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Article 1d, the first subparagraph of Article 7(1), Articles 24a, 27, 28, 29(1) and 45 of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities, as amended by Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 723/2004 of 22 March 2004 (OJ L 124, p. 1; ‘the Staff Regulations’) state: ‘Article 1d (1) In the application of these Staff Regulations, any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age, or sexual orientation shall be prohibited. … (6) While respecting the principle of non-discrimination and the principle of proportionality, any limitation of their application must be justified on objective and reasonable grounds and must be aimed at legitimate objectives in the general interest in the framework of staff policy. Such objectives may in particular justify stipulating a mandatory retirement age and a minimum age for drawing a retirement pension. Article 7 1. The Appointing Authority shall, acting solely in the interest of the service and without regard to nationality, assign each official by appointment or transfer to a post in his function group which corresponds to his grade. … Article 24a The Communities shall facilitate such further training and instruction for officials as is compatible with the proper functioning of the service and is in accordance with its own interests. Such training and instruction shall be taken into account for purposes of promotion in their careers. Article 27 Recruitment shall be directed to securing for the institution the services of officials of the highest standard of ability, efficiency and integrity, recruited on the broadest possible geographical basis from among nationals of Member States of the Communities. No posts shall be reserved for nationals of any specific Member State. Article 28 An official may be appointed only on condition that: […] (f) he produces evidence of a thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the Communities and of a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the Communities to the extent necessary for the performance of his duties. Article 29 1. ‘Before filling a vacant post in an institution, the appointing authority shall ... … and then follow the procedure for competitions on the basis either of qualifications or of tests or of both qualifications and tests. Annex III lays down the competition procedure. The procedure may likewise be followed for the purpose of constituting a reserve for future recruitment. … Article 45 1. ‘Promotion shall be by decision of the appointing authority in the light of Article 6(2). It shall be effected by appointment of the official to the next higher grade in the function group to which he belongs. Promotion shall be exclusively by selection from among officials who have completed a minimum of two years in their grade after consideration of the comparative merits of the officials eligible for promotion. When considering comparative merits, the appointing authority shall in particular take account of the reports on the officials, the use of languages in the execution of their duties other than the language for which they have produced evidence of thorough knowledge in accordance with Article 28(f) and, where appropriate, the level of responsibilities exercised by them. 2. Officials shall be required to demonstrate before their first promotion after recruitment the ability to work in a third language among those referred to in Article 314 of the EC Treaty. The institutions shall adopt common rules by agreement between them for implementing this paragraph. These rules shall require access to training for officials in a third language and lay down the detailed arrangements for the assessment of officials’ ability to work in a third language, in accordance with Article 7(2)(d) of Annex III.’