Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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1. Officials ° Departure from the service ° Termination of service ° Contribution to the pension scheme

(ECSC Staff Regulations, Art. 34; Council Regulation No 3518/85, Arts 4(7) and 5(1))

2. Appeal ° Pleas ° Grounds of a judgment vitiated by an infringement of Community law ° Operative part well founded on other legal grounds ° Dismissal

Summary

1. Under the principle of equal treatment, all officials who are receiving a salary or an allowance payable by the European Communities and who are not yet in receipt of a pension must contribute in the same manner to the pension scheme.

In providing for specific financial arrangements in the case of officials who have had a measure terminating their service applied to them and who were recruited under the ECSC Staff Regulations, the Community legislation sought not to derogate from the system of contributing to the pension scheme but to prevent such officials from finding themselves financially in a less favourable position than if they had left the service before the entry into force of the measures on termination of service.

Accordingly, the Court of First Instance was entitled to interpret Article 4(7) of Regulation No 3518/85 introducing special measures to terminate the service of officials of the European Communities as a result of the accession of Spain and Portugal as meaning that that provision made no derogation from the obligation to contribute to the pension scheme imposed on the recipient of an allowance granted in accordance with the provisions of Article 34 of the ECSC Staff Regulations.

2. If the grounds of a judgment of the Court of First Instance reveal an infringement of Community law but the operative part appears well founded on other legal grounds, the appeal must be dismissed.