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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Court of Justice of the European Communities (including Court of First Instance Decisions) >> Hectors v Parliament (Staff Regulations) [2004] EUECJ C-150/03 (23 September 2004) URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/EUECJ/2004/C15003.html Cite as: [2004] ECR I-8691, [2004] EUECJ C-150/03, [2004] EUECJ C-150/3 |
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JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Second Chamber)
23 September 2004 (1)
(Appeal - Officials - Temporary staff in the European Parliament's political groups - Recruitment - Rejection of candidature - Grounds - Requirement of a statement of specific reasons)
In Case C-150/03 P,APPEAL under Article 56 of the Statute of the Court of Justice, lodged at the Court on 31 March 2003, Chantal Hectors, residing at Mont-sur-Rolle (Switzerland), represented by G. Vandersanden and L. Levi, avocats, with an address for service in Luxembourg,appellant,
the other party to the proceedings being:European Parliament, represented by H. von Hertzen and J.F. de Wachter, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg,defendant at first instance,
THE COURT (Second Chamber),
after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 11 March 2004,
gives the following
-�For the purposes of these Conditions of Employment -�temporary staff-� means:... (c) staff, other than officials of the Communities, engaged to assist either a person holding an office provided for in the Treaties establishing the Communities, or the Treaty establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the European Communities, or the elected President of one of the institutions or organs of the Communities or one of the political groups in the European Parliament; ...-�
-�Section II. Temporary Staff...Article 8Temporary staff employed within the political groups shall be recruited on the basis of the recommendations of an ad hoc committee, to be appointed by the authority competent to conclude contracts of employment, one of whose members shall be appointed by the Staff Committee.Article 9Vacancy notices for posts with the political groups shall be published within the institution and outside it. After examining the candidates-� files on the basis of the criteria laid down in accordance with the regulatory provisions by the political group concerned in order to define the post to be filled, the ad hoc committee shall draw up a list of the candidates who meet the requirements of an administrative nature set out in the vacancy notice. That list shall be transmitted to the authority competent to conclude contracts of employment.-�
-�5. The Selection Board shall be responsible for managing the recruitment procedure and shall consist of a chairman, who will normally be the head of the service concerned, at least two other members of the group-�s secretariat whose grade shall be equal to or higher than that to which the candidate is to be appointed, a representative of the Group-�s Staff Committee and a representative of the Parliament-�s Staff Committee. The Chairman of the Selection Board shall be responsible for compliance with the procedures described in the annexes. The Selection Board shall, in accordance with the annexes, establish written and oral tests, the pass mark, the number of candidates to be placed on the list [of suitable candidates] and the period of that list-�s validity. 6. In all cases in which a normal full procedure takes place, the Selection Board shall pass to the Presidency of the Group the list of the candidates who have been successful in the competition with the number of marks they have obtained. When a single [vacancy] is to be filled, the Presidency shall choose one of the top three candidates on the list. When two posts are to be filled, the Presidency shall choose from the top five candidates.-�
-�5 The vacancy notice for a post as a member of the temporary staff of Dutch mother-'tongue was published by the EPP-ED Group in the Parliament-�s Summary of recruitment notices No 14/2000 for the period from 29 May to 14 June 2000. 6 The terms of the vacancy notice relating to that post were: -�The Group-�s appointing authority has decided to open a selection procedure in order to fill a post of administrator or assistant administrator (M/F) of Dutch mother-'tongue, in grade A 8 or A 7/A 6 (temporary agent). ... Nature of functions: Qualified official responsible, under the authority of his/her hierarchical superiors, for conceptual and research tasks in relation to the activities of the EPP-ED Group. Such tasks require the ability to work as a member of a team. Qualifications and knowledge required: - University degree or equivalent professional experience; - Excellent knowledge of the institutional structure of the European Union and of its activities; - Ability to carry out, on the basis of general guidelines, work of conception, analysis and synthesis; - In-depth knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union and working knowledge of another of its languages. Particular qualifications: For functional reasons, the following are required: - In-depth knowledge of Dutch and working knowledge of German and French or English; knowledge of other Community languages will also be taken into consideration; - Working knowledge of the structure and activities of the institutions of the EU; - Knowledge of and background in keeping with the programmatical aims and activities of the EPP-ED Group and of Community policy; knowledge of the EU-�s agriculture policy and/or professional experience in that sector will be an advantage; - Proven professional experience of 2 years will justify recruitment into grade A 7/A 6.