Enzo Reali v European Commission.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:T:2010:454
• Court: General Court (European Union)
• Date: 27 October 2010
• Docket Number: T-65/09
• Celex Number: 62009TJ0065
• Procedure Type: Recurso de funcionarios

JUDGMENT OF THE GENERAL COURT (Appeal Chamber)

27 October 2010 (*)

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

In Case T-65/09 P,

APPEAL against the judgment of the European Union Civil Service Tribunal (Second Chamber) of 11 December 2008, in Case F-136/06 Reali v Commission [2008] ECR-SC I-A-1-0000 and II-A-1-0000, seeking to have that judgment set aside,

Enzo Reali, a member of the contractual staff of the European Commission, residing in Florence (Italy), represented by S. Pappas, lawyer,

appellant,

the other party to the proceedings being

European Commission, represented by J. Currall and B. Eggers, acting as Agents,

defendant at first instance,

THE GENERAL COURT (Appeal Chamber),

composed of M. Jaeger, President, N.J. Forwood and M.E. Martins Ribeiro (Rapporteur), Judges,

Registrar: E. Coulon,

gives the following

Judgment

1 By his appeal lodged pursuant to Article 9 of the Annex to the Statute of the Court of Justice, the appellant, Mr Enzo Reali, seeks annulment of the judgment of the European Union Civil Service Tribunal (Second Chamber) of 11 December 2008, in Case F-136/06 Reali v Commission [2008] ECR-SC I-A-1-0000 and II-A-1-0000 (‘the judgment under appeal’), in which the Tribunal dismissed the action for the annulment of the decision of the authority authorised to conclude contracts classifying him at grade 14, step 1 in function group IV, contained in his contract of employment as a member of contract staff (‘the contested decision’).

Legal context

2 Members of the contract staff constitute a category of staff included in the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities (‘CEOS’) in the third indent of the second paragraph of Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 723/2004 of 22 March 2004 amending the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities and the CEOS (OJ 2004 L 124, p. 1), which entered into force on 1 May 2004.

3 Article 3a(1), of the CEOS provides:

‘For the purposes of these Conditions of Employment, “contract staff” means staff not assigned to a post included in the list of posts appended to the section of the budget relating to the institution concerned and engaged for the performance of full-time or part-time duties:

(a) in an institution to carry out manual or administrative support service tasks,

…’

4 The category of contract staff is the subject-matter of Title IV (‘Contract staff’) of the CEOS, which fixes, inter alia, their conditions of engagement, including the rules on classification.

5 Under Article 80(1) of the CEOS: ‘Contract staff shall be subdivided into four function groups corresponding to the duties to be performed. Each function group shall be subdivided into grades and steps.’

6 The table in Article 80(2) of the CEOS describes the duties covered by the various function groups. Thus, function group IV, which covers grades 13 to 18, encompasses the duties described as ‘[a]dministrative, advisory, linguistic and equivalent technical tasks, performed under the supervision of officials or temporary staff’.

7 Under Article 82(2) of the CEOS:

‘Recruitment as a member of the contract staff shall require at least:

…

(c) in function group IV:

(i) a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least three years attested by a diploma, or

(ii) where justified in the interest of the service, professional training of an equivalent level.’

8 Article 82(6) of the CEOS provides:

‘Each institution shall adopt general provisions on the procedures for engagement of contract staff in accordance with Article 110 of the Staff Regulations [of Officials of the European Communities], as necessary.’

9 Article 86(1) of the CEOS provides:

‘Contract staff referred to in Article 3a shall only be recruited:

(i) in grades 13, 14, or 16 for function group IV;

…

The grading of such contract staff within each function group shall take account of the qualifications and experience of the persons concerned. To address specific needs of the institutions, labour market conditions prevailing in the Community may also be taken into account. Within their grade, such contract staff shall be recruited in the first step.’

10 The General Implementing Provisions of 7 April 2004 on the procedures governing the engagement and the use of contract staff at the Commission of the European Communities, published in Administrative Notice No 49-2004 of 1 June 2004, as amended by the Decisions of 27 July 2004, 17 December 2004 and 16 December 2005 (‘the GIP’), define, in Article 2(1)(d), the minimum qualifications required for access to Function Group IV as follows:

‘… completed university studies of at least three years attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least one year.’

