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GUIDE FOR APPLICANTS

(2004/C 177 A/01)

This guide is purely for your information. The only text binding on selection boards is the notice of competition, published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

The current issue of the Official Journal of the European Union contains the guide for applicants, the notice of competition, the application form, acknowledgement of the application form and a label.

This guide is intended to help you make your application correctly and inform you about the different stages of the competition.

The guide also contains information on the recruitment procedure.

A.   COMPETITIONS

I.   ELIGIBILITY

To take part in the competition, you must fulfil several conditions. The administration and the selection board will decide whether to admit you to the competition on the basis of the following criteria:

1.   Profile of candidates

Educational qualifications

The conditions relative to educational qualifications are adapted to all the education systems in the Member States (see sample qualifications in the Annex).

Minimum educational qualifications (some competitions may require more than these minimum qualifications — see the notice of competition for details):

Equivalent qualifications may be accepted - these will be assessed by the selection board on a case-by-case basis.

Professional experience

For some competitions, a minimum amount of professional experience is required. The relevant professional experience is deemed to start with the first position you occupied after obtaining the diploma or certificate required for admission to a competition.

Knowledge of languages

As a general rule, you must have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union (Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovakian, Slovene, Spanish or Swedish) and a satisfactory knowledge of a second one.

By their nature, some competitions are confined to people commanding a specified language or require particular language skills dictated by the duties to be carried out (refer to the competition notice).

2.   General conditions

You must:

II.   YOUR APPLICATION

Before sending in your application, you are advised to check carefully that you meet the eligibility conditions for the competition.

1.   Sending in your complete file

In order to be considered complete, applications must include all of the following:

2.   Details of education and qualifications (see notice of competition)

3.   Details of professional experience (see the notice of competition)

You must:

NB: If you are unable to provide an employer's reference for a particular period of employment, a photocopy of the relevant contract(s) of employment, together with photocopies of your first and last pay slip for the period(s) may replace the required documents.

For any unsalaried employment (such as self-employed or freelance activity in one of the liberal professions), we will accept copies of your tax returns or any other relevant official document.

III.   GENERAL PROCEDURE

1.   Selection board

2.   Tests

The nature of tests varies from one competition to another (see notice of competition).

As a general rule, the tests and/or written tests are held simultaneously for all applicants at all the designated test locations. Since this is a competition, no exceptions to this rule are permitted and no applicants may sit any of the tests at a different date or at a different place for any reason whatsoever.

The oral tests are generally held in Brussels, on the date given in the invitation letter. In cases of force majeure however, the selection board may consent to an applicant's request for a change of date.

If the competition has preselection tests, applicants are entