8The Tribunal rejected the appellant’s other arguments on the basis, in particular, of the following considerations:55 The applicant’s argument that the reporting officer and the countersigning officer did not make an overall assessment of his output with regard to the whole of the appraisal period must be rejected. By also taking account, in the applicant’s general assessment, of the output held to be unsatisfactory in the first half of the appraisal period, the reporting officer acted in accordance with Article 1 of the GIP, according to which the appraisal report concerns the whole year.56 The same is true of the applicant’s argument that the contested appraisal report is contradictory and that, since he had improved his low output after receiving a warning, it was appropriate to take this into account in his favour, rather than to assess him negatively on the ground that he improved his performance only after having been requested to do so by his line managers. That argument is tantamount to denying the relevance for the applicant’s general assessment of two important facts, namely, first, that during the first half of the appraisal period his productivity did not correspond to the objectives set and was therefore not acceptable and, secondly, that he improved his output only after a warning from his line managers and the putting in place of monitoring measures by those managers half way through the appraisal period. In that regard, it must be observed that the fact that the applicant increased his productivity considerably in the second half of the appraisal period showed that he was perfectly capable of achieving the objectives set. Therefore, the applicant cannot criticise OHIM for not having interpreted the change in his output in his favour.57 In this connection, it must also be observed that it is obvious from the “Reporting officer’s assessment” section that the general assessment of the applicant is the result of weighing his output deemed unsatisfactory in the first half of the appraisal period against his output deemed markedly better in the second half of that period. According to case-law, the improvement of the conduct in the service of the official under appraisal is indeed an objective which the appraisal report aims to meet (see [judgments of 9 November 2006 in] Commission v De Bry, C‑344/05 P, [ECR,] EU:C:2006:710, paragraph 44; [of 11 December 2012 in] Ntouvas v ECDC, F‑107/11, [ECR-SC,] EU:F:2012:182, paragraph 68). It follows that OHIM did not commit any manifest error of assessment by concluding from that weighing up that, over the whole appraisal period, the applicant’s efficiency and abilities and the aspects of his conduct appraised were not at an acceptable level and that, therefore, he merited only level 6 as a general assessment.58 The applicant’s argument that OHIM, by finding that he produced far too many decisions at the end of the month, unlawfully introduced a new appraisal criterion must also be rejected. As the applicant himself conceded, it is apparent from Article 132(2) of Regulation No 207/2009 that each opposition decision must be signed by three members of the Opposition Division. That obligation, of which the applicant — who had considerable experience within OHIM — was aware, implies that, in order not to overburden the other signatories, the drafter as well as the co-signer must produce decisions at regular intervals. It follows that, far from being a new criterion introduced retrospectively, the requirement to produce decisions at regular intervals is essential to teamwork within the Opposition Divisions.59 The applicant’s argument that the reporting officer ignored his activity as a co-signer cannot be upheld. It is clear from the “Conduct in the service” section that that part of the applicant’s work was much appreciated and that, consequently, the reporting officer took account of that positive aspect in his general assessment and in the weighing up of his conduct in the service over both halves of the appraisal period. So far as concerns the applicant’s observations on the timeliness of his decisions, it is sufficient to note that, in the contested appraisal report, the reporting officer mentioned that the applicant observed the time-limits in 95.62% of cases, which was above the departmental average of 94%. Therefore, in so far as the applicant submits that that circumstance was not taken into account in the general assessment, that claim is not borne out by the facts.60 In any event, the fact that the applicant exceeded the objective relating to timeliness cannot change the fact that, in the first half of the appraisal period, his productivity did not meet the objectives set. An official or staff member cannot derive an argument from his own actions in order to exempt himself from his professional obligations (see [judgment of 12 June 2013 in] Bogusz v Frontex, F‑5/12, [ECR-SC,] EU:F:2013:75, paragraph 57). Consequently, exceeding his objectives as regards timeliness in the second half of the appraisal period did not relieve the applicant from having to observe that objective in the first half of the appraisal period.61 The applicant’s argument that OHIM was wrong not to have referred in the contested appraisal report to his article published subsequently in The Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, which had already been made available to OHIM, must also be rejected. As OHIM correctly pointed