JUDGMENT OF THE CIVIL SERVICE TRIBUNAL (Second Chamber)

11 December 2008

Case F-136/06

Enzo Reali

v

Commission of the European Communities

(Civil service – Contract staff – Recruitment – Classification in grade – Experience – Qualifications – Equivalence)

Application: brought under Articles 236 EC and 152 EA, in which Mr Reali seeks, in substance, annulment of the decision of the authority authorised to conclude contracts classifying him at grade 14, step 1, in function group IV, as provided for in his contract of engagement as a member of the contract staff.

Held: The action is dismissed. Each party is to bear its own costs.

Summary

1.      Officials – Contract staff – Recruitment – University diploma or degree required – Meaning of university diploma or degree

(Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, Art. 82(2)(c)(i))

2.      Officials – Recruitment – Classification in grade – University diploma or degree required – Comparison of degrees, diplomas and professional accreditations awarded in the different Member States

(Council Directive 89/48)

1.       In the absence of any provision to the contrary, it should be considered that the requirement of possession of a university degree, which follows from the provisions of Article 82(2)(c)(i) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, is necessarily to be construed in the light of the definition of that phrase in the legislation of the Member State in which the candidate completed the studies on which he relies.

(see para. 34)

See:

108/88 Jaenicke Cendoya v Commission [1989] ECR 2711, para. 14

T-2/90 Ferreira de Freitas v Commission [1991] ECR II‑103, para. 32; T-82/92 Cortes Jimenez and Others v Commission [1994] ECR-SC I‑A‑69 and II‑237, para. 34

2.       The effect of the harmonisation carried out by Directive 89/48 on a general system for the recognition of higher-education diplomas awarded on completion of professional education and training of at least three years’ duration is not to limit the discretion which an institution enjoys when comparing the respective value of diplomas in its recruitment policy. Under the scheme of Directive 89/48, the comparison of diplomas is carried out for the purpose of access to certain regulated activities in the different Member States. Such an assessment cannot be confused with the complex assessment of the respective academic value of the qualifications obtained in the different Member States for the purpose of determining the grade attached to a post within an institution of the European Communities.

(see para. 85)

See:

T-299/97 Alonso Morales v Commission [1999] ECR-SC I‑A‑249 and II‑1227, paras 35 and 36; T-25/03 De Stefano v Commission [2005] ECR-SC I‑A‑125 and II‑573, para. 53