COMPETITION NOTICE AND USED BY THE SELECTION BOARD, NAMELY AN OVERALL ASSESSMENT, FAILED TO GIVE THE SELECTION PROCEDURE THE NECESSARY TRANSPARENCY . IN PARTICULAR, HE POINTS OUT THAT THE CANDIDATES' PERSONAL FILES, ON WHICH THE SELECTION BOARD WAS TO BASE PART OF ITS ASSESSMENT, CONTAIN CERTAIN SUBJECTIVE ELEMENTS . IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE GREATER OBJECTIVITY, THE SELECTION BOARD SHOULD HAVE CONDUCTED INTERVIEWS, WHICH ARE OPTIONAL UNDER THE NOTICE OF COMPETITION, WITH A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CANDIDATE' S DIRECTORATE-GENERAL AND WITH THE CANDIDATE HIMSELF . INTERVIEWING THE CANDIDATE IS, MOREOVER, THE ONLY MEANS OF ENSURING THAT HE HAS THE LINGUISTIC KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED BY THE NOTICE OF COMPETITION .
30 AT THE REQUEST OF THE COURT, THE COMMISSION LAID BEFORE IT PART OF THE SELECTION BOARD' S FILE, TOGETHER WITH THE MINUTES OF ITS PROCEEDINGS . THOSE DOCUMENTS SHOW INTER ALIA THE CRITERIA APPLIED IN APPRAISING THE CANDIDATES' PERSONAL FILES, IN MARKING THE WRITTEN PAPERS AND IN REACHING AN OVERALL ASSESSMENT; THEY ALSO SHOW THE APPRAISAL ( IN FIGURES ) AND THE MARKS AWARDED TO EACH CANDIDATE . IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES, THE GENERAL COMPLAINT OF LACK OF TRANSPARENCY CEASES TO BE A SEPARATE HEAD OF ARGUMENT AND MERGES INTO THE COMPLAINT CONCERNING THE STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR THE CONTESTED DECISIONS .
31 AS REGARDS THE SPECIFIC COMPLAINT CONCERNING THE APPRAISAL OF THE CANDIDATES' PERSONAL FILES, IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THOSE FILES CONTAIN THE CANDIDATES' APPLICATIONS AND ATTACHED DOCUMENTS, SUBMITTED BY THE CANDIDATES THEMSELVES, TOGETHER WITH THEIR PERIODICAL REPORTS CONTAINING THE ASSESSMENTS OF THEM BY THEIR IMMEDIATE SUPERIORS AND, IN SOME CASES, THEIR OBSERVATIONS ON THOSE ASSESSMENTS . FURTHERMORE, IT APPEARS FROM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETINGS OF THE SELECTION BOARD THAT BEFORE APPRAISING THE CANDIDATES' PERSONAL FILES IT DEFINED THE POINTS WHICH MIGHT BE REGARDED AS CHARACTERIZING A "GOOD" FILE AND THE PARTICULAR POINTS WHICH MIGHT PUT THE FILE INTO A HIGHER CATEGORY ALTOGETHER, POSSIBLY JUSTIFYING THE ASSESSMENT "VERY GOOD" OR EVEN "EXCELLENT ".
32 IT IS THUS CLEAR THAT THE CANDIDATES WERE ABLE TO PUT ON THEIR FILES ALL THE INFORMATION WHICH THEY CONSIDERED RELEVANT AND, SECONDLY, THAT THE SELECTION BOARD ENDEAVOURED TO ENSURE THAT THE EVALUATION WHICH IT HAD TO CARRY OUT ON THE BASIS OF THOSE FILES WAS AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE . IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES, THE SELECTION BOARD CANNOT BE CRITICIZED FOR DECIDING, IN THE EXERCISE OF THE DISCRETION EXPRESSLY CONFERRED ON IT BY THE NOTICE OF COMPETITION, THAT IT DID NOT NEED TO HOLD INTERVIEWS .
33 AS FAR AS THE CANDIDATES' KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGES IS CONCERNED, IT SHOULD BE OBSERVED THAT THE KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED BY THE NOTICE OF COMPETITION WAS THE SAME AS THAT GENERALLY REQUIRED OF ALL OFFICIALS BY ARTICLE 28 ( F ) OF THE STAFF REGULATIONS . ALTHOUGH IT IS TRUE THAT THOSE REQUIREMENTS HAD TO BE CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO THE DUTIES ATTACHING TO A HIGHER GRADE THAN THE CANDIDATES' GRADE, THE SELECTION BOARD CANNOT BE CRITICIZED FOR DECIDING THAT A SPECIFIC INTERVIEW FOR THAT PURPOSE WAS UNNECESSARY IN AN INTERNAL