Case T-585/16

Carina Skareby

v

European External Action Service

(Civil service — Officials — Freedom of expression — Duty of loyalty — Serious prejudice to the legitimate interests of the Union — Refusal of permission to publish an article — Request that the text be amended — Article 17a of the Staff Regulations — Subject matter of the action — Decision rejecting the administrative complaint)

Summary – Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber), 15 September 2017

1. Actions brought by officials — Action against a decision rejecting a complaint — Effect — Disputed measure referred to the Court — Exception — Decision without confirmatory effect

   (Staff Regulations, Arts 90 and 91)

2. Actions brought by officials — Prior administrative complaint — Rejection decision — Account taken of the reasoning therein

   (Staff Regulations, Art. 90(2))

3. Officials — Rights and obligations — Duty of loyalty — Concept — Scope — Publication without authorisation of an article suggesting harassment on the part of the hierarchy — Infringement

   (Staff Regulations, Arts 11, 12, 12b and 17a (1))

4. Officials — Rights and obligations — Freedom of expression — Exercise — Limits — Protection of the rights of others — Relationship of trust between an institution and its officials

   (Staff Regulations, Arts 11, 12 and 17a)

5. Officials — Rights and obligations — Freedom of expression — Application for permission to publish — Balance to be struck between an official’s freedom of expression and the gravity of any prejudice to the interests of the European Union as a result of publication

   (Staff Regulations, Art. 17a(2))

6. Officials — Rights and obligations — Freedom of expression — Application for permission to publish — Publication liable seriously to prejudice the interests of the Union — Concept — Text likely seriously to undermine the image and the dignity of the European institutions — Included

   (Staff Regulations, Art. 17a(2))

1.  See the text of the decision.

   (see para. 18)

2.  See the text of the decision.

   (see para. 19)

3.  Article 17a(1) of the Staff Regulations, according to which an official has the right to freedom of expression, with due respect to the principles of loyalty and impartiality, specifically sets out, as do Articles 11, 12 and 12b of the Staff Regulations, the duty of loyalty incumbent upon every official. By virtue of that duty, an official must, inter alia, refrain from conduct detrimental to the dignity and respect due to the institution and its authorities.

   Moreover, an official may not, by oral or written expression or by actions of any other nature, act in breach of his obligations, arising inter alia from Articles 11, 12, 12b and 17a of the Staff Regulations, towards the European Union that he is supposed to serve, thereby destroying the relationship of trust between himself and the latter and making it thereafter more difficult, if not impossible, for the work of the European Union to be carried out in cooperation with that official. Furthermore, it is apparent, inter alia, from the references in the first paragraph of Article 11 of the Staff Regulations to ‘duties’ and ‘conduct’, Article 12 of those regulations to ‘any action’, and Article 12b thereof to ‘an outside activity’, that the preservation of the relationship of trust is required not only in the performance of specific tasks entrusted to an official but extends to the whole relationship between the official and the European Union.

   In that regard, denigrating statements, impugning the honour of all those persons who hold positions in the hierarchy of the European institutions, and subsequently, of the institutions themselves, included in an article to be published by an official, suggests grossly reprehensible conduct, such as harassment, on the part of the hierarchy of the European institutions, on the one hand, and a lack of suitable measures to combat such conduct within the institutions, on the other, are capable of undermining both the image of and the dignity and respect due, as a general rule, to all persons who hold a position in the hierarchy of the institutions and, hence, the institutions themselves. Those statements therefore constitute a breach of the duty of loyalty.

   (see paras 54-56, 58, 59)

4.  See the text of the decision.

   (see paras 77-79)

5.  See the text of the decision.

   (see paras 80-83)

6.  Protecting the European institutions against assertions which may have a serious negative effect on their image constitutes, per se, an objective of general public interest and, more specifically, a legitimate interest of the Union. In that regard, the publication by an official of an article including paragraphs likely seriously to undermine the image and the dignity of the European institutions, would be liable seriously to prejudice the legitimate interests of the Union, within the meaning of Article 17a(1) of the Staff Regulations.

   (see paras 88, 89)