Judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 17 December 2015 —
Italy v Commission

(Case T‑510/13)

Languages — Notice of open competition for the recruitment of translators — Choice of second language from three languages — Language of communication with the candidates to the competition — Regulation No 1 — Article 1d(1), Article 27 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. 46)

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 50-53)

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 57-59, 106)

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. 76)

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 81, 82, 87, 88, 101, 119, 143, 159)

6.                     Officials — Competitions — Holding of an open competition — Languages of participation in tests — Equal treatment — Judicial review — Scope (Staff Regulations, Art. 1d, and 28(f), and Annex III, Art. 1(1)(f); Council Regulation No 1, Art. 1) (see paras 107, 108)

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. 162)

Re:

APPLICATION for annulment of notice of open competitions EPSO/AD/260/13, EPSO/AD/261/13, EPSO/AD/262/13, EPSO/AD/263/13, EPSO/AD/264/13, EPSO/AD/265/13 and EPSO/AD/266/13 to draw up reserve lists for the recruitment of Danish-language translators, English-language translators, French-language translators, Italian-language translators, Maltese-language translators, Dutch-language translators and Slovenian-language translators (OJ 2013 C 199 A, p. 1).

Operative part

The Court:

1. Annuls the notice of open competitions EPSO/AD/260/13, EPSO/AD/261/13, EPSO/AD/262/13, EPSO/AD/263/13, EPSO/AD/264/13, EPSO/AD/265/13 and EPSO/AD/266/13 to draw up reserve lists for the recruitment of Danish-language translators, English-language translators, French-language translators, Italian-language translators, Maltese-language translators, Dutch-language translators and Slovenian-language translators;

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.