Judgment_paragraph 75 · FZ and Others v European Commission (T-526/16)

75According to the EU legislature, the focus should therefore be more on the level of responsibilities when considering comparative merits in the context of promotion. In short, it is clear from Regulation No 1023/2003 that the EU legislature sought to put an end to the possibility provided for under the 2004 Staff Regulations of officials being inexorably promoted to the highest grades without having to establish a link between their responsibilities and the grade held, which may have resulted in officials in the administrators’ function group being appointed to grades AD 13 or AD 14 without necessarily undertaking high-level or additional responsibilities.