CELEX: C1998/026/15
Language: en
Date: 1998-01-24 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 20 November 1997 by Manuel Tomás Carrasco Benítez against the Commission of the European Communities (Case T-294/97)

C 26/8                EN                Official Journal of the European Communities                                      24.1.98
The applicant maintains that, at the time when the                 The applicant claims that the Court should:
selection procedure in issue took place, the defendant
waived its discretion under Article 31(2) of the Staff
Regulations. Furthermore, its interpretation of Article 31         Ð annul the decision of the selection board in internal
of the Staff Regulations had the effect of making it                   competition COM/T/A/97 rejecting the applicant's
impossible to apply Article 31(2).                                     candidature,
The criteria applied are not only clearly more restrictive         Ð order the defendant to pay the costs.
than those provided for by the Staff Regulations and the
measures adopted for their application; they pursue a
different objective from that intended by the Community            Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
legislature, namely, to allow a proper value to be attached,
upon the recruitment of an official, to experience
possessed by the person concerned which is particularly            The applicant, a grade B official possessing a university
useful to the recruiting institution.                              degree, contests the refusal by the selection board in
                                                                   competition COM/T/A/97 to admit him to the tests in that
                                                                   competition on the ground that he did not fulfil the
                                                                   condition in the notice of competition requiring candidates
It is also clear that, as a result of the decision of the
                                                                   to be classified in grades A 8 to A 4 as at the date for
Grading Committee to apply to the applicant the new
                                                                   submission of applications.
general implementing provisions adopted on 7 February
1996 instead of the very much less restrictive provisions
previously in force which were applied to other successful
                                                                   The applicant advances the following pleas in support of
candidates in the same competition, the applicant has
                                                                   his claims:
suffered discrimination and unequal treatment.
                                                                   Ð Infringement of Articles 27 and 28 of the Staff
In addition, having regard to the requirements laid down               Regulations, breach of the principle of equal treatment
by the competition notice and the specific characteristics             and infringement of the right of officials to participate
of the post to which the applicant was assigned, the                   in procedures for constituting reserve lists of assistant
administration clearly committed an error of assessment in             administrators/principal administrators. He states in
recruiting him at the basic grade.                                     that regard that a procedure for filling posts which is
                                                                       initiated by publication of a notice of internal
                                                                       competition can only be intended to achieve the
Lastly, in view of the implicit rejection by the appointing            recruitment of persons of the highest standard of
authority of the applicant's complaint, the contested                  ability, efficiency and integrity, whatever their status as
decision is vitiated by the complete absence of any                    Community servants under the Staff Regulations may
statement of reasons.                                                  be at any given point in time. Furthermore, Article 28
                                                                       of the Staff Regulations sets out an exhaustive list of
                                                                       the criteria non-fulfilment of which precludes the
                                                                       recruitment of persons as officials. In addition, the
                                                                       exclusion criterion relating to the status of candidates
                                                                       possessing the same or even higher qualifications
                                                                       constitutes a breach of the principle of equal
Action brought on 20 November 1997 by Manuel TomaÂs                    treatment.
Carrasco Benítez against the Commission of the European
                         Communities
                                                                   Ð Manifest error of assessment and infringement of
                       (Case T-294/97)                                 Article 5 of the Staff Regulations, inasmuch as there is
                                                                       nothing in any provision of the Staff Regulations
                         (98/C 26/15)
                                                                       which authorizes a Community institution to reserve
                                                                       posts for a specific category of officials or to limit
                                                                       eligibility for recruitment to certain posts solely to
               (Language of the case: French)                          members of the temporary staff who already occupy
                                                                       the post to be filled or a post of the same grade, where
                                                                       a candidate whose application is refused possesses the
An action against the Commission of the European                       experience and qualifications required.
Communities was brought before the Court of First
Instance of the European Communities on 20 November
1997 by Manuel TomaÂs Carrasco Benítez, residing in                Ð Infringement of Article 25 of the Staff Regulations,
London, represented by Jean-NoeÈl Louis, Thierry                       inasmuch as the contested decision disregards the
Demaseure, Ariane Tornel and FrancËoise Parmentier, of                 obligation to provide a statement of reasons.
the Brussels Bar, with an address for service in
Luxembourg at the offices of Fiduciaire Myson Sarl, 30
Rue de Cessange.