11 Article 2(2) of the GIP provides:

‘Only diplomas and certificates that have been awarded in EU Member States or that are the subject of equivalence certificates issued by the authorities in the said Member States shall be taken into consideration.’

12 Article 7(1)(d) of the GIP governs the classification of the members of the contract staff referred to in Article 3a of the CEOS in function group IV as follows:

‘…

– in grade 13 if the person has professional experience of up to seven years;

– in grade 14 if the person has professional experience of more than seven years;

– in grade 16 if the person has professional experience of more than twenty years.’

13 Under Article 7(3) of the GIP, ‘[i]n order to be taken into account, professional experience must have been acquired in an activity corresponding at least to the level of qualification required for the access to the function group and having a link with one of the institution’s sectors of activity[;i]t shall be taken into account from the date on which the person fulfils the minimum qualifications for engagement set out in Article 2 (including, where applicable, any professional experience required by that Article)’.

14 Under Article 7(4) of the GIP, ‘[i]n the case of a doctorate/PhD the actual duration of the studies shall be taken into account, subject to an upper limit of three years[; i]n the case of other qualifications the statutory duration of the studies shall be taken into account’.

15 The ‘Bologna Process’, undertaken by the Ministers responsible for education in 29 European countries, concluded in the signature of the ‘Bologna Declaration’ of 19 June 1999, which advocates the introduction of a new structure of higher education in Europe featuring three cycles ending, as regards the first, with a ‘Bachelor’s’ degree, as regards the second, with a ‘Master’s’ degree and, as regards the third, with a ‘Doctoral’ degree (‘the Bologna Declaration’).

16 Article 3(1) of the Decreto del Ministro dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca 22 ottobre 2004, n. 270 (Decree of the Italian Minister for Education, Universities and Research of 22 October 2004, No 270, ‘the Decree of 22 October 2004’), which replaced the Decreto del Ministro dell’Università e della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica 3 novembre 1999, n. 509, Regolamento recante norme concernenti l’autonomia didattica degli atenei (Decree of the Minister for Universities and Scientific and Technological Research of 3 November 1999, No 509, Regulation adopting certain provisions concerning the educational independence of universities, ‘the Decree of 3 November 1999’), provides:

‘Universities shall confer the following degrees:

(a) the Bachelor’s degree;

(b) the Master’s degree.’

17 Article 3(6) of the Decree of 22 October 2004 states that ‘the Master’s course is designed to give the student a high level of training, required for the exercise of highly qualified activities in specific fields’.

18 Article 7 of the Decree of 22 October 2004, relating to the award of degrees, reads as follows:

‘1. To obtain a Bachelor’s degree, the student must have acquired 180 credits, including those relating to the obligatory knowledge of the Italian language and another language of the European Union, subject to the special rules on the protection of linguistic minorities. That knowledge must be checked in accordance with the procedure laid down by the pedagogical rules of the university by reference to the levels required in respect of each language.

2. In order to obtain a Master’s degree, the student must have acquired 120 credits.

3. Ministerial Decrees establish the number of credits which the student must have acquired in order to obtain the specialist degree, subject to the provisions laid down by specific legislative provisions or European Union directives.

...’

19 Pursuant to Article 8 of the Decree of 22 October 2004, the normal duration of studies needed to obtain the ‘Laurea’ is three years, while two additional years of study are required to obtain the ‘Laurea magistrale’.

20 Article 13 of the Decree of 22 October 2004, on transitional and final provisions, provides:

‘1. The present Decree replaces the Decree [of 3 November 1999].

…

7. Those who have obtained, pursuant to the provisions referred to in paragraph (1), the degrees of “Laurea”, “Laurea magistrale” or “Laurea specialista”, or a research doctorate, may respectively use the academic titles of “Dottore”, “Dottore magistrale” and “Dottore di recerca”. The title of “Dottore magistrale” may also be used by those who have obtained the degree of “Laurea” under the provisions in force prior to the Decree ... of 3 November 1999.’

Factual background to the dispute

21 The facts giving rise to the dispute are set out as follows in paragraphs 21 to 24 of the judgment under appeal:

‘21 On 9 August 1985, the applicant obtained the “Laurea in scienze agrarie” (degree in agricultural sciences) at the University of Florence (Italy), on completion of four years of studies.

22 On 28 April...