T-698/21, Georgios Paraskevaidis v. Council of the European Union: Recall of delegated powers in individual cases; Education allowance; Vocational training provided by an establishment of higher education meets the conditions for an education allowance.

“54. In those circumstances, the fact, in particular, that Article 90c of the Staff Regulations states that requests and complaints relating to delegated powers are to be lodged with the appointing authority entrusted with the exercise of powers cannot be equated with a legislative prohibition on the recall of such powers by the holder thereof, whether total or individual. Nor can that provision be regarded as prohibiting the recall of the delegated powers during the pre-litigation procedure…having regard, in particular, to the evolving nature of that procedure, as stated in the case-law…” (see judgment of 26 March 2014, CP v Parliament, F-8/13, EU:F:2014:44, paragraph 21 and the case-law cited; see, also, judgment of 21 May 2014, Mocová v Commission, T-347/12 P, EU:T:2014:268, paragraphs 32 and 33).

75 …Article 3(1) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations requires, inter alia, three conditions for the education allowance to be granted, namely (i) attendance at an establishment of higher education, (ii) regularity of that attendance and (iii) the fact that that attendance is full time. Thus, Article 3(1) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations makes no reference to the nature of the training as such.
76. …if the legislature did not refer to the nature of the training provided by an establishment of higher education in the context of Article 3(1) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations, although it did so in the context of Article 2(3)(b) of that annex, it is not for the Council or the General Court to establish this as an additional condition.
77. Thus, the General Court has already held that, admittedly, the distinction between educational and vocational training in Article 2(3)(b) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations allowed payment of the education allowance provided for in Article 3(1) of that annex to be withheld when the dependent child is receiving vocational training not connected with an educational establishment. By contrast, the distinction does not prevent payment of the education allowance where a dependent child is receiving vocational training provided by an educational establishment at which the child is in regular, full-time attendance (see, to that effect and by analogy, judgment of 29 January 1993, Wery v Parliament, T-86/91, EU:T:1993:7, paragraphs 44, 45, 50 and 51).
78. Consequently, the vocational nature of the training has no bearing on the grant of an education allowance under Article 3(1) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations, provided that it is provided by an educational establishment.
79. That interpretation is supported by recital 3 of Commission Regulation (EU) No 317/2013 of 8 April 2013 amending the Annexes to Regulations (EC) No 1983/2003, (EC) No 1738/2005, (EC) No 698/2006, (EC) No 377/2008 and (EU) No 823/2010 as regards the International Standard Classification of Education (OJ 2013 L 99, p. 1), according to which the EU institutions are to use classifications of education which are compatible with the revised International Standard Classification of Education 2011 (ISCED). The second paragraph of point 2 of Revised Conclusion No 237/05 refers to the ISCED for the purposes of defining the concept of full-time attendance at an establishment of higher education.
80. At the hearing, the Council acknowledged, first, that the ISCED defines higher education as including both what is commonly understood as academic education and what corresponds to advanced vocational education and, secondly, that the University of the Aegean (Greece), where the training programme was provided, is an establishment of higher education.
81. In those circumstances, it must be concluded that the Council could not refuse to grant the applicant the education allowance on the ground that the training programme could not be regarded as ‘higher education’ within the meaning of Article 3(1) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations.”