-� 7 A notice of the vacancy was also published in several Dutch-language newspapers. 8 By letter of 21 June 2000, the applicant lodged her candidature for the position at issue, which was duly acknowledged. 9 The applicant participated in the written selection tests on 9 October 2000 and then the oral tests on 19 October 2000. 10 The ad hoc committee, provided for under Article 8 of the Rules of 15 March 1989, acting as the selection board, as provided for in rule 5 of the document relating to the EPP-ED-�s recruitment procedure (hereinafter -�the board-�), on 19 October 2000, delivered its report on the filling of the post at issue. That report states, among other things:
-�Establishment of the list of suitable candidates
On conclusion of its work, the [board] decided to place on the list [of suitable candidates] the names of the following candidates: - Ms Chantal Hectors (83.50 marks) - Ms L (73.50 marks) - Mr B (65.25 marks) In accordance with the provisions of Article 9 of the [Rules of 15 March 1989], any decision is left to the European People-�s Party and European Democrats Group-�s authority competent to conclude contracts of employment for members of the temporary staff as regards the choice of candidate for the post in question.-� 11 On 7 November 2000, each of the three selected candidates were interviewed by four members of the Dutch delegation of the EPP-ED Group. 12 On 22 November 2000, the Chairman of the board informed the appellant that her name was on the list of suitable candidates. 13 Having received no further information concerning the outcome of the recruitment procedure in question, the appellant wrote, on 16 January 2001, to the Chairman of the board. 14 By letter of 31 January 2001, the Chairman of the board informed the appellant that Mr B had been selected. That letter also stated: -�In the oral and written tests on 9 and 19 October, you received 83.5 marks (out of 100). Thus, you are in first place on the list [of suitable candidates]. As is customary, the board sent the names of the top three candidates to the Group-�s Presidency. The Presidency-�s decision was as stated above. For the sake of completeness I refer to the following provision: In accordance with the provisions of Article 9 of the [Rules of 15 March 1989], any decision is left to the European People-�s Party and European Democrats Group-�s authority competent to conclude contracts of employment with temporary staff as regards the choice of candidate for the post in question.-� 15 On 11 April 2001, the appellant lodged a complaint against the decisions appointing Mr B and rejecting her candidature. In the terms of that complaint, it is, among other things, stated: -�By letter of 31 January 2001, the Chairman of the [board] informed me that the [board] had placed me in first position in order of merit on the list of selected candidates (with 83.5 marks out of 100), but that the EPP-ED [Group] had appointed Mr [B] to the vacant post. No grounds for that decision were given, nor for its non-'compliance with the order of merit established. In my view, when an appointing authority decides to have recourse to a competition procedure in order to recruit staff to a specific post, even a temporary post, the settled case-'law of the Court of First Instance shows that the appointing authority is obliged to comply with the results of the competition, as well as the order of merit established by the [board], save in properly reasoned exceptional circumstances which permit it to act otherwise.-� 16 By letter of 28 May 2001, the President of the EPP-ED Group rejected that complaint. He states, amongst other things, in that letter: -�I have taken full account of all your comments and submissions. However, I refer to [Article] 30 of the Staff Regulations which stipulates that, for each competition, a selection board is to be appointed by the appointing authority. That board is to draw up a list of suitable candidates and the appointing authority is to decide which of those candidates to appoint to the vacant posts. There is therefore no doubt that the [appointing authority] is not required to follow the order of merit on the list of suitable candidates. In those circumstances, you will understand that your complaint cannot be accepted and is rejected-�.-�
The ground of appeal alleging infringement of the duty to state reasonsArguments of the parties
Findings of the Court
The claims for annulment of the contested decisions
The claim for damagesArguments of the parties
Findings of the Court
1 - Language of the case: French.