Case T-731/25: Action brought on 20 October 2025 – NH v EIB
Date: 2025-10-20
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: Caribbean Islands, Latin America, administrator, competition (EU), conflict of interest, equal treatment, indemnification, job vacancy, public sector, recruitment








C_202506515EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/6515


15.12.2025






Action brought on 20 October 2025 – NH v EIB


(Case T-731/25)

(C/2025/6515)
Language of the case: English

Parties


Applicant: NH (represented by: L. Levi and P. Baudoux, lawyers)

Defendant: European Investment Bank

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:






—


annul the defendant’s decision of 12 February 2025 notifying the applicant that her application for ‘Head of Latin America and Caribbean – Public Sector Division’ was rejected;










—


annul the defendant’s decision on the selection and appointment of another candidate as ‘Head of Latin America and Caribbean – Public Sector Division’ of which the applicant became officially aware on 28 February 2025, the day before that other candidate began her new duties;










—


if need be, annul the explicit decision rejecting the applicant’s request for an administrative review of 10 October 2025;










—


order the defendant to compensate the applicant for her damage;










—


order the defendant to pay all the costs.





Pleas in law and main arguments

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






1.


First plea in law, alleging a breach of the vacancy notice and the applicable rules concerning the selection procedure as well as a manifest error of assessment:






—


in the aforementioned disputed decisions, the EIB disregarded the vacancy notice and the applicable rules of the selection procedure by enabling candidates to participate in the selection procedure and by appointing a candidate who did not meet the requirements embodied in the vacancy notice such as a ‘strong experience and knowledge of the [Latin America and Caribbean] region’, a ‘reasonable track record of internal mobility’ and ‘language skills’;










—


it also appears from the disputed decisions and the evidence of the file that the EIB made a manifest error of assessment by rejecting the applicant’s application.














2.


Second plea in law, alleging a breach of the principle of equal treatment.




The EIB breached the principle of equal treatment of the candidates participating in the selection procedure because the professional test and the panel strategy question were about a specific subject/project with the Commission that the appointed candidate was perfectly aware of given that the latter was directly involved in this project.






3.


Third plea in law, alleging a breach of the principle of impartiality and conflict of interests:






—


the EIB breached the principle of impartiality because the appointed candidate had a serious advantage for the oral test, compared to the other candidates (including the applicant);










—


there is also a conflict of interests because, as a key negotiator in the said project, this generates a role-related conflict of interest with the appointed candidate as well as with at least two panel members;










—


the selection procedure was not transparent and robust and did not prevent undue influence or bias in the decision-making process.














4.


Fourth plea in law, alleging a breach of the principle to a sound administration (duty to provide reasons and duty of care):






—


the EIB did not explain whether or not all the elements referred to Rule 6.3. of the Best Practice were duly taken into account when assessing the applicant’s application. The EIB does not explain either what was the weighting given to each element by the selection panel. The EIB’s reasoning is also contradictory.










—


the EIB also breached its duty of care.










ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/6515/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)