Noonan v Commission: ECFI 28 Mar 1996

ECJ Any condition in a competition notice which prohibits candidates with a university degree from entering a competition for category C posts is unlawful – as is any decision of a selection board based on such a condition – because it is incompatible with the principle of equal treatment in conjunction with the first paragraph of Article 27 of the Staff Regulations, which provides inter alia that recruitment shall be directed to securing for the institution the services of officials of the highest standard of ability, efficiency and integrity.
The fact that the appointing authority enjoys a wide discretion in choosing competition requirements is irrelevant. The choice to be made in the exercise of that power must always be governed by the requirements of the posts to be filled and, more generally, the interests of the service. There is no link at all, however, between the contested condition and those requirements or interests.
Likewise irrelevant are the conditions laid down in Article 5(1) of the Staff Regulations and the requirements in Article 1(1) of Annex III to the Staff Regulations. Article 5(1), which lays down the minimum education and experience required for each staff category neither requires nor authorizes the application of a criterion which excludes candidates from a competition solely on the ground that they have a higher level of education than a particular maximum determined inter alia by the minimum for a category higher than that to which the competition relates. As regards Article 1(1) of Annex III, which lists the requirements to be stated in competition notices, it is evident that it does not relate to the diplomas and other evidence of formal qualifications possession of which entails exclusion of the holder from the competition, and that it also says nothing of the choice to be made by the appointing authority as regards the precise nature of the qualifications which may be required for a particular competition.

Citations:

T-60/92

Citing:

See AlsoNoonan v Commission ECFI 16-Sep-1993
Officials – Admissibility – Action challenging a decision of a selection board applying the conditions laid down in a competition notice. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

European

Updated: 16 May 2022; Ref: scu.172580