Appeal brought on 20 August 2021 by XC against the judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) delivered on 10 February 2021 in Case T-488/18, XC v Commission

(Case C-527/21 P)

(2021/C 490/19)

Language of the case: Italian

Parties

Appellant: XC (represented by: F. Rosi, avvocato)

Other party to the proceedings: European Commission

Form of order sought

The appellant claims that the Court should:

— set aside the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of 10 February 2021 in Case T-488/18, XC v Commission;

— annul the three decisions contested at first instance or, in the alternative, refer the case back to the General Court;

— order the Commission to pay compensation for harm suffered in an amount established at the discretion of the Court or, in the alternative, order that the case be referred back to the General Court;

— order the Commission to pay the costs of the appeal proceedings or, in the alternative, reserve the matter of costs with referral back to the General Court.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The appeal is divided into four parts.

First part, concerning the dismissal of the application for annulment of the reserve list of open competition EPSO/AD/356/18 (paragraphs 173 to 182 of the judgment under appeal)

In this connection, the appellant alleges failure to observe the adversarial principle; failure to observe, and misapplication of, the principles established by case-law regarding the annulment of reserve lists of open competitions; infringement of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union regarding the right to effective judicial protection; failure to state adequate reasons and illogicality of the judgment under appeal; and distortion and misrepresentation of the facts of the case.

Second part, concerning the dismissal of the application for annulment of Commission Decision C(2018) 3969 of 19 June 2018 on access to documents (paragraphs 141 to 172 of the judgment under appeal)

The appellant alleges, in this regard, failure to observe the principles of law set out in Case T-515/14 P, Alexandrou v Commission; failure to observe the principles of the unity and consistency of EU law; infringement of Article 4 of Regulation No 1049/2001; (1) abuse of process consisting in the failure to give a ruling on part of the claim in the proceedings; and distortion and misrepresentation of the facts of the case.

Third part, concerning the dismissal of the application for annulment of the decision of the selection board of open competition EPSO/AD/338/17 of 4 December 2017 to exclude the appellant from the next phase of the competition (paragraphs 78 to 99 of the judgment under appeal)

The appellant alleges infringement and misapplication of Article 1d of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and of Article 8(1) of Directive 2000/43/EC; (2) manifest illogicality of the judgment under appeal; manifest error of assessment; and infringement of Article 1d of the Staff Regulations.

Fourth part, concerning compensation for harm suffered and the costs (paragraphs 183 to 198 of the judgment under appeal)

The appellant claims that the parts of the General Court’s judgment concerning compensation for harm suffered and the costs should also be annulled in so far as they are closely linked with the dismissal of the claims for annulment of the decisions at issue at first instance.

(1) Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ 2001 L 145, p. 43).

(2) Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (OJ 2000 L 180, p. 22).