European Personnel Selection Office Erik Halskov Director

European Personnel Selection Office Erik Halskov Director

The European Communities Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) n n Legally established by decision of the EU institutions on 26 July 2002. Fully operational 1 January 2003 Mission: to organize open competitions to select highly qualified staff for recruitment to all institutions of the European Union

EPSO selects candidates *** European Institutions recruit selected candidates

European Institutions n n n n European Parliament Council European Commission Court of Justice Court of Auditors European Economic & Social Committee of the Regions European Ombudsman

EPSO Resources n n n Today: 140 staff Own premises: Av. de Cortenbergh 80 in Brussels : close to all European Institutions Annual budget : 22 million €

EXAMPLES EUR 2 (Bulgaria and Romania) n Translators (AD 5) n Interpreters (AD 5) EUR 2 and EUR 10 n Administrators – EPA, Law, Economics, Audit (AD 5) n Secretaries (AST 1)

Structure of presentation n Selection n Recruitment n Career

Selection

Permanent Officials n Employed and taxed by EU n Separate social security system n Longterm employment security n Salary according to fixed salary table n Recruitment through open competitions n Reform of working conditions as of 1 May 2004

Categories of staff AD – Administrators Former A and LA (administrators, managers, linguists) AST – Assistants Former B (administrative assistants) and C (secretaries)

BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR “AD” CATEGORY n University degree n EU citizen n Knowledge of 2 EU languages n Specific requirements for each competition

Notice of competition n Legal basis n Published in the Official Journal n Category, grade, field n Basic and Specific requirements n Expiry date for application etc.

Competition structure 1. Pre-selection tests All applicants 2. Written section Fixed number 3. Oral examination Fixed number

Pre-selection tests Multiple-choice questions n Knowledge in specialist field n EU-knowledge n General aptitude: Verbal & Numerical reasoning All pre-selection tests in Second language

Written section n Essay in specialist field Interview n Interview with Selection board

Reserve list List of successful candidates n Competition finalized by establishment of the Reserve list n Institutions recruit from these lists / EPSO act as “clearing house” n No guaranteed recruitment n Normally at least a year from application to start of recruitment

How to apply? n Application period normally starts when the Notice of competition is published n No regular cycle of competitions n Registration for most competitions on-line n All details on the web site http: //europa. eu. int/epso

MYTHS n No age limit for EU competitions No national quotas (though we work to indicative recruitment targets for enlargement competitions) n

Recruitment

Actual staff per institution Committee of Regions 1% Economical and Social Committee 2% Court of Auditors 2% European Court of Justice 3% European Parliament 13% European Ombudsman 0% Council 9% European Commission 70%

Commission Staff 2005 Number Percentage Permanent Officials 20 170 78 Temporary Agents 1 570 6 Auxiliaries 2 130 8 Contract Agents 950 4 National Experts 950 4 Total 25 770 100

Recruitment to Commission 2004 A* Staff getting status Staff with status of of permanent ”probationer” in official in 2004 440 1183 B* 166 475 C* 146 203 Total 752 1861

Career

A new career system Objective: Officials producing good results must be able to progress - both in their career and in terms of pay - until retirement n Two basic categories: Assistants and Administrators n Entrance requirements raised for AST: no officials without upper secondary education and three years of professional experience n New career structure: more grades and less function groups n Promotion on merit n Career transition facilitated

Old structure 1 A 2 A 3 A 4 A 5 A 6 A 7 A 8 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

New structure 1 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 2 3 4 5

Career structure (cont. ) function group AD function group AST Director-General AD 16 Director-General/ Director AD 15 Administrator working for example as: Director / Head of unit / Adviser / linguistic expert; economic expert; legal expert; medical expert; veterinary expert; scientific expert; research expert; financial expert, audit expert AD 14 Head of Unit/Adviser/linguistic expert; economic expert; legal expert; medical expert; veterinary expert; scientific expert; research expert; financial expert, audit expert AD 13 Head of Unit/principal translator, principal interpreter, principal economist; principal lawyer; principal medical officer; principal veterinary inspector; principal scientist; principal researcher; principal financial officer, principal audit officer AD 12 AD 11 AST 11 Head of Unit/senior translator; senior interpreter; senior economist ; senior lawyer; senior medical officer; senior veterinary inspector; senior scientist; senior researcher; senior financial officer, senior audit officer AD 10 AST 10 AD 9 AST 9 AD 8 AST 8 AD 7 AST 7 AD 6 AST 6 AD 5 AST 5 AST 4 AST 3 AST 2 AST 1 Translator; interpreter; economist; lawyer; medical officer; veterinary inspector; scientist; researcher; financial officer, auditor Junior translator; junior interpreter; junior economist; junior lawyer; junior medical officer; junior veterinary inspector; junior scientist; junior researcher; junior financial officer, junior auditor Assistant working for example as: Personal assistant (p. a. ); clerical officer; technical officer; IT officer Senior clerk; senior documentalist; senior technician; senior IT operative Clerk; documentalist; technician; IT operative Junior clerk; junior documentalist; junior technician, junior IT operative Filing clerk; technical attendant; IT attendant, Parliamentary usher.

Appraisal and promotion Speed of career determined by annual appraisals n Appraisal: Merit- and priority points for achievement of objectives and demonstration of competencies and conduct n Merit and priority points accumulate over the years n the threshold fixed reached: Promotion

Training n Increased training budget as result of reform n Increased focus on management training n n n Language training, knowledge of 3 rd language before first promotion Training to be set up before transfer from function group AST to AD Inter-institutional co-ordination of certain training via European Administrative School

Pay and Pension (officials) PAY n Basic monthly salary for AD 5 (step 1): 3837€ n Basic monthly salary for AD 14 (step 5): 13193€ n Family allowances: Household allowance, Dependent child allowance, Education allowance n Expatriation allowance PENSION n Normal retirement age 65, but right stay until 67 n Full pension rights 70% of final basic salary n Flexible retirement provisions from 55 years of age

Improved flexibility as result of reform Objective: Reconcile family and career Flexible working arrangements n New flexitime arrangements n Access to part time - and telework easier n Maternity leave of 20 weeks n Parental leave of six months n

Website http: //europa. eu. int/epso The EPSO website is maintained in three official languages (German, English and French) n

European Personnel Selection Office http: //europa. eu. int/epso QUESTIONS?