Case T-607/25: Action brought on 3 September 2025 – Recrytera v Commission
Date: 2025-09-03
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: European official, award of contract, competition (EU), data protection, equal treatment, personal data, principle of proportionality, protection of privacy, public procurement, tendering








C_202505853EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/5853


10.11.2025






Action brought on 3 September 2025 – Recrytera v Commission


(Case T-607/25)

(C/2025/5853)
Language of the case: English

Parties


Applicant: Recrytera Srl (Chieti, Italy) (represented by: F. Sciaudone, D. Fesler and G. Lovaste, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:






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annul the decision of the Commission to award the framework agreement to another tenderer with regard to lot 1 of the tender under reference ‘LOT 1: Competitions for officials’ (OJ S 136/2025), which decision was published in TED on 25 June 2025 under the notice number 406222-2025 – Result (OJ S 119/2025), as rectified by the ‘Contract or concession award notice – standard regime – Change notice’ published in TED on 18 July 2025, under the notice number 469807-2025 – Result (OJ S 136/2025); and,










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order the defendant to pay the full costs and expenses incurred in the proceedings by the applicant.





Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicant relies on two pleas in law.






1.


First plea in law, alleging the violation of Article 163(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 (1), and Section 17.1 ‘Technical Specifications’ of Annex I to the same Regulation for non-compliance with the principles of equal treatment, necessity and proportionality on the part of the defendant.










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As per the first branch of the plea, the contested decision is discriminatory against the applicant as it is the result of a procurement procedure in which the defendant did not assess and even less justify its choice as to the design of the tender and the formulation of the technical specifications requiring that testing services be delivered exclusively remotely. Specifically, the defendant fell short of its legal obligation to complete a data protection impact assessment of remote testing solutions as required under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 (2) (‘EUDPR’) and further omitted to conduct an assessment recommended by the European Ombudsman as to the accessibility of such solutions for candidates of diverse backgrounds.










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As per the second branch of the plea, the contested decision is the result of a procurement procedure that has favoured – proctored – remote testing solutions at the cost of a significant intrusion in the candidates’ privacy and of the violation of the candidates’ rights under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘EU Charter’).










2.


Second plea in law, alleging violation of Articles 20, 21, 15, (1) and (2) of the EU Charter (first branch), as well as Articles 5.2, 10, 26.1, and 39 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 (‘EUDPR’), and, by the same token, of Articles 7, 8, juncto 52.1 of the EU Charter (second branch).










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As per the first branch of the plea, the Applicant submits, in essence, that the endorsement of remote testing procedures on an exclusive basis by the contested decision violates the candidates’ rights of equality, of protection against discrimination and of their right to seek employment of their choice under the EU Charter.










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As per the second branch of the plea, the Applicant contends that the same endorsement violates several provisions of the EUDPR and, consequently, the candidates’ rights to privacy and to the protection of personal data as provided for by the EU Charter, which the Defendant is bound to respect.






(1)  Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2024 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (OJ 2024 L 2509).

(2)  Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ 2018 L 295, p. 39).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/5853/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)