commission nevertheless drew the Tribunal’s attention to the difficulty it would
         have in producing a non-confidential version of those documents, as the alleged harassment took place in a small administrative
         unit, so that blanking the names of witnesses would not prevent them from being identified by other specific elements.
      
      16      By reasoned order of 6 April 2011, made pursuant to Article 44 of the Rules of Procedure, the Tribunal invited the applicant
         to submit her observations on the Commission’s statement that the inquiry report and the documents on which that report are
         based were confidential. By the same order, the Tribunal requested the Commission to produce the inquiry report and the abovementioned
         documents specifying that neither the applicant nor her lawyers would be authorised to consult them, at least until a decision
         had been taken regarding the relevance and confidentiality of those documents.
      
      17      The Commission delivered the inquiry report and the documents requested by letter received at the Registry of the Tribunal
         on 18 April 2011 and the applicant submitted her observations on their possible confidentiality on 26 April 2011.
      
      18      In the light of the inquiry report and the other documents forwarded by the Commission and in view of the submissions made
         in the application, the Tribunal held that only the inquiry report was relevant in resolving the dispute. The Tribunal found,
         moreover, that that report contained confidential information in so far as, having been drawn up following an inquiry into
         harassment, it contained personal data – that is, the surname, first name, post and grade of the persons heard – allowing
         them to be identified. Consequently, the Tribunal decided to invite the Commission to forward to it a non-confidential version
         of the inquiry report, omitting the abovementioned personal data, and to deliver that non-confidential version to the applicant.
         Finally, the Tribunal decided to return to the Commission the other documents that the Commission had delivered to it pursuant
         to the order of 6 April 2011. The Registry of the Tribunal informed the parties of those different decisions by letter of
         31 May 2011.
      
      19      The Commission presented a non-confidential version of the inquiry report on 7 June 2011 and the applicant submitted her observations
         on it by letter received at the Registry of the Tribunal on 15 July 2011, accompanied by three annexes. The observations of
         the applicant were served on the Commission, which submitted its remarks on those observations on 29 July 2011 and which were
         supplemented by a letter of 30 August 2011, accompanied by several documents.
      
      20      By letter of 3 October 2011, the applicant lodged two documents, production of which she had announced in her observations
         of 15 July 2011. 
      
      21      The applicant was invited, in the preliminary report for the hearing to respond at the hearing to the plea of inadmissibility
         raised by the Commission in its defence and to submit her comments on the documents enclosed with the Commission’s letter
         of 30 August 2011. The Commission, for its part, was invited to submit its observations, during the hearing, on the documents
         delivered to the Tribunal by the applicant on 28 September 2011.
      
       Subject-matter of the dispute 
      22      In addition to annulment of the decision of the Commission of 23 July 2009 rejecting her request for assistance, the applicant
         requests annulment of the decision of 19 February 2010 rejecting her complaint against that decision. 
      
      23      According to established case-law, claims for annulment formally brought against a decision to reject a complaint have, where
         that decision lacks any independent content, the effect of bringing before the Tribunal the act against which the complaint
         was submitted (see, to this effect, judgment of 17 January 1989 in Case 293/87 Vainker v Parliament, paragraph 8). As the decision to reject the complaint brought against the decision of the Commission of 23 July 2009 lacks,
         in the present case, any independent content, the application must be regarded as being directed against that decision only
         (‘the contested decision’).
      
       Admissibility
       Arguments of the parties
      24      The Commission submits that the application is inadmissible on the ground that the applicant has no interest in bringing the
         action. Even if the action were well-founded, annulment of the contested decision would not give her satisfaction. The psychological
         harassment, if any, ceased upon the return of the applicant, in 2007, to the Commission headquarters in Brussels, and the
         applicant did not seek compensation for any damage suffered. 
      
      25      The purpose of the application is, it is alleged, to bring about the initiation of a new administrative inquiry in order to
         lead to disciplinary proceedings against the second Head of Delegation or, should the facts be established, to obtain a simple
         ruling in law on the existence of harassment. With regard to the first hypothesis, the administration has a broad margin of
         discretion in deciding whether or not to open disciplinary proceedings against an official and other officials cannot, it
         is argued, compel it to bring such proceedings. With regard to the second hypothesis, it is contended that the applicant has
         no interest in bringing the action, as it is not for the Tribunal to complement the operative part of its judgments with declarations
         of law or findings.
      
      26      During the hearing the applicant disputed the plea of inadmissibility raised by the Commission. She claimed, inter alia, that
         her action seeks to restore her dignity, which requires recognition of the fact that she has been the victim of psychological
         harassment. She considers that this justifies a personal interest in requesting annulment of the contested decision since,
         in the event of annulment, the administration will be led to re-examine, specifically, whether she suffered such harassment.
         
      
       Findings of the Tribunal
      27      It should be observed that, in the present case, the Commission maintained the plea of inadmissibility raised in its defence
         notwithstanding the fact that the Tribunal rejected a similar plea of inadmissibility in the Skareby judgment (paragraphs 22 to 31), a judgment that was issued before the hearing in the present case. In these circumstances,
         the following must be borne in mind.
      
