VARIOUS SELECTION BOARDS .
8 ON 3 NOVEMBER 1971 THE COMMISSION PUBLISHED FIVE NOTICES OF COMPETITION, RELATING TO FIVE DIFFERENT SPHERES, THAT IS : COM/A/264 LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE, COM/A/265 ECONOMIC, COM/A/266 FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING, COM/A/267 SOCIAL AND COM/A/268 AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL, EACH OF THEM MOREOVER CONTAINING DIFFERENT OPTIONS .
9 THESE NOTICES OF COMPETITION DID NOT STATE AN AGE LIMIT .
10 ADMISSION TO THE TESTS WAS NOT LIMITED ONLY TO EMPLOYEES OF CATEGORY B; OFFICIALS OF GRADES LA AND C TOOK PART IN THE TESTS .
11 THE FIRST APPLICANT ENROLLED FOR COMPETITION COM/A/264 ( LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ) AND OPTED FOR 'INSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS ON THE COMMUNITIES'; THE THIRD APPLICANT ENTERED THE SAME COMPETITION AND OPTED FOR 'RULES OF COMPETITION' AND THE SECOND APPLICANT ENTERED COMPETITION COM/A/265 ( ECONOMICS ) AND OPTED FOR 'INTERNATIONAL TRADE '.
12 ON 15 JUNE 1972 EACH WAS INFORMED THAT HAVING REGARD TO THE RESULT OF THE TESTS IT HAD NOT BEEN POSSIBLE TO INCLUDE HIM OR HER ON THE LIST OF SUITABLE CANDIDATES .
13 THE APPLICANTS, APART FROM CERTAIN SUBMISSIONS SPECIAL TO THEIR OWN CASE, DIRECT THEIR ARGUMENTS IN PARTICULAR TO FOUR SUBMISSIONS, THE FIRST THREE RELATING TO THE REGULARITY OF THE ORGANIZATION OF COMPETITIONS FOR THE PURPOSE OF DRAWING UP A RESERVE FOR FUTURE RECRUITMENT AND THE FOURTH RELATING TO THE INFRINGEMENT OF ARTICLE 1 ( G ) OF ANNEX III TO THE STAFF REGULATIONS RELATING TO THE REQUIREMENT TO STATE AN AGE LIMIT IN NOTICES OF COMPETITION .
14 IT IS PROPER TO CONSIDER THESE SUBMISSIONS FIRST .
I - SUBMISSIONS COMMON TO THE THREE APPLICATIONS
15 THE APPLICANTS STATE IN THE FIRST PLACE THAT ALL THE COMPETITIONS IN DISPUTE ARE VITIATED BY ILLEGALITY BY REASON OF THE FACT THAT THE COMMISSION DID NOT HARMONIZE THE CRITERIA TO BE USED BY THE VARIOUS SELECTION BOARDS AND THE CONDITIONS OF THE TESTS, AS IT OUGHT TO HAVE DONE, HAVING REGARD TO THE FACT THAT IT WAS REALLY A SINGLE COMPETITION OR AT LEAST THE COMPETITIONS WERE TO RESULT IN A SINGLE LIST OF SUITABLE CANDIDATES, SINCE IT WAS INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE A SINGLE RESERVE FOR FUTURE RECRUITMENT .
16 DISCRIMINATION HAD THEREFORE ARISEN, IN PARTICULAR TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE APPLICANTS, BETWEEN CANDIDATES IN CERTAIN COMPETITIONS IN RELATION TO CANDIDATES ENROLLED IN OTHERS .
17 FURTHER, AS REGARDS THEIR LEGALITY, THESE COMPETITIONS MUST, FOR THE SAME REASONS, BE DEALT WITH AS A WHOLE, SO THAT IRREGULARITY IN ONE - TO THE ADVANTAGE OF CERTAIN CANDIDATES - WOULD INVOLVE THE ILLEGALITY OF ALL .
18 UNDER ARTICLE 45 ( 2 ) OF THE STAFF REGULATIONS; 'AN OFFICIAL MAY BE TRANSFERRED FROM ONE SERVICE TO ANOTHER OR PROMOTED FROM ONE CATEGORY TO ANOTHER ONLY ON THE BASIS OF A COMPETITION '.
19 MOREOVER, RECRUITMENT BY MEANS OF COMPETITION FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSTITUTING A RESERVE FOR FUTURE RECRUITMENT IS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED FOR IN ARTICLE 29 ( 1 ) OF THE SAME REGULATIONS .
20 THE COMBINATION OF THESE PROVISIONS UNQUESTIONABLY PERMITS THE ORGANIZATION