Judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 17 December 2015 —
Italy v Commission
(Case T‑275/13)
Languages — Notice of open competition for the recruitment of administrators — Choice of second language from three languages — Language of communication with the candidates to the competition — Regulation No 1 — Article 1d(1), Article 27, first paragraph, and Article 28(f) of the Staff Regulations — Principle of non-discrimination — Proportionality
1. European Union — Rules on languages — Regulation No 1 — Scope — Relations between the institutions and their staff — Included in the absence of specific regulations (Council Regulation No 1) (see para. 40)
2. Officials — Competitions — Holding of an open competition — Languages of communication between the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) and the candidates — Restriction — Inadmissibility (Staff Regulations, Annex III, Art. 1(2); Council Regulation No 1, Art. 2) (see paras 44-47)
3. Officials — Competitions — Organisation — Conditions for admission and detailed rules — Discretion of the appointing authority — Limits — Compliance with the linguistic regime laid down by Regulation No 1 (Staff Regulations, Art. 2; Council Regulation No 1, Art. 2) (see paras 51-53, 87)
4. Actions for annulment — Grounds — Lack of or inadequate statement of reasons — Distinguished from manifest error of assessment (Arts 263, second para., TFEU and 296 TFEU) (see para. 65)
5. Officials — Competitions — Holding of an open competition — Languages of participation in tests — Limitation of the choice of second language — Discrimination based on language — Justification based on the need to choose a restricted number of languages for internal communication — Inadmissibility (Staff Regulations, Arts 1d, and 28(f), and Annex III, Art. 1(1)(f); Council Regulation No 1, Art. 1) (see paras 70, 71, 76, 77, 86, 100, 118, 129)
6. Officials — Competitions — Holding of an open competition — Languages of participation in tests — Equal treatment — Judicial review — Scope (Staff Regulations, Arts 1d, and 28(f), and Annex III, Art. 1(1)(f); Council Regulation No 1, Art. 1) (see paras 88, 89)
7. Actions brought by officials — Judgment annulling a measure — Effects — Annulment of a notice of open competition — Legitimate expectations of the candidates selected — Results of the competition not called into question (Art. 266 TFEU; Staff Regulations, Art. 91) (see para. 133)
Re:
| APPLICATION for annulment of notice of open competition EPSO/AD/249/13 to draw up two reserve lists for administrators to fill vacant posts in the fields of macroeconomics and financial economics (OJ 2013 C 75 A, p. 1). |
Operative part
The Court:
1. | | Annuls the notice of open competition EPSO/AD/249/13 to draw up two reserve lists for administrators to fill vacant posts in the fields of macroeconomics and financial economics; |
2. | | Orders the European Commission to bear, in addition to its own costs, those incurred by the Italian Republic; |
3. | | Orders the Kingdom of Spain and the Federal Republic of Germany to bear their own costs relating to their interventions. |