Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 16 February 2023 – European Commission v Italian Republic, Kingdom of Spain
(Case C-623/20 P) 1
(Appeal – Rules on languages – Notice of open competition for the recruitment of administrators in the field of audit – Knowledge of languages – Restriction of the choice of the second competition language to English, French and German – Language of communication with the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) – Regulation No 1 – Staff Regulations – Article 1d(1) – Difference in treatment based on language – Justification – Interests of the service – Requirement to recruit administrators who are ‘immediately operational’ – Judicial review – Standard of proof required)
Language of the case: Italian
Parties
Appellant: European Commission (represented by: and D. Milanowska, acting as Agents)
Other parties to the proceedings: Italian Republic (represented by: G. Palmieri, acting as Agent, and by P. Gentili, avvocato dello Stato), Kingdom of Spain (represented by: L. Aguilera Ruiz and A. Gavela Llopis, acting as Agents)
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Dismisses the appeal;
Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the Italian Republic;
Orders the Kingdom of Spain to bear its own costs.
____________
1 OJ C 28, 25.1.2021.