The European Commission cannot restrict the choice of a second language to English, German or French in its recruitment process, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled Thursday.
To get certain jobs in EU bodies, candidates have to go through a series of competitive tests — so-called EPSO competitions — if they satisfy a number of conditions. These include being fluent in one of the bloc’s 24 languages, and having a good knowledge of either English, French or German, described as the “main working languages in the EU institutions.”
But the top court said that was unlawful, siding with Italy and Spain, which had taken the Commission to court.
“It was not demonstrated that that restriction was justified by the interests of the service in recruiting staff who are immediately operational,” the court ruled.
It upheld a previous decision from the General Court, which ruled that restricting second languages to English, German and French amounted to a “difference in treatment based on language” which was “not objectively justified.”
Both courts found no evidence that “all three languages described as ‘procedural languages’ are actually used by the Commission services, the Court of Auditors and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) in their daily work.”
The case pitted the European Commission against two of the largest EU member countries, Italy and Spain. The result is a win for the latter, as it will likely increase the chances of Spanish and Italian nationals landing Commission jobs.
