Transcript European Personnel Selection office

European Personnel Selection Office
Erik Halskov
Director
The European Communities
Personnel Selection Office (EPSO)


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








European Parliament
Council
European Commission
Court of Justice
Court of Auditors
European Economic & Social
Committee
Committee of the Regions
European Ombudsman
EPSO Resources



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)
 Translators (AD5)
 Interpreters (AD5)
EUR 2 and EUR 10
 Administrators – EPA, Law, Economics, Audit
(AD5)
 Secretaries (AST1)
Structure of presentation

Selection

Recruitment

Career
Selection
Permanent Officials

Employed and taxed by EU

Separate social security system

Longterm employment security

Salary according to fixed salary table

Recruitment through open competitions

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

University degree

EU citizen

Knowledge of 2 EU languages

Specific requirements for each
competition
Notice of competition

Legal basis

Published in the Official Journal

Category, grade, field

Basic and Specific requirements

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

Knowledge in specialist field

EU-knowledge

General aptitude:
Verbal & Numerical reasoning
All pre-selection tests in Second language
Written section

Essay in specialist
field
Interview

Interview with Selection board
Reserve list
List of successful candidates

Competition finalized by establishment of the
Reserve list

Institutions recruit from these lists / EPSO act as
“clearing house”

No guaranteed recruitment

Normally at least a year from application to start
of recruitment
How to apply?

Application period normally starts when the
Notice of competition is published

No regular cycle of competitions

Registration for most competitions on-line

All details on the web site
http://europa.eu.int/epso
MYTHS


No age limit for EU competitions
No national quotas
(though we work to indicative
recruitment targets for enlargement
competitions)
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
20 170
78
Temporary Agents
1 570
6
Auxiliaries
2 130
8
Contract Agents
950
4
National Experts
950
4
25 770
100
Permanent Officials
Total
Recruitment to
Commission 2004
Staff getting status Staff with status of
of permanent
”probationer” in
official in 2004
2004
A*
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

Two basic categories: Assistants and Administrators

Entrance requirements raised for AST: no officials without
upper secondary education and three years of professional
experience

New career structure: more grades and less function groups

Promotion on merit

Career transition facilitated
Old structure
1
A1
A2
A3
A4
A5
A6
A7
A8
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
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:
AST 4
AST 3
AST 2
AST 1
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

Appraisal: Merit- and priority points for achievement
of objectives and demonstration of competencies and
conduct

Merit and priority points accumulate over the years

the threshold fixed reached: Promotion
Training

Increased training budget as result of reform

Increased focus on management training



Language training, knowledge of 3rd 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

Basic monthly salary for AD5 (step 1): 3837€

Basic monthly salary for AD14 (step 5): 13193€

Family allowances: Household allowance, Dependent child allowance,
Education allowance

Expatriation allowance
PENSION

Normal retirement age 65, but right stay until 67

Full pension rights 70% of final basic salary

Flexible retirement provisions from 55 years of age
Improved flexibility as result
of reform
Objective: Reconcile family and career





Flexible working arrangements
New flexitime arrangements
Access to part time - and telework easier
Maternity leave of 20 weeks
Parental leave of six months
Website
http://europa.eu.int/epso

The EPSO website is maintained
in three official languages
(German, English and French)
European Personnel Selection Office
http://europa.eu.int/epso
QUESTIONS?