Abstract

Findings of the Complaints Board
On the substance of the Appeal,
19. While the European Schools seek to have the Appeal declared inadmissible, the essential issue is one of interpretation of the Policy on Enrolment for the 2023-2024 School year and to determine whether the applicants were entitled to apply for the enrolment of their children during the second phase of enrolment or whether, having regard to the said policy, they were obliged to apply for the enrolment of their children during the first enrolment phase.

20. It is convenient to have regard to the definition of Category I pupils which are defined in the Policy on Enrolment as follows: “Category I pupils are the children of staff in the service of the Community institutions and of the organisations listed on the European Schools’ website www.eursc.eu, in ‘Terms and conditions of admission’, employed directly and continuously for a minimum period of one year.”

21. At the time of the first phase of enrolment, the first applicant’s then contract did not continue until the commencement of the school year in September 2023 and it appears that she was not in a position to communicate any proof of renewal/extension of her post no later than the day on which the new school year begins.

22. The issue arises whether the new contract entered into by the first applicant represented a renewal or extension of her post or otherwise. The post that the first applicant had up to the end of March 2023 was that of a contract agent and thereafter as a temporary agent. The essential issue is whether this involved a change of post or otherwise.

23. In the impugned decision as notified by e-mail of 07 July 2023 it is stated that the “document produced merely attests to a change of post…”.

24. It is appropriate to refer to the relevant provisions of the Policy of Enrolment for the year in question which provides, inter alia, as follows: 2.20 Except for applications based on Article 8.4.3.k), applications for categories I and II pupils MUST be submitted during the first phase, failing which applications will be inadmissible and will automatically and as of right be rejected.
2.21 Applicants whose post with the European Union institutions terminates before the beginning of the school year will be allowed to submit their application for enrolment, on condition that proof of renewal/extension of their post is communicated no later than the day on which the new school year begins (or at a later date communicated by the CEA).
2.22 Only applicants for the enrolment of Category I and Category II pupils who will be taking up a post with the European Union institutions after 31 December 2022 for a minimum period of one year will be allowed to submit their application during the second phase.

25. It appears from the documentation furnished by the first Applicant that she had a contract, which was concluded for the period of less than one year from 01 November 2022 to the last day of March 2023. During the first phase, she had a post with de European Union institutions terminating before the beginning of the school year, which was only for five months. Consequently, the applicant could legitimately believe, given the terms of Article 2.22, that she did not meet the conditions of Article 2.21. She did show that she had taken up a post with the European Union Institutions after 31 December 2022 for a period which was of a minimum period of more than one year. Furthermore, the fact that the first applicant had a series of contracts of short duration is not equivalent to a contract of one year’s duration insofar as this was required by the Policy of Enrolment.

26. In the above circumstances, it must be concluded that the European Schools could not consider that the application for enrolment of the applicants' children could not be submitted in the second phase.
Consequently, they are entitled to have the impugned decisions annulled.