European funds. Claims regarding the payment of the project manager work or remuneration for attracting European funds. Person involved in employment relationships with the public institution which is the beneficiary
DREPT CIVIL ȘI DREPT PROCESUAL CIVIL
Abstract
The plaintiff, a former executive director of a County Employment Agency, requested that the defendant be ordered to pay certain amounts of money as the equivalent value of the project manager work, respectively a remuneration for attracting European funds, with the related legal interest rate.
However, the claims lodged lack legal basis, given that during the entire period related to the conduct of projects, the plaintiff was in a public managerial position in compliance with the provisions of Law no. 188/1999 on the status of civil servants, since the plaintiff and the County Employment Agency (A.J.O.F.M.) (beneficiary of the projects) concluded legal employment relationships according to this law and no individual employment agreement was concluded in this respect.
Furthermore, in virtue of the provisions of Article 2 paragraph 3 letters a - h of the same Law no. 188/1999, the obligations to exercise the activities which the plaintiff claims he had conducted within the European projects remained in his job description, obligations which, moreover, were provided for in the contracts of managerial performance which governed the employment relationship of the plaintiff. Therefore, due to the employment relationships which the plaintiff concluded with the County Employment Agency (A.J.O.F.M.), in virtue of the specific duties mentioned within his responsibility under the managerial performance contracts and according to the job descriptions, the plaintiff was responsible to carry out these activities related to the implementation of the respective projects, during his normal working hours, in compliance with the specific duties held to this end, expressly and distinctly provided for both in the job description, and in the managerial performance contracts.
Furthermore, under Order no. 580/27.08.2013, as amended and supplemented by Order no. 49/04.02.2014, issued by the National Employment Agency (ANOFM), the
remuneration of civil servants providing activities specific to projects based on European funding was regulated, and it was set forth that any civil servant nominated in such project teams financed from non reimbursable Community funds and which would carry on control duties within these projects, such as the position of project manager, had the option to be remunerated either in compliance with Law no. 284/2010, continuing to act in the capacity of civil servant, or the direct employment for the project under an employment agreement, or under a civil service contract, but being suspended from his public office, in these recent assumptions.
As regards the claims, affirmatively substantiated by the plaintiff based on the Guidelines for Applicant for the Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resource Development 2007-2013, according to which, persons forming part of the project management team, including the project manager, are able to perform their activity only in virtue of the employment legal relationships or of certain civil service legal relationships, it was found, based on the evidence produced in the casefile of the court of first instance, that the plaintiff had concluded neither an individual employment agreement, nor a civil service contract under the conditions of the New Civil Code, since he performed his activity within these projects in virtue of the managerial performance contracts and of the job descriptions, as previously exposed.
Since there was no employment agreement and no civil service contract concluded, the plaintiff cannot rely on and claim in his favor the provisions of Article 1.854 paragraph 3 of the New Civil Code, which set forth that „when the contract does not include any provisions relating to the price, the beneficiary owes the price provided for by law or calculated according to law or, in the absence of such legal provisions, the price determined in relation to the work performed and the costs needed for the execution of the work or service provision, taking into considering the current practices”.