      28      It is common ground that claims for annulment of an administrative act are inadmissible in the absence of a vested and present
         legitimate interest in bringing proceedings, where annulment of the contested measure would not give the person concerned
         satisfaction. 
      
      29      In the present case, it is true that the applicant is not seeking compensation for any damage resulting from the alleged harassment.
         It is also true that the Commission has a margin of discretion under Article 86(2) of the Staff Regulations to launch disciplinary
         proceedings. Finally, it is common ground that the alleged harassment ended in August 2007 when the applicant returned to
         the Commission headquarters in Brussels.
      
      30      However, the circumstances referred to above have not rendered the present action devoid of purpose or removed the applicant’s
         interest in seeking annulment of the contested decision. 
      
      31      Indeed, in so serious a matter as psychological harassment it must be accepted, notwithstanding the arguments relied upon
         by the Commission, that the supposed victim of such harassment, who brings an action against the institution’s refusal to
         grant her request for assistance, retains the interest required by case-law as a condition for the admissibility of an application.
      
      32      That approach is called for because of the very seriousness of psychological harassment, conduct which may have extremely
         destructive effects on a person’s state of health. If the reputation of a retired official justifies his interest in challenging
         a decision suspending him, despite the fact that that suspension decision was necessarily rescinded on the day he retired
         (judgment of 30 November  2009 in Case F‑80/08 Wenig v Commission, paragraph 35), the same must be true in respect of the staff member who allegedly suffers psychological harassment, irrespective
         of whether such harassment persists or whether the official or agent in question makes, intends to make or is merely entitled
         to make other claims, in particular for compensation, in respect of the psychological harassment allegedly suffered. It should
         be added in this context that a finding by the administration that psychological harassment has occurred is, in itself, likely
         to have a beneficial effect in the therapeutic process of recovery of an individual who has been harassed. 
      
      33      It follows from all the above considerations that the plea of inadmissibility raised by the Commission cannot be upheld. 
      
       Substance
      34      In support of her claim for annulment of the contested decision, the applicant puts forward three pleas: (i) breach of the
         rights of defence and of the right to good administration, (ii) infringement of Article 12a(3) of the Staff Regulations, and
         (iii) manifest errors of assessment, breach of the duty to state reasons, breach of the duty to have regard for the welfare
         of officials and breach of the duty to provide assistance.
      
       The first plea, alleging infringement of the rights of defence and of the right to good administration 
      35      It is apparent from the various pleadings of the applicant that the first plea contains two parts. In the first part, the
         applicant contests the effectiveness of the administrative inquiry carried out by IDOC, while in the second she criticises
         the insufficiency of her involvement in the proceedings, on the basis of the rights of defence and the principle of good administration.
      
       The first part of the first plea, alleging the ineffectiveness of the administrative inquiry 
      36      In her initiating application, which was submitted at a time when she had not yet received the inquiry report or the accompanying
         evidence, the applicant first expressed doubts as to whether an inquiry had, in fact, been carried out.
      
      37      In her observations on the inquiry report, sent by the Commission in a non-confidential version following the order of the
         Tribunal of 6 April 2011 (paragraph 16 et seq. above), the applicant claims that that report shows that the inquiry lacked
         thoroughness, objectivity and impartiality. In support of that assertion, the applicant argues that, of the thirty witnesses
         who had been suggested in the request for assistance, only four were heard. Moreover, the inquiry report did not, it is alleged,
         contain any reference to the specific examples of harassment described in the request for assistance and it does not follow
         that those examples are the subject of any investigation by IDOC. Furthermore, the account of the facts by IDOC is biased.
         The inquiry report, she alleges, also includes inconsistencies and contradictions. Finally, the fact that the statements of
         Witness C are quoted sometimes in French and sometimes in English raises suspicion with regard to the testimony in question
         and the presentation of the facts by Witnesses A and B includes errors that call their credibility into question.
      
      38      In that regard it should be observed that IDOC has broad discretionary power with regard to the conduct of the administrative
         inquiries conferred on it (see, to that effect, the judgment of 13 January 2010 in Joined Cases F‑124/05 and F‑96/06 A and G v Commission, paragraph 173). In particular, as the resources of that service are limited, it is required to investigate the files that
         are submitted to it in a proportionate manner, that is, in particular, in a manner that allows it to allocate to each case
         a fair share of the time available. Furthermore, IDOC also has a wide margin of discretion to assess the quality and usefulness
         of the cooperation provided by the witnesses.
      
      39      Consequently, in the present case, IDOC could decide to hear only some of the witnesses suggested by the applicant. Furthermore,
         nothing in the file submitted to the Tribunal suggests that IDOC’s choice had been biased or had undermined the quality of
         the investigations. With regard to the applicant’s criticism concerning the declarations of Witness C, the Tribunal does not
         see how the fact that the statements of that witness have been quoted sometimes in French and sometimes in English raises
         suspicion with regard to them. With regard to the absences of the applicant that the witnesses refer to, they are corroborated
         by documents submitted by the Commission, so that the credibility of those witnesses cannot be contested on the ground that
         their statements in this regard are inaccurate.
      
