Judgment of the General Court of 28 February 2024 – Passalacqua v Commission

(Case T-318/22) ¹

(Civil service – Officials – Promotion – 2021 promotion exercise – Decision not to promote the applicant to grade AD 11 – Article 45 of the Staff Regulations – Rule of correspondence – Consideration of comparative merits – Obligation to state reasons – Manifest error of assessment – Misuse of powers – Liability – Material and non-material damage)

Language of the case: Italian

Parties

Applicant: Roberto Passalacqua (Brussels, Belgium) (represented by: G. Belotti, lawyer)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: M. Brauhoff and L. Hohenecker, acting as Agents)

Re:

By his action based on Article 270 TFEU, the applicant seeks, first, the annulment of the European Commission’s decision not to promote him to grade AD 11 under the 2021 promotion exercise (‘the contested decision’), the Commission’s decision of 1 April 2022 rejecting complaint R/620/21 and the Commission’s decision to promote to grade AD 11 the officials entered on the list of officials promoted under the 2021 promotion exercise and, secondly, in the alternative, compensation for the damage he allegedly suffered as a result of the contested decision and the decision of his hierarchical superiors not to publish the full version of the presentation given during the round table meeting organised on 14 January 2021.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

Dismisses the action;

Orders Mr Roberto Passalacqua to pay the costs.

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¹ OJ C 276, 18.7.2022.