Europa 1. Officials – recruitment – appointment to the starting grade – exception authorized by the staff regulations – application by means of a general decision – discretionary power of the administration – limits – no discretion allowed (staff regulations of officials, arts. 5 (3) and 31 (2) (b)) 2.Measures adopted by the institutions – internal directive – rule of conduct indicating the practice to be followed – legal force as regards the administration (staff regulations of officials, art. 5 (3))
- Where an exception, authorized by the staff regulations, to the general rule governing appointments is introduced in the form of a general decision adopted within an institution, the principle that there should be no discrimination between officials in any one category at the time of their recruitment, laid down by the staff regulations, would be deprived of any legal significance if in such a case the appointing authority still had the same discretion as is conferred upon it to lay down exceptions to the aforementioned general rule.
- The court has held on numerous occasions that the principle of equality of treatment laid down by the staff regulations is of fundamental importance in the law relating to the employment of community officials. Thus, although an internal directive does not have the character of a rule of law which the administration is bound to observe, it nevertheless lays down a rule of conduct indicating the practice to be followed, from which the administration may not depart without giving the reasons which have led it to do so, since otherwise the aforesaid principle would be infringed.
Citations:
C-129/82
European, Discrimination, Employment
Updated: 11 April 2022; Ref: scu.133432