Management of employment relations at JRC's centre at Ispra criticised by Ombudsman (link)

Strasbourg, 7 June 2005

Decision of the European Ombudsman on complaint 1887/2004/TN against the European Commission. Strasbourg, 30 May 2005
Full text

Complaint against the European Commission concerning grading as an auxiliary agent working for the JRC.

[...]

The complainant claims that:

1. He should be informed of the rules according to which he was given the grading AIII.2; and

2. If the rules violate the Staff Regulations, his grade should be corrected and he should be compensated for the loss of remuneration.

THE DECISION

For the reasons stated in 1.3 above, the Ombudsman considers that no further inquiries into the present complaint are justified. The Ombudsman therefore closes the case.

FURTHER REMARK

The Ombudsman notes that the Commission has not commented on the complainant's statement that in reply to his inquiries about the rules according to which his grading was determined, he was informed by the JRC that he did not have to sign the contract if he did not agree with the grading. In this respect, the Ombudsman would like to recall his own initiative inquiry into the administration of the JRC in Ispra, in which he welcomed measures promoting and consolidating changes in the culture of management of the JRC, which could help to prevent maladministration in the future. The Ombudsman takes the view that a reaction such as the one mentioned by the complainant to a request for information from a possible future member of staff would not be in line with an enhanced culture of management at the JRC in Ispra. The Ombudsman would appreciate it if the Commission could confirm that it shares this view.