Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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1. Officials - Actions - Interest in bringing an action - Action, by a candidate for a vacant post, for annulment of the appointment of another candidate - Admissibility - Conditions - Objective possibility of the candidate being appointed

(Staff Regulations, Arts 90 and 91)

2. Officials - Recruitment - Vacancy notice - Purpose - Examination of applications in relation to the conditions of the notice - Discretion of the administration - Limits - Compliance with conditions laid down in the vacancy notice

(Staff Regulations, Art. 4)

3. Officials - Promotion - Discretion of the administration - Review by the Court - Limits

(Staff Regulations, Art. 45)

Summary

1. Whilst it is true that an official who has submitted an application for a vacant post has no legitimate interest in securing annulment of the appointment of another candidate for that post if he himself cannot validly claim to be eligible for it, the position is different in the case of an official who meets the requirements of the vacancy notice and whose merits make him eligible for the post in question.

2. The essential function of the vacancy notice is to give those interested the most accurate information possible about the conditions of eligibility for the post in order to enable them to judge whether they should apply for it. The vacancy notice thus constitutes the legal framework which the appointing authority imposes on itself so that, if it discovers that the conditions laid down by the vacancy notice are more exacting than the needs of the service demand, it is entitled to re-open the promotion procedure by withdrawing the original vacancy notice and putting an amended one in its place.

3. In order to evaluate the interests of the service and the merits to be taken into account for the purposes of a promotion decision provided for in Article 45 of the Staff Regulations, the appointing authority is vested with a wide discretion and, in that sphere, the review by the Community judicature is limited to whether, having regard to the various considerations which have influenced the administration in making its assessment, it has remained within reasonable bounds and has not used its authority in a manifestly incorrect manner.

In that regard, the exercise of the discretion vested in the appointing authority calls for careful examination of the files and meticulous regard to the requirements laid down in the vacancy notice, that discretion being moderated by the obligation to examine with care and impartiality all the information relevant to each application.