Judgment of the General Court (Fourth Chamber) of 10 November 2021 –
Spisto v Commission

(Case T‑572/20)

(Civil service – Officials – Recruitment – Notice of Open Competition EPSO/AD/371/19 – Decision of the Selection Board to exclude the applicant from the next phase of the competition – Criterion to assess professional experience – Compliance of criterion applied by the Selection Board with the competition notice)

1.      Officials – Competitions – Competition based on qualifications and tests – Conditions for admission – Fixing by the competition notice – Selection board’s assessment of candidates’ professional experience – Judicial review – Limits

(Staff Regulations of Officials, Annex III)

(see para. 30)

2.      Officials – Competitions – Competition based on qualifications and tests – Conditions for admission – Fixing by the competition notice – Selection board’s assessment of candidates’ professional experience – Recourse to an assessment criterion not set out as selection criterion in the competition notice – Not permissible

(Staff Regulations of Officials, Annex III, Arts 1(1) and 5, first para.)

(see paras 31, 33, 35, 42-44, 48)

Re:

Application under Article 270 TFEU for annulment of, first, the decision of the Selection Board of 24 September 2019 rejecting the request for a review of the refusal to admit the applicant to the next phase of Open Competition EPSO/AD/371/19, and, second, the decision of the appointing authority of 26 May 2020 rejecting the complaint of the applicant against that decision.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Annuls the decision of the Selection Board of 24 September 2019 rejecting the request for a review of the exclusion of Ms Amanda Spisto from Competition EPSO/AD/371/19;

2. Orders the European Commission to pay the costs.