APPOINTING AUTHORITY VOLUNTARILY INSTITUTES A COMPULSORY CONSULTATIVE PROCEDURE WHICH IS NOT PRESCRIBED BY THE STAFF REGULATIONS , IT IS OBLIGED TO ABIDE BY SUCH A PROCEDURE , WHICH CANNOT BE REGARDED AS LACKING ANY LEGAL VALIDITY . HOWEVER , EVEN THOUGH THE DIRECTOR OF THE ESTABLISHMENT AT ISPRA STATED IN HIS LETTER OF 12 JULY 1980 THAT HE DID NOT WISH TO FOLLOW THE PROCEDURE , THE DIRECTOR GENERAL , FOR HIS PART , EXPRESSLY INSISTED ON THE NEED TO FOLLOW IT AND TOOK HIS DECISION AFTER RECEIVING THE OPINION OF THE RECRUITING COMMITTEE .
19 AS TO THE COURSE OF THE PROCEDURE IN THIS CASE , THE APPLICANT CLAIMS THAT THE RECRUITING COMMITTEE WAS NOT CONSTITUTED , BY ANALOGY WITH ARTICLE 3 OF ANNEX III TO THE STAFF REGULATIONS , OF MEMBERS WHO WERE ALL OF A GRADE EQUAL OR SUPERIOR TO THAT OF THE POST TO BE FILLED AND THAT THE COMMITTEE DID NOT SUBJECT THE CANDIDATES TO AN INTERVIEW . THE APPLICANT FURTHER CLAIMS THAT THE REPORT OF THE RECRUITING COMMITTEE WAS NOT SIGNED BY ITS FOURTH MEMBER , MR ARDENTE , AND THAT , CONTRARY TO THE MEMORANDUM OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE OF 23 OCTOBER 1979 , THE COMMITTEE WAS NOT PROPERLY CONSTITUTED .
20 ON THIS SUBJECT IT SHOULD BE POINTED OUT THAT ARTICLE 3 OF ANNEX III TO THE STAFF REGULATIONS , ON SELECTION BOARDS , DOES NOT APPLY TO A RECRUITING COMMITTEE NOT PROVIDED FOR BY THE STAFF REGULATIONS , WHOSE PURELY CONSULTATIVE FUNCTIONS ARE NOT COMPARABLE TO THOSE OF A SELECTION BOARD FOR A COMPETITION . IN VIEW OF THE FACT THAT THE PROVISIONS ESTABLISHING SUCH A RECRUITING COMMITTEE DO NOT LAY DOWN SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ITS CONSTITUTION , THE FACT THAT ITS MEMBERS DID NOT AT LEAST BELONG TO THE GRADE OF THE POST CONCERNED CANNOT CONSTITUTE A PROCEDURAL DEFECT .
21 SINCE IT WAS NOT COMPULSORY UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE MEMORANDUM OF 23 OCTOBER 1979 FOR THE CANDIDATES TO BE INTERVIEWED , IT WAS FOR THE RECRUITING COMMITTEE TO ASSESS THE NEED FOR SUCH AN INTERVIEW , THE ABSENCE OF WHICH CANNOT THEREFORE CONSTITUTE A PROCEDURAL DEFECT EITHER .
22 IT IS TRUE THAT A MEMBER OF THE RECRUITING COMMITTEE DID NOT SIGN THE COMMITTEE ' S REPORT . REGRETTABLE AS SUCH AN IRREGULARITY MAY BE , IT DOES NOT , HOWEVER , CONSTITUTE , IN ITSELF , A SUBSTANTIAL PROCEDURAL DEFECT SINCE IT IS COMMON GROUND THAT THAT MEMBER DID IN FACT TAKE PART IN THE DELIBERATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE .
23 THE REMAINING QUESTION TO BE CONSIDERED IS THEREFORE WHETHER THE COMPOSITION OF THE RECRUITING COMMITTEE WAS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE MEMORANDUM OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE OF 23 OCTOBER 1979 , WHICH PROVIDED THAT THE COMMITTEE SHOULD BE COMPOSED , IN ADDITION TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE DEPARTMENT CONCERNED IN WHICH THE VACANCY HAD ARISEN AND OF THE ADMINISTRATION , OF ' ' ONE INDEPENDENT MEMBER ( THAT