62018TJ0684_INF
Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 16 October 2019 –ZV v Commission
(Case T‑684/18)
(Civil service — Officials — Recruitment — Notice of vacancy — Commission’s deputy mediator — Procedure — Assessment of the merits)
1.
Actions brought by officials — Prior administrative complaint — Correspondence between the complaint and the application — Same subject matter and legal basis — Submissions and arguments not made in the complaint but closely related to it — Admissibility
(Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90 and 91)
(see para. 20)
2.
Actions brought by officials — Prior administrative complaint — Subject matter — Correspondence between the complaint and the application — Reliance on infringement of essential procedural requirements at any stage of the proceedings — Whether permissible — Conflict of interests not constituting an infringement of essential procedural requirements
(see para. 25)
3.
Actions brought by officials — Pleas in law — Misuse of powers — Conflict of interests — Subjective nature which precludes review by the Court of its own motion — Inadmissibility — Subjectivity of criteria set out in a vacancy notice — Admissibility
(Art. 270 TFUE)
(see paras 29-31)
4.
Actions brought by officials — Plea of illegality — Need for a close link between the contested measure and the allegedly unlawful earlier measure — Dispute as to the lawfulness of a vacancy notice at the time of an action brought against a rejection of candidature restricted to the provisions which formed the basis for that rejection
(Art. 277 TFEU; Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 91)
(see para. 34)
5.
Actions brought by officials — Pleas in law — Misuse of powers — Concept
(see para. 35)
6.
Officials — Vacancy notice — Determination of minimum qualifications required for the post to be filled — Discretion of the appointing authority — Scope
(Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 29)
(see para. 38)
7.
Officials — Vacancy — Post of Commission’s deputy mediator — Consideration of the comparative merits of candidates — Involvement of a selection board — Whether permissible
(see para. 59)
8.
Officials — Decision adversely affecting an official — Rejection of candidature — Obligation to state reasons — Scope — Observance of the secrecy of the selection board’s proceedings
(Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 25(2) and 90(2))
(see paras 72-74)
9.
Officials — Vacancy — Consideration of the comparative merits of candidates — Administration’s discretion — Judicial review — Limits
(Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 29(1)(a))
(see paras 82, 83)
Re:
Application based on Article 270 TFEU seeking annulment of the Commission’s decision of 8 February 2018 appointing A as the Commission’s deputy mediator and the note of 12 February 2018 by which the Commission informed the applicant of the outcome of the selection procedure.
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Dismisses the action;
2.
Orders ZV to bear her own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission.