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

EPSOselects candidates

***

European Institutionsrecruit 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 €

EXAMPLESEUR 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

Legal basis

Published in the Official Journal

Category, grade, field

Basic and Specific requirements

Expiry date for application etc.

Notice of competition

Competition structure 1. Pre-selection tests 

All applicants

2. Written section Fixed number

3. Oral examination Fixed number

Knowledge in specialist field

EU-knowledge

General aptitude:

Verbal & Numerical reasoning

All pre-selection tests in Second language

Pre-selection tests

Multiple-choice questions

Essay in specialist field

Written section

Interview

Interview with Selection board

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

Reserve listList of successful candidates

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

European Parliament13%

European Ombudsman0%

Council9%

European Commission70%

European Court of Justice3%

Court of Auditors2%

Economical and Social Committee

2%

Committee of Regions1%

Actual staff per institution

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

Commission Staff 2005

Recruitment to Commission 2004

Staff getting status of permanent official in 2004

Staff with status of ”probationer” in 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 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

A1

A2

A3

A4

A5

A6

A7

A8

New structure1 2 3 4 5

16

15

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

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 Assistant working for example as:

AD 11 AST 11Personal assistant (p.a.); clerical officer;

technical officer; IT officerHead 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

Translator; interpreter; economist; lawyer; medical officer; veterinary inspector; scientist; researcher; financial officer, auditor

AD 8 AST 8Senior clerk; senior documentalist; senior

technician; senior IT operativeAD 7 AST 7

Junior translator; junior interpreter; junior economist; junior lawyer; junior medical officer; junior veterinary inspector; junior scientist; junior researcher; junior financial officer, junior auditor

AD 6 AST 6Clerk; documentalist; technician; IT

operativeAD 5 AST 5

    AST 4Junior clerk; junior documentalist; junior

technician, junior IT operative    AST 3

    AST 2 Filing clerk; technical attendant; IT attendant, Parliamentary usher.    AST 1

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 Officehttp://europa.eu.int/epso

QUESTIONS?