      40      In addition, the issues addressed in the inquiry report show that IDOC did not fail to investigate the complaints of harassment
         alleged, in essence, by the applicant, even if, as she observes, that report does not address all the specific ‘examples’
         that she had listed in the request for assistance. Accordingly, IDOC did in fact examine the issue of the instructions that
         the second Head of Delegation gave her through subordinates, whether or not he had prevented her from drafting reports on
         the political situation in Kyrgyzstan and the problem of her participation at the meetings of donor countries for Kyrgyzstan.
      
      41      Furthermore, the presentation of the facts in the inquiry report does not appear to be biased. Accordingly, with regard to
         the fact that, after she complained, in 2005, to a person of trust that the first Head of Delegation harassed her, the applicant
         did not pursue her action after that person had expressed the view that the attitude of her hierarchical superior was within
         the normal course of events, the inquiry report is confined to setting out, in essence, the statements of the applicant herself
         that appear in the supplement to the request for assistance of 28 November 2008.
      
      42      The inquiry report also does not appear contradictory. Accordingly, whereas Witness B stated that the normal working method
         of the second Head of Delegation was to transmit instructions through subordinates, IDOC was entitled to conclude that, although
         the latter proceeded in this way with all the staff under his direction, that behaviour was, none the less, only occasional,
         since it was apparent from the various statements taken that the second Head of Delegation only acted in this way in urgent
         cases, in relation to minor issues and when the interested party was absent. Furthermore, there is no contradiction between,
         on the one hand, the assertion contained in the applicant’s assessment report for 2006, according to which she frequently
         and regularly produced reports on the political situation in Kyrgyzstan and, on the other hand, the fact that the inquiry
         report notes that those reports intended for the services of the Commission in Brussels were drafted in Almaty on the basis
         of the contributions of the applicant. Moreover, the limited role of the latter in drafting those reports is confirmed by
         Witness C and by the applicant herself.
      
      43      Finally, the fact that statements submitted by the applicant confirm that she adequately represented the Commission in the
         meetings of the donor countries for Kyrgyzstan does not point to a lack of seriousness of the inquiry carried out by IDOC.
         Those various statements clearly indicate the competence of the applicant as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, as well as her
         credibility as representative of the Commission and contradict the statement of the second Head of Delegation according to
         which ‘all the other donors for Kyrgyzstan had  the [opposite] feeling’. However, IDOC did not confine itself to noting the
         statements of the second Head of Delegation. It collected other evidence emphasising the ‘general context’, namely that it
         was impossible for the applicant to attend all the official events and to carry out all her tasks as a result, in particular,
         of her absences at the time when the institution had to prepare its strategy in the abovementioned meetings of the donor countries.
      
      44      In the light of the above and of the documents submitted by the parties, the Tribunal, taking the view that it has sufficient
         information, finds, in the first place, that the complaint alleging the ineffective nature of the IDOC inquiry is unfounded
         and, secondly, that it is not necessary to comply with the applicant’s requests, set out in her observations on the inquiry
         report, first, that the Tribunal should collect evidence from representatives of international organisations, non-governmental
         organisations or from Member States or, at least, that it should question the Commission on the reasons that led IDOC to select
         witnesses from those she had suggested for hearing and, second, that it should order the Commission to produce the questions
         that had been put to the witnesses and, third, that it should collect evidence from the persons whose statements she had appended
         to those observations.
      
       The second part of the first plea, alleging breach of the rights of defence and of the right to good administration 
      45      Relying on a breach of the rights of defence and the ‘requirements of good administration’ that she infers from Article 41(2)(a)
         of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the applicant alleges that she should have had access to the inquiry report and to the
         evidence submitted in support of that report, and that she should have been heard on the content of those documents before
         the appointing authority adopted the contested decision.
      
      46      It should be noted, however, that the applicant may not rely on the Commission’s obligation to observe the rights of the defence
         which, according to settled case-law, constitutes a general principle of European Union law in all procedures initiated against
         a person which are liable to culminate in a measure adversely affecting that person (Case C‑344/05 P Commission v De Bry [2006] ECR I‑10915, paragraph 37; judgment of 17 October 2006 in Case T‑406/04 Bonnet v Court of Justice, paragraph 76; Wenig v Commission, paragraph 48). An IDOC inquiry procedure initiated following a request for assistance from an official with a complaint
         of harassment cannot, in any event, be compared to an inquiry procedure opened against that official.
      
      47      Furthermore, and without there being any need to examine the question of its applicability over time, it is sufficient to
         note that Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights reflects the existing case law establishing the general principle
         of sound administration (see, to this effect, the judgment of 14 October 2004, in Case T‑257/02 K v Court of Justice, paragraph 104), as pointed out in the explanation to Article 41 in the explanations relating to the Charter (OJ 2007, C 303,
         p. 17).
      
