"This article examines the use of fixed-term employment contracts, and the limits that are placed on their use in EU Member States such as Belgium and the Netherlands. A failure on the part of the employer to comply with the provisions regulating such contracts leads to their transformation into open-ended employment contracts. The article then considers the case of contractual agents hired by the EU on three-year contracts to perform permanent tasks and functions, on a different pay scale to that of permanent officials. The author highlights the fact that this practice is in contrast with the general principle of equal pay for equal work, and with the framework agreement on fixed-term contracts negotiated between the social partners at EU level in 1999. The rulings of the European Court of Justice in Adelener and in Vassallo are also examined in this connection. In conclusion, the author points to the need for the EU social partners to reconsider this issue in the light of general (European) legal principles."

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