ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE NINTH CHAMBER OF THE GENERAL COURT
10 June 2024 (*)
(Removal from the Register)
In Case T-1038/23,
UB, represented by S. Pappas and A. Kila, lawyers,
applicant,
v
European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), represented by W. Szmidt, acting as Agent,
defendant,
1 By his application under Article 270 TFEU, the applicant, UB, seeks the annulment, first, of the defendant’s implied decision, by which it refused to invite the applicant for a second interview allowing him to be timely recruited for the position of the European Border and Coast Guard Officer, Standing Corps - intermediate level, in Frontex and, thus, ultimately rejecting his application, and, second, of the Executive Director’s decision of 29 June 2023, by which the applicant’s complaint of 14 February 2023 against the said implied decision was rejected as inadmissible.
2 By a plea of inadmissibility lodged at the Court registry on 21 December 2023, under Article 130(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court, the defendant, in the alternative, applied for a declaration that the action has become devoid of purpose and that there is no longer any need to adjudicate on it, under Article 130(2) of the Rules of Procedure. In that regard, the defendant informed the Court that on 4 December 2023, the applicant was invited to the second psychological interview, which he attended on 15 December 2023.
3 By letter lodged at the Court Registry on 1 February 2024, the applicant has indicated his agreement with the application for a declaration that there is no need to adjudicate and informed the Court, in accordance with Article 125 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court, that he wished to discontinue proceedings and requested that the defendant be ordered to pay the costs.
4 By letter lodged at the Court Registry on 6 March 2024, the defendant informed the Court that it welcomed the applicant’s application for discontinuance and requested that the Court order each party to bear its own costs.
5 Article 136(1) and (2) of the Rules of Procedure provides that a party who discontinues or withdraws from proceedings is to be ordered to pay the costs if they have been applied for in the other party’s observations on the discontinuance. However, at the request of the party who discontinues or withdraws from proceedings, the costs are to be borne by the other party if this appears justified by the conduct of that party.
6 In the present case, it is apparent that the invitation to a second psychological interview was not sent to the applicant until after the present action was brought on. In addition, the applicant was invited to the second psychological interview more than 19 months after the defendant sent him a conditional job offer for the position in question and informed him, in April 2022, that the said interview would be necessary and that until then his application was put on hold.
7 Consequently, the bringing of the present action and the discontinuance may be regarded as having their origin in the conduct of the defendant.
8 In the light of the foregoing considerations, the Court considers that it will make an equitable assessment of the circumstances of the present case in holding that the defendant is to pay all the costs.
On those grounds,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE NINTH CHAMBER OF THE GENERAL COURT
hereby orders:
1. Case T-1038/23 is removed from the Register of the General Court.
2. The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) is ordered to bear its own costs and to pay the costs incurred by UB.
Luxembourg, 10 June 2024.