      48      In this respect, it should be accepted that the applicant may claim procedural rights that are separate from the rights of
         defence and which are not as extensive as those rights (on that distinction, see Case C‑441/07 P Commission v Alrosa [2010] ECR I‑5945, paragraph 91 and Case T‑290/94 Kaysersberg v Commission [1997] ECR II‑2137, paragraph 108).
      
      49      In the present case, it is not disputed that the applicant had three opportunities to put forward her arguments, in the context
         of the request for assistance, by means of the additional information that she supplied in writing on 28 November 2008 and
         during her hearing by IDOC in the context of the administrative inquiry. 
      
      50      As the procedural rights that the applicant can claim in the present case do not entail that she should have had access to
         the inquiry report and to the evidence obtained by IDOC, nor that she should have been heard on the content of those documents
         before the contested decision was made, the second part of the first plea, alleging breach of the rights of defence and of
         the right to good administration must, therefore, be rejected.
      
      51      Since both parts of the first plea have been rejected, that plea must be rejected. 
      
       The second plea, alleging infringement of Article 12a(3) of the Staff Regulations 
      52      The applicant denies, first, that the appointing authority was able to endorse the conclusions of IDOC that there was no harassment
         on the ground that, by summoning to Almaty staff members placed under her direct authority in order to discuss their work
         in her absence, and to send instructions to her through them, the second Head of Delegation had not treated her differently
         from the other middle managers of the Almaty Delegation. Article 12a(3) of the Staff Regulations does not make the classification
         as psychological harassment conditional upon the existence of discrimination.
      
      53      First, it should be noted that, if an express decision rejecting a complaint has made significant clarifications concerning
         the reasons given by the administration in the initial decision, the specific identification of the reasons of the administration
         must result from a combined reading of those two decisions (see, to that effect, judgment of 10 June 2004 in Case T‑258/01
         Eveillard v Commission, paragraph 31).
      
      54      That said, it is apparent from the decision rejecting the complaint that the Commission did not make the existence of discrimination
         a condition on which recognition of harassment would depend. In response to the applicant’s complaint alleging that the second
         Head of Delegation directly gave instructions to her subordinates, the appointing authority merely noted that IDOC had observed,
         first, that the second Head of Delegation did not adopt this mode of behaviour only with regard to the complainant, but that
         this approach corresponded to his general style of staff management and, second, that the simple fact that the applicant does
         not agree with that style was not sufficient for it to be possible to classify it as harassment.
      
      55      The applicant considers, secondly, that the contested decision infringes Article 12a(3) of the Staff Regulations because that
         article does not make the reality of harassment conditional upon there being several victims, whereas the contested decision,
         like the decision rejecting the complaint, made much of the fact that no other person working at the Almaty regional delegation
         or in a regionalised delegation had brought a complaint for psychological harassment against the second Head of Delegation.
      
      56      It should be noted, however, that in observing that no other complaint for harassment had been lodged against the second Head
         of Delegation, the Commission was merely responding to the assertion of the applicant that other members of staff had been
         victims of psychological harassment by the second Head of Delegation.
      
      57      The applicant complains, third, that the contested decision, like the decision rejecting her complaint, is based on the conclusions
         of IDOC which, it is alleged, makes the intention to harass a necessary element of the classification of psychological harassment,
         whereas that condition is not required by Article 12a(3) of the Staff Regulations, as interpreted by  the Tribunal in its
         judgment of 9 December 2008 in Case F‑52/05 Q v Commission (partially annulled by the judgment of 12 July 2011 in Case T‑80/09 P Commission v Q, but only insofar as, at paragraph 2 of the operative part, that judgment (‘Q v Commission’) ordered the Commission to pay Q damages). The applicant points out that in the decision rejecting her complaint, the appointing
         authority explained that IDOC had only wanted to stress the fact that harassment complaints have to be examined without taking
         the subjective impression of the complainant into account, but she considers that, in so doing, the appointing authority made
         no mention of the fact that IDOC had also concluded that she ‘[had] not been the subject of a behaviour objectively aiming
         to discredit her or to degrade on purpose her working conditions.’ 
      
      58      The Commission replies that the Q v Commission judgment introduces excessive subjectivity in that, contrary to earlier case-law, it no longer makes the existence of harassment
         conditional upon demonstrating that the harasser had intended, by his reprehensible conduct, to discredit the victim or deliberately
         impair the latter’s working conditions. With that judgment of the Tribunal, the institutions run the risk of being instrumentalised
         by excessively sensitive officials or agents. According to the Commission, the definition of harassment should take into account
         the stated or presumed intention of the alleged harasser, the perception of the alleged victim, the objective nature of the
         facts and the context in which they took place. The Tribunal stated, at paragraph 135 of the Q v Commission judgment, that to be classified as harassment, the reprehensible conduct in question must have led ‘objectively’ to discrediting
         the victim or impairing the latter’s working conditions. However, that qualification would remain insufficient, as it would
         not prevent bringing within the scope of Article 12a(3) of the Staff Regulations non-abusive conduct that may ‘objectively’
         lead to an impairment of working conditions or to a feeling of being discredited among persons suffering from psychological
         problems. 
      
