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Language of document : ECLI:EU:F:2016:71

JUDGMENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION CIVIL SERVICE TRIBUNAL (Second Chamber)

11 April 2016

Case F‑59/13 RENV

Thierry Rouffaud

European External Action Service (EEAS)

(Civil service — Referral back to the Tribunal after setting aside — EEAS staff — Member of the contract staff — Member of the contract staff for auxiliary tasks — Reclassification of a ‘contract staff for auxiliary tasks’ contract as a ‘contract staff’ contract of indefinite duration — Refusal)

Application: under Article 270 TFEU, applicable to the EAEC Treaty pursuant to Article 106a thereof, in which Mr Thierry Rouffaud sought, in particular, annulment of the decision of 6 August 2012 of the European External Action Service (EEAS) rejecting his application to have the period of service which he had completed as an member of the contract staff for auxiliary tasks recognised as a period of service completed as a member of the contract staff, and to have his successive fixed-term employment contracts reclassified as a contract of indefinite duration.

Held: The action is dismissed. Each party is to bear its own costs incurred in Cases F‑59/13 and F‑59/13 RENV. The European External Action Service is to bear its own costs incurred in Case T‑457/14 P and is ordered to pay the costs incurred by Mr Thierry Rouffaud in Case T‑457/14 P.

Summary

1. Officials — Auxiliary staff — Reclassification of a ‘contract staff for auxiliary tasks’ contract as a ‘contract staff’ contract of indefinite duration — Not possible

(Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, Arts 3a and 3b)

2. Officials — Members of the contract staff — Recruitment — Assessment of duties which may fall within the various function groups — Discretion of the authority empowered to conclude contracts of employment

(Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, Art. 80(2))

3. Officials — Auxiliary staff — Reclassification of a fixed-term ‘contract staff for auxiliary tasks’ contract as a ‘contract staff’ contract of indefinite duration — Conditions — Renewal — Definition

(Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, Art. 3a)

1. The right for a member of the contract staff to have his fixed-term contract converted into a contract of indefinite duration is the consequence of his employment under a ‘contract staff’ contract as referred to in Article 3a of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, and not under a ‘contract staff for auxiliary tasks’ contract as referred to in Article 3b of the Conditions of Employment, since the latter contract cannot be reclassified as a contract of indefinite duration.

Thus, according to Article 3b of the Conditions of Employment, the use of contract staff for auxiliary tasks is excluded where Article 3a of the Conditions of Employment applies. Consequently, the institution concerned is required to consider, in each case, whether the member of the contract staff which it wishes to employ must be engaged under a ‘contract staff’ contract as provided for in Article 3a, or under a ‘contract staff for auxiliary tasks’ contract under Article 3b.

In that regard, contract staff employed at the seat of an institution to perform tasks corresponding to function group I, that is, manual and administrative support service tasks, may be recruited only under a ‘contract staff’ contract under Article 3a of the Conditions of Employment. Where the member of the contract staff is employed at the seat of an institution to perform tasks corresponding to function groups II, III or IV, the institution concerned is obliged to offer him a ‘contract staff for auxiliary tasks’ contract under Article 3b of the Conditions of Employment.

Moreover, in the EU delegations, contract staff must be employed under Article 3a of the Conditions of Employment, regardless of the function group to which the tasks performed correspond.

(see paras 42, 43, 48, 49)

2. While it is true that Article 80(2) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants does not explain the difference between administrative support service tasks corresponding to function group I and administrative tasks corresponding to function group IV, it must be understood that, in the light of the requirements to be met in order to be classified in function group IV and the high grades conferred on contract staff classified in that function group, the administrative tasks allocated to them carry much greater importance, complexity and responsibility than the administrative support service tasks to be performed by contract staff classified in function group I. Furthermore, the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the European Union enjoy a wide discretion in assessing the duties which may fall within the various function groups, including groups I and IV, referred to in Article 80(2) of the Conditions of Employment.

(see para. 61)

See:

Judgment of 19 September 2013 in Gheysens v Council, F‑83/08, EU:F:2013:133, para. 33

3. A ‘contract staff for auxiliary tasks’ contract under Article 3a of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants may not be regarded as the renewal of a ‘contract staff’ contract which governed the first period of service of the staff member concerned where those two contracts do not follow in uninterrupted succession.

(see para. 65)