In a judgment handed down on Thursday 27 November (case C-137/24 P), the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the tax abatement granted to European officials for each dependent child effectively ends on the child’s 26th birthday at the latest, whether or not the child continues to study at university.
A European official whose children had reached the age of 26 but were still studying applied to the European Commission for a derogation so that he could continue to benefit from the tax allowance granted for each dependent child.
The European Commission refused this derogation on the grounds that this entitlement ended when the child reached the age of 26, together with the linked family allowance. This decision, brought by the complainant before the General Court, was confirmed by the latter.
With this judgment, the CJEU dismisses the official’s appeal in its entirety and confirms the General Court’s judgment of 20 December 2023, which had already dismissed it.
With regard to form, the Court reiterated the procedural rules, in particular what constitutes an act giving rise to a grievance, and considered that the simple exchanges of informative e-mails provided by the complainant were not sufficient: these exchanges were not contestable formal decisions.
Regarding the substance, the CJEU confirms that, under EU Staff Regulations, the granting of a benefit is subject to very specific conditions and that the mere wish of the beneficiary is not sufficient to change them.
See the judgment: https://aeur.eu/f/jpp (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)