      59      The Commission considers, therefore, that if the Tribunal fails to revert to the case law prior to Q v Commission, it would be appropriate, in any event, to make the classification of harassment conditional upon the conduct in question
         having sufficient objective reality, in the sense that an impartial and reasonable observer, of normal sensitivity, would
         consider it to be improper.
      
      60      In the present case the Commission contends that the conduct of the second Head of Delegation was objectively not such as
         to discredit the applicant or to impair her working conditions and could not, therefore, be classified as improper in the
         sense referred to above, but that it was, on the contrary, quite normal in a working relationship. The fact that no other
         staff member of the Almaty Delegation, placed in similar conditions, considered himself a victim of harassment by the second
         Head of Delegation would, it is contended, indicate that the applicant’s feeling of harassment arose solely from her personal
         perception of the facts.
      
      61      Furthermore, IDOC and the appointing authority considered that the facts did not constitute acts of harassment by reason of
         their nature, so that the contested decision is only partially based on the absence of intentionality in the conduct of the
         second Head of Delegation.
      
      62      Finally, the conduct of the second Head of Delegation was not repetitive and systematic, as required by the definition of
         psychological harassment.
      
      63      In that regard, it should be recalled that the Tribunal held, at paragraphs 133 et seq. of Q v Commission, that Article 12a(3) of the Staff Regulations does not in any way make the malicious intent of the alleged harasser a necessary
         criterion for classification as psychological harassment. In that judgment (see also the judgment of 9 March 2010 in Case
         F‑26/09 N v Parlement, paragraph 72) the Tribunal held as follows:
      
      ‘134      Article 12a(3) of the Staff Regulations defines psychological harassment as “improper conduct” which, in order to be established,
         requires that two cumulative conditions be satisfied. The first condition relates to the existence of physical behaviour,
         spoken or written language, gestures or other acts which take place “over a period” and are “repetitive or systematic” and
         which are “intentional”. The second condition, separated from the first by the preposition “and”, requires that such physical
         behaviour, spoken or written language, gestures or other acts have the effect of “undermin[ing] the personality, dignity or
         physical or psychological integrity of any person”’. 
      
      135      By virtue of the fact that the adjective “intentional” applies to the first condition, and not to the second, it is possible
         to draw a twofold conclusion. Firstly, the physical behaviour, spoken or written language, gestures or other acts referred
         to by Article 12a(3) of the Staff Regulations must be intentional in character, which excludes from the scope of that provision
         reprehensible conduct which arises accidentally. Secondly, it is not, on the other hand, a requirement that such physical
         behaviour, spoken or written language, gestures or other acts were committed with the intention of undermining the personality,
         dignity or physical or psychological integrity of a person. In other words, there can be psychological harassment within the
         meaning of Article 12a(3) of the Staff Regulations without the harasser’s having intended, by his reprehensible conduct, to
         discredit the victim or deliberately impair the latter’s working conditions. It is sufficient that such reprehensible conduct,
         provided that it was committed intentionally, led objectively to such consequences.’ 
      
      64      In essence, the Commission considers that that case law puts too much emphasis on the perception of the alleged victim and
         that it is a source of uncertainty.
      
      65      The Tribunal stated, however, at paragraph 135 of Q v Commission, that, to be classified as harassment, the reprehensible conduct must have ‘led objectively to … consequences’ that discredit
         the victim or impair the latter’s working conditions. As the conduct in question must, under Article 12a(3) of the Staff Regulations,
         be improper, it follows that the classification of harassment is subject to the condition of its being objectively sufficiently
         real, in the sense that an impartial and reasonable observer, of normal sensitivity and in the same situation, would consider
         it to be excessive and open to criticism.
      
      66      In the present case, IDOC noted in its report that ‘the enquiry team concludes that [the complainant] has not been the subject
         of a behaviour objectively aiming to discredit her or to degrade on purpose her working conditions; it seems that, regardless
         of her subjective impressions, none of the evoked episodes and behaviours, considered separately or as a whole, can be considered
         as psychological harassment.’
      
      67      However, the question before the Tribunal is whether the Commission, in the contested decision and in the rejection of the
         complaint, assessed the situation of the applicant on the basis of an incorrect interpretation of Article 12a of the Staff
         Regulations, according to which harassment is conditional upon the intention of the perpetrator of the acts complained of
         to discredit or deliberately impair the working conditions of the applicant.
      
      68      As the applicant herself points out, in the decision rejecting the complaint, the appointing authority considered that the
         allegations of harassment had to be examined ‘regardless of the subjective impression of the victim’. Furthermore, the contested
         decision and the decision to reject the complaint are based on grounds which tend to establish that the applicant’s allegations
         of harassment were not objective. Accordingly, the contested decision observes that the fact that the second Head of Delegation
         gave instructions directly to the applicant’s subordinates corresponded to his usual style of staff management, without demonstrating
         specific circumstances that could indicate, through such conduct, a negative attitude towards the applicant. Moreover, in
         response to the applicant’s request for verification contained in the supplement to the request for assistance of 28 November
         2008, the Commission, in the contested decision, observed that no other official or agent had complained about the conduct
         of the second Head of Delegation. Finally, the decision to reject the complaint is based on an objective analysis of the duties
         of the applicant from which the Commission infers that she belonged to the middle management staff and that that position
         did not prevent the second Head of Delegation from replacing her with another official to attend meetings of donor countries
         for Kyrgyzstan.
      
