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Тhe material irregularities in the competition process and the instances of non-compliance with the law resulted in the breach of the applicant’s legitimate expectations as to the structure and scope of the oral presentation (OP) Test. EPSO could not lawfully change the structure and the scope of the OP Test by adding a third, separate segment dedicated solely to knowledge of EU law.

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EPSO made several relevant pronouncements, publicly on its official website and privately in its messages to the applicant. They are binding on EPSO in accordance with the right to good administration enshrined in Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’) and the principle of patere legem quam ipse fecisti. The applicant relied on this information in his approach to the OP Test and formed respective legitimate expectations. The information provided by EPSO as above turned out to be inaccurate, unclear, ambiguous, inconsistent and contradictory. As a direct consequence of this, the applicant underperformed.

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The decision of 28 February 2023 is, firstly, unlawful as it does not annul the decision of 29 November 2022, despite the arguments presented in the request for review. Secondly, the selection board infringed the applicant’s right to be heard by not considering all of his arguments in his complaint and by considering arguments that he did not make, which is a breach of Article 41(2)(a) of the Charter. Thirdly, the arguments that it did consider it did so perfunctorily, so that the decision amounts to a mere blanket statement. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, the selection board failed to provide reasons for its decision of 28 February 2023, in breach of Article 296, paragraph 2, TFEU, Article 41(2)(c) of the Charter and its duty under the Code (1) to justify its decisions, as the decision did not clearly state the reasons on which it was based.

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Insofar as EPSO’s implied decision of 20 July 2023 is deemed to confirm the decision of 28 February 2023, it must also be annulled accordingly for the reasons considered above regarding the decision of 28 February 2023.