48In an area where the institution or agency has a wide discretion conferred by the Staff Regulations, such internal directives may take the form of a decision communicated to all staff and intended to guarantee that the officials and other servants concerned will receive the same treatment. A decision of this kind which is adopted by an institution or agency must, as such, be regarded as a rule of conduct, indicating the practice to be followed, which the administration imposes on itself and from which it may not depart without specifying the reasons for doing so, since otherwise the principle of equal treatment would be infringed (see Louwage v Commission, 148/73, EU:C:1974:7, paragraph 12; Lux v Court of Auditors, EU:C:1984:391, paragraph 20; and Monaco v Parliament, T‑92/96, EU:T:1997:105, paragraph 46; and, in relation to staff reports, Bernard v Europol, F‑99/07 and F‑45/08, EU:F:2009:84, paragraph 79 and the case-law cited).
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