      69      Since the recognition of the existence of harassment, within the meaning of the statutory provisions as interpreted by the
         Tribunal, is subject to:
      
      –        the intentional nature of the physical behaviour, spoken or written language, gestures or other acts in question,
      –        but does not require that such physical behaviour, spoken or written language, gestures or other acts be committed with the
         intention of undermining the personality, dignity or physical or psychological integrity of a person,
      
      –        provided that they lead objectively to consequences that discredit the victim or impair the latter’s working conditions, 
      the ground advanced by the Commission, that the acts in question did not objectively discredit the applicant, is, of itself,
         sufficient to justify legally the contested decision under Article 12a of the Staff Regulations, irrespective of the interpretation
         adopted by IDOC.
      
      70      Moreover, it should be noted that the applicant’s assessment of the conduct of the second Head of Delegation is very subjective.
         Whereas she complains that the attitude of the latter discredited her with embassies and representations of international
         organisations present at the headquarters of the regionalised delegation of Bichkek, the documents that she submitted annexed
         to her observations on the inquiry report reveal, on the contrary, the respect that she enjoyed in those circles.
      
      71      It follows from the above that second plea is unfounded. 
      
       The third plea, alleging manifest errors of assessment, breach of the duty to state reasons, breach of the duty to have regard
            for the welfare of officials and breach of the duty to provide assistance
      72      With regard to the arguments advanced by the applicant in support of her third plea, it is appropriate to make a distinction
         between a first part alleging, exclusively, a breach of the duty to state reasons, and a second part alleging, in essence,
         several manifest errors of assessment, from which the applicant also infers a breach of the duty to state reasons and breach
         of the duty to have regard for the welfare of officials and to provide assistance.
      
       The first part of the third plea, alleging breach of the duty to state reasons 
      73      The applicant claims that the contested decision and the decision rejecting the complaint fail to state adequate reasons,
         insofar as the Commission did not respond to her assertion that the second Head of Delegation had continued the practice of
         his predecessor, consisting in sending to Kyrgyzstan the staff serving at the regional delegation of Kazakhstan without consulting
         her or, at least, without informing her and thereby embarrassing her with respect to the authorities of the host State and
         the diplomatic community.
      
      74      In this respect, it should be recalled that, according to settled case-law, it is not necessary for the reasoning to go into
         all the relevant facts and points of law, since the question whether the statement of reasons meets the requirements of the
         second subparagraph of Article 25 of the Staff Regulations must be assessed having regard not only to its wording, but also
         to its context and to all the legal rules governing the matter in question (see, to that effect, the judgment of 11 December
         2007 in Case T‑66/05 Sack v Commission, paragraph 65, and the judgment of 13 September 2011 in Case F‑4/10 Nastvogel v Conseil, paragraph 66).
      
      75      Moreover, an inadequate statement of grounds may be remedied by additional information provided, even during the proceedings
         if the official concerned already had at his disposal before bringing his action information constituting the beginnings of
         a statement of grounds (judgment of 15 September 2005 in Case T‑132/03 Casini v Commission, paragraph 36; and judgment of 1 December 2010 in Case F‑89/09 Gagalis v Conseil, paragraph 67).
      
      76      In the present case, it is true that the contested decision and the decision to reject the complaint do not specifically refer
         to the grievance that the second Head of Delegation had caused the applicant embarrassment by sending to Kyrgyzstan the staff
         serving at the regional delegation of Kazakhstan without consulting, or even informing, her. However, it should be noted that
         those decisions state the reasons on which they are based and their reasoning mentions, at the very least, that it was within
         the normal hierarchical prerogatives of the second Head of Delegation to decide who would replace him in meetings and to delegate
         officials other than the applicant to do so.
      
      77      Moreover, the Commission supplemented its reasoning in its written submissions. It stated in those submissions that the practice
         at issue should be seen in the specific context of relations between a regionalised delegation and a regional delegation which
         retains a certain number of responsibilities and that, in that context, that practice may be accepted. It added that the first
         Head of Delegation had given instructions, which had remained in force, specifying that the applicant should be informed at
         all times of the missions to Kyrgyzstan, that she should be invited to attend the meetings which took place there and that
         copies of the mission reports should be sent to her. Furthermore, in a context characterised by many projects and frequent
         meetings, the Commission concluded that the fact that the applicant had not always been duly informed could be due to accidental
         omissions rather than an attempt to discredit her.
      
      78      In view of the foregoing, the first part of the third plea must be rejected. 
      
       The second part of the third plea alleging, primarily, manifest errors of assessment 
      79      The applicant claims, first, that the contested decision is vitiated by a manifest error of assessment insofar as the Commission
         considered, wrongly, that the fact that the second Head of Delegation called members of staff, over whom the applicant had
         authority, to discuss their duties in her absence and to send instructions for her through them, was the expression of the
         second Head of Delegation’s right to give instructions to his subordinates.
      
      80      However, to make an assertion without supporting this with any argument, as the applicant does, is insufficient to establish
         a manifest error of assessment. That is particularly so given that, in the present case, the Commission plausibly states that,
         in the specific context of relations between a regional delegation and a regionalised delegation, the Head of the regional
         delegation can directly address the members of staff of the regionalised delegation and send instructions through them to
         the Chargé d’Affaires heading the regionalised delegation, as that staff remains under his authority. Such a manner of exercising
         hierarchical authority does not, as such, discredit the Chargé d’Affaires heading the regionalised delegation or impair her
         working conditions, in the absence of any other circumstances to that effect. The verbal note of 8 June 2004 presenting the
         applicant as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim in Bichkek corroborates the above by stating that ‘the regionalised delegation in
         Bichkek is subject to the delegation of the Commission … in Almaty’.
      
      81      The applicant claims, second, that the contested decision, and the decision rejecting the complaint, is vitiated by a manifest
         error of assessment insofar as she is referred to in it as forming part of the ‘middle management’, whereas she was the ‘Resident
         Official in Charge – Chargé d’Affaires [ad interim]’, vested, as such, with a greater level of responsibility than that of
         the middle management, as indicated in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, signed on 18 April 1961 (‘the Vienna
         Convention’).
      
      82      However, it should be recalled, first, that the abovementioned verbal note of 8 June 2004 highlighted the subordination of
         the regionalised delegation of Bichkek to the regional delegation of Almaty and, second, it should be observed that that note
         announced the appointment of the applicant as ‘Kyrgyzstan Head of Section’. It is significant, moreover, that the applicant
         was, at the material time, holder of the grade A*9, renamed AD 9, and that, further to the abovementioned verbal note, she
         worked, even as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim in Bichkek, under the authority and responsibility of the Head of the regional
         delegation of Almaty, as is apparent, moreover, from the extracts of the assessment reports that she submitted in the file
         relating to the present case. Furthermore, in response to a question from the Tribunal, during the hearing the applicant only
         claimed to have eight years of experience as a security policy analyst within the Swedish security services, stating that,
         before her assignment to Bichkek, she had no experience within the DG External Relations of the Commission, in any event as
         Chargé d’Affaires.
      
      83      In these circumstances, and without there being any need to examine the status of Chargés d’Affaires ad interim with regard
         to the Vienna Convention, which only governs the relations of diplomatic missions with the receiving States, it does not appear
         that the Commission committed a manifest error of assessment in taking the view, when assessing the employment relationship
         between the second Head of Delegation and the applicant, that she belonged to the middle management staff within the Commission.
      
      84      Even if the Commission has misinterpreted the importance of Chargés d’Affaires ad interim with regard to the Vienna Convention,
         the applicant does not explain how that error of interpretation could have led the appointing authority to commit a manifest
         error of assessment by refusing to recognise the existence of harassment. It is true that the applicant indicates that, by
         so doing, the appointing authority had ‘persist[ed] in prejudicing her position’. However, if the applicant means by this
         that the appointing authority itself contributed to her harassment, it must be stated that an error of law cannot in itself
         constitute an act as serious as harassment. The applicant does not provide any explanation in that regard.
      
      85      The applicant claims, third, that the contested decision is vitiated by a manifest error of assessment insofar as the Commission
         considered that her complaint was that the decision to confer the task of drafting reports on the political situation in Kyrgyzstan
         on another staff member had prevented her from performing that task, whereas in reality she was criticising the fact that
         she had received misleading instructions on this subject and had thus been manipulated.
      
      86      It should be observed, in that regard, that in the request for assistance, the applicant alleged that the fact that the second
         Head of Delegation had asked her to draw up ‘contributions’ on the situation in Kyrgyzstan in the form of ‘daily five line
         reports’ and that he had conferred on another official of the Almaty Delegation the task of following the disturbances that
         took place in Bichkek in November 2006, because she did not provide a proper political analysis, gave the impression to her
         hierarchy at the headquarters of the Commission that she was not capable of drafting adequate political reports.
      
      87      In the contested decision, the Commission responded, in the light of the inquiry report, that the main responsibility for
         drafting reports on the political situation in Kyrgyzstan rested with the Almaty Delegation, but that the applicant had been
         allowed, and even encouraged, to participate in that task, thus implicitly, but assuredly, ruling out any question of manipulation.
      
      88      Furthermore, the Tribunal does not see how the Commission, by taking the view that the applicant complained of having been
         prevented from drafting reports on the political situation in Kyrgyzstan, had misrepresented the complaint she made which
         emphasised that the second Head of Delegation had, by limiting her role in drafting such reports, attempted to demonstrate
         her incompetence in that regard.
      
      89      In any event, the alleged misrepresentation of the terms of the applicant’s harassment complaint lacks sufficient substance
         to vitiate the contested decision with a manifest error of assessment.
      
      90      The applicant alleges, fourth, that the Commission committed a manifest error in the assessment of her prerogatives by considering
         that, when the second Head of Delegation did not himself travel to Kyrgyzstan, it was within his power to decide who would
         replace him during meetings with the donor countries for Kyrgyzstan or with other intermediaries. As the ‘Resident Official
         in Charge – Chargé d’Affaires [ad interim]’, she alone was empowered, under the Vienna Convention, to represent the Commission
         in the absence of the Head of Delegation.
      
      91      The Tribunal does not consider it necessary in the present case, however, to rule on the question of whether the appointment
         of a Chargé d’Affaires ad interim at the head of a regionalised delegation prevents the Head of the regional delegation exercising
         jurisdiction over that regionalised delegation from appointing another official to represent the Commission during meetings
         organised in the country where that Chargé d’Affaires has been accredited.
      
      92      Even assuming that the Commission had, in the present case, misinterpreted the prerogatives of Chargés d’Affaires ad interim
         under the Vienna Convention, that possible error of law would not support the conclusion that the appointing authority had
         committed a manifest error of assessment by refusing to recognise the existence of harassment. It is true that the applicant
         emphasises that the second Head of Delegation asked another official to chair a meeting of the donor countries for Kyrgyzstan
         specifying: ‘not [the applicant]’. However, although this approach may have displeased her, it cannot establish the existence
         of a manifest error of assessment with regard to the existence of psychological harassment, which requires sustained, repetitive
         or systematic conduct and regarding which priority cannot be given to the subjective interpretation of the alleged victim.
         As the Commission noted, the applicant claimed, in her assessment report for 2007, that she regularly participated in coordination
         meetings with the donor countries for Kyrgyzstan. Likewise, the applicant indicated in her assessment report for 2006 that
         she had played an active role in the diplomatic scene that year. Furthermore, the conduct for which she criticises the second
         Head of Delegation cannot, in any event, be classified as sustained, repetitive or systematic within the meaning of Article
         12a of the Staff Regulations.
      
      93      Ultimately, although, as IDOC pointed out, several witnesses have highlighted the lack of clarity in the definition of the
         respective tasks of the regional delegations and of the regionalised delegations, and that lack of clarity could be the cause
         of the difficulties experienced by the applicant, the absence of a clear organisation of the tasks within a Commission Directorate-General
         cannot, as such, give rise to harassment.
      
      94      Insofar as the applicant infers, moreover, from the alleged manifest errors of assessment reviewed above, an infringement
         of the duty to state reasons, it is sufficient to note that, as she has not established the existence of such errors, she
         has likewise not demonstrated that the appointing authority has failed to observe its duty to state reasons. Furthermore,
         an inadequate statement of reasons, which is a procedural grievance, cannot be confused with a defect of substantive legality
         (see, to that effect, Case C‑367/95 P Commission v Sytraval and Brink’s France [1998] ECR I‑1719, paragraph 72).
      
      95      Finally, the applicant also infers from the alleged manifest errors of assessment, which she has failed to establish, breaches
         of the duty to have regard for the welfare of officials and of the duty to provide assistance under Article 24 of the Staff
         Regulations. Since the complaints alleging manifest errors of assessment have been rejected, it follows that the latter complaints
         must also be rejected.
      
      96      As the third plea must also be rejected, the action must be dismissed in its entirety. 
      
       Costs
      97      Under Article 87(1) of the Rules of Procedure, without prejudice to the other provisions of Title 2, Chapter 8 of those Rules,
         the unsuccessful party is to be ordered to pay the costs if they have been applied for in the successful party’s pleadings.
         Under Article 87(2), the Tribunal may, if equity so requires, decide that an unsuccessful party is to pay only part of the
         costs or even that he or she is not to be ordered to pay any. 
      
      98      It is apparent from the reasons set out above that the applicant has been unsuccessful. Furthermore, in its pleadings the
         Commission has expressly requested that the applicant be ordered to pay the costs.  However, given that the plea of inadmissibility
         raised by the Commission was rejected, it is appropriate to apply the provisions of Article 87(2) of the Rules of Procedure
         and to decide that the applicant shall pay, in addition to her own costs, three quarters only of the costs incurred by the
         Commission.
      
      On those grounds,
      THE CIVIL SERVICE TRIBUNAL (Third Chamber)
      hereby:
      1.      Dismisses the action;
      2.      Orders Ms Skareby to pay, in addition to her own costs, three quarters of the costs of the European Commission;
      3.      Orders the European Commission to pay one quarter of its own costs.
      
      
      
               Van Raepenbusch 
            
            
                Barents
            
            
                Bradley
            
         Delivered in open court in Luxembourg on 16 May 2012.
      
      
      
               W. Hakenberg 
            
             
            
                      S. Van Raepenbusch
            
         
               Registrar 
            
             
            
                      President
            
         
         The text of the present decision and the texts of the decisions of the Courts of the European Union cited in it are available
            on the internet site www.curia.europa.eu and are generally published in chronological order in the Reports of cases before the Court of Justice and the General Court, or the Reports of European Union Staff cases, as the case may be.
         
      
      * Language of the case: English.