Case T‑75/14

Union syndicale fédérale des services publics européens and internationaux (USFSPEI)

v

European Parliament and Council of the European Union

(Action for annulment — Time limit for bringing proceedings — Inadmissibility — Non-contractual liability — Reform of the Staff Regulations and of the CEOS — Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1023/2013 — Irregularities during the procedure for the adoption of acts — Failure to consult the Staff Regulations Committee and the trade unions — Sufficiently serious breach of a rule of law intended to confer rights on individuals)

Summary — Judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber), 16 November 2017

1.      Actions for annulment — Time-limits — Mandatory — Point from which time starts to run — Date on which the measure at issue was published — Calculation

(Art. 263 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Arts 101 and 102)

2.      Actions for damages — Autonomy in relation to the action for annulment — Inadmissibility of the annulment action directed against a regulation — Irrelevant to the admissibility of an action seeking compensation for damage caused by the adoption of the same regulation

3.      Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Injury — Causal link — One of the conditions not satisfied — Claim for compensation dismissed in its entirety

(Art. 340, second para., TFEU)

4.      Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Legislative measure involving choices of economic policy — Sufficiently serious breach of a higher rule of law conferring rights on individuals — Requirement of a clear and serious breach of the limits of the wide discretion of the EU legislature

(Art. 340, second para., TFEU)

5.      Acts of the institutions — Temporal application — Immediate application of the new rule to the future effects of a situation which arose under the old rule — Adoption of Regulation No 1023/2013 amending the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants — Infringement of acquired rights — None

(Staff Regulations, Arts 45(1) and 52, and Annex IVa, Art. 4, as amended by Regulation No 1023/2013)

6.      Officials — Staff Regulations — Regulation amending the Staff Regulations — Procedure for adoption — Consultation of the Staff Regulations Committee — Reconsultation in the event of substantial modification of the initial proposal — Scope of the obligation

(Staff Regulations, Art. 10, second para.)

7.      Officials — Staff Regulations — Regulation amending the Staff Regulations — Procedure for adoption — Application of the concertation procedure — Refusal of the Parliament to participate in the said procedure — Infringement of the right to information and worker consultation — None

(Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 27)

1.      See the text of the decision.

(see paras 43-54, 57-59)

2.      See the text of the decision.

(see paras 65-68)

3.      See the text of the decision.

(see paras 72, 73)

4.      See the text of the decision.

(see paras 79-81)

5.      The amendments made to Article 45(1) and to Article 52 of the Staff Regulations, as well as to Article 4 of Annex IVa to the Staff Regulations, by Article 1(27), (32) and (64) of Regulation No 1023/2013 do not affect the principle of the acquired rights of officials and other servants of the European Union resulting, according to the applicant, from the agreement on the 2004 reform concluded between the Council and the trade unions and staff associations as part of the adoption of Regulation No 723/2004.

In the first place, that agreement is concerned only with the 2004 reform and the effects of such an agreement cannot therefore be extended to all subsequent amendments made to the Staff Regulations by the European Union legislature without depriving the latter of the opportunity to exercise the competence conferred on it by Article 336 TFEU.

Moreover, since the legal link between an official and the administration is based upon the Staff Regulations, the rights and obligations of officials may be altered at any time by the legislature.

In the second place, it is, after all, well established that amending legislation, such as the regulations amending the Staff Regulations, applies, unless otherwise provided, to the future consequences of situations which arose under previous legislation. That is so except for situations originating and becoming definitive under the previous legislation, which create acquired rights. Thus, a right is considered to be acquired when the event giving rise to it occurred before the legislative amendment. However, that is not the case when the event creating the right did not take place under the legislation that has been amended.

(see paras 86-88, 91)

6.      See the text of the decision.

(see paras 98-106)

7.      See the text of the decision.

(see paras 112-116)