european personnel selection office erik halskov director
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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?