out, the writing of articles and academic papers is not a priority activity in relation to the applicant’s main tasks. Therefore, even if the contested appraisal report had referred to that article, that fact could not have changed the general assessment according to which, over the whole appraisal period, the applicant’s efficiency and abilities and the aspects of his conduct appraised did not correspond to the level which OHIM was entitled to expect of him. The applicant cannot therefore complain on the ground that the contested appraisal report suggested he should be more committed to his work.62 The applicant challenges the fact that OHIM awarded him level “K”, that is to say, the lowest level, in respect of the competencies “[q]uality and results orientation” and “[s]elf management”. That argument must be rejected.63 It is not disputed that one of the key elements of level “K” is that the jobholder “might require help to perform”, whereas the condition for obtaining level “P” is that “the jobholder can usually perform the competency independently” and for level “M” that “the jobholder can perform the actions associated with this skill without assistance”. It is common ground that the applicant, having obtained only 87.6 points in respect of his production of decisions, was 17% below the objective fixed, which is why his line managers had to intervene part way through the appraisal period and to monitor him for six months to ensure that he significantly improve his productivity. It follows that, in the applicant’s case, the conditions for obtaining levels “P” (“…independently”) or “M” (“…without assistance”) were not satisfied and therefore, in attributing to him the level “K” in respect of the competencies “[q]uality and results orientation” and “[s]elf management”, OHIM did not commit any manifest error of assessment.64 The applicant’s argument that he always demonstrated commitment to his work and personal development and that he systematically achieved the objectives that had been assigned to him between March and October 2011 must be rejected. In fact, in the first half of the appraisal period, the applicant did not achieve the objectives assigned to him and, therefore[,] he did not demonstrate adequate commitment to his work in that period. As was observed in paragraph 56 above, the applicant’s reasoning is tantamount to denying the relevance, for the purposes of his general assessment, of the facts that, in the first half of the appraisal period, his productivity in no way met the objectives fixed and that he increased his output only after the warning from his line managers and while he was being monitored.65 Concerning the alleged contradiction between the levels awarded in respect of the various competencies, as it was observed at paragraph 63 above, the award of the level “K” implies that the jobholder might require help to perform his tasks. It is not disputed that, in the appraisal period, the applicant required the help of his line managers, who had to intervene and put in place monitoring measures to ensure he performed his duties properly.66 The applicant also claims that, in awarding level 6 as a general assessment, OHIM infringed its own internal rules since, as a rule, that level may be awarded only to persons who have achieved less than 80% of the objective set, whereas he had achieved 83% of his objective.67 That argument cannot be upheld either. By relying on that argument, the applicant fails to have regard to the fact that his low output in the first half of the appraisal period was only one of the factors which led the reporting officer to award him level 6, as Ms A explained in the note of 22 May 2012 which she and the countersigning officer sent to the applicant after the JEPC delivered its opinion.68 As regards the applicant’s argument that, taking account of his output, timeliness and the quality of his work, he was entitled to be awarded level 5 as a general assessment, it must be observed that the award of level 6 expresses the judgment of the reporting officer that “the efficiency, the abilities and the aspects of conduct appraised …[of the jobholder] do not correspond to the level required” and that “[i]mprovements are needed”. By contrast, level 5 implies that “[t]he efficiency, the abilities and the aspects of conduct appraised are acceptable despite some weak points”.69 The applicant does not contest OHIM’s finding that, in the first half of the appraisal period, his efficiency and abilities and the aspects of his conduct appraised were not acceptable in so far as he had clearly not achieved the objectives set, with the result that, over the whole appraisal period, he did not meet the quantitative objective of 105.4 points. The applicant does not dispute either that it was not until he had received a warning from his line managers and monitoring measures had been put in place that he improved his output. Therefore, the applicant may not claim that his failure to perform adequately in the first half of the appraisal period can be described as “acceptable despite some weak points”. In those circumstances, having regard, on one hand, to OHIM’s broad discretion in appraising its staff and, on the other hand, to the applicant’s high grade and his proven professional experience, OHIM did not commit any manifest error of assessment in awarding him level 6 as a general assessment.’
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