Brussels, 01/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - In a ruling issued on 31 March 2011 in case T-117/08, the European Court of First Instance has cancelled the call for applications for the post of secretary general of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), published back in December 2007.
EESC president Staffan Nilsson reacted by pointing out that the cancellation was not connected with the appointment of the secretary general, which still stands and who has been working since that time, but is a technical issue about the fact that the job advert was only issued in three official EU languages. Nilsson explained that the EESC would now examine the European General Court's decision and that it was the EESC's political bureau that has the power to appoint staff. The bureau will examine the decision at its meeting on 12 April 2011.
The job advert and a corrigendum relating to it were only published in English, French and German in Official Journal C-316 A of 28 December 2007 and C-28A of 30 January 2008 but Italy (backed by Spain) lodged a complaint on 11 March 2008 about the languages used. The European General agreed in part with Italy's arguments that language-based discrimination among potential candidates runs counter to Article 12 of the European treaty. (F.G./transl.fl)