General Court finds no fault in 2011 appointment procedure of EMA Executive Director
Complaint dismissed in its entirety
The General Court has ruled that there was no irregularity with the recruitment procedure and Professor Guido Rasi's subsequent appointment as Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in 2011.
The case was brought by a candidate in January 2012 appealing against the decision by the European Commission not to include him on the shortlist for the position of Executive Director of EMA.
As a result, the European Union Civil Service Tribunal annulled the European Commission's shortlist of potential candidates for the position of Executive Director in November 2014, and, as a consequence, also annulled the 2011 decision by EMA's Management Board to select Professor Rasi from the shortlist and appoint him as EMA Executive Director. Consequently, EMA had no Executive Director between November 2014 and November 2015. Former EMA Deputy Executive Director Andreas Pott had to step in to represent the Agency during this period, a new recruitment procedure was launched and Professor Rasi had to re-apply for the position of Executive Director. He was reappointed by the Management Board in October 2015.
The ruling by the General Court follows successful appeals of the European Commission and EMA against the judgment of the European Union Civil Service Tribunal. The General Court considered the pleas in law that had not been examined by the European Union Civil Service Tribunal in the first instance judgment.
Having considered all aspects of the case, the General Court dismissed the complaint in its entirety and ordered the complainant to bear all costs of the proceedings.
The Judgement of the General Court in Joined Cases T-495/16 RENVI and T-495/16 RENV II is available on the website of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Note
The General Court is the judicial body of first instance and a constituent part of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It hears actions taken against the institutions of the European Union by individuals and member states. The European Union Civil Service Tribunal was recently dissolved and all cases pending before it were transferred to the General Court.