Judgment of the General Court of 8 May 2024 – France v Commission

(Case T-555/22)  (1)

(Rules on languages - Notice of open competition for the recruitment of administrators and experts in the fields of defence industry and space - Restriction of the choice of language 2 to English - Regulation No 1 - Article 1d(1), Article 27 and Article 28(f) of the Staff Regulations - Discrimination on grounds of language - Interest of the service - Proportionality)

(C/2024/3764)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: French Republic (represented by: T. Stéhelin, B. Fodda and S. Royon, acting as Agents)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: G. Niddam, L. Vernier and I. Melo Sampaio, acting as Agents)

Interveners in support of the applicant: Kingdom of Belgium (represented by: C. Pochet, M. Van Regemorter and S. Baeyens, acting as Agents), Hellenic Republic (represented by: V. Baroutas, acting as Agent), Italian Republic (represented by: G. Palmieri, acting as Agent, and P. Gentili, avvocato dello Stato)

Re:

By its action based on Article 263 TFEU, the applicant seeks annulment of notice of open competition EPSO/AD/400/22 entitled ‘Administrators (AD 7) and experts (AD 9) in the fields of defence industry and space’ (OJ 2022 C 233 A, p. 1).

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1.	Annuls the notice of open competition EPSO/AD/400/22 entitled ‘Administrators (AD 7) and experts (AD 9) in the fields of defence industry and space’;

2.	Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the French Republic;

3.	Orders the Kingdom of Belgium, the Hellenic Republic and the Italian Republic to bear their own costs.

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(1)   OJ C 408, 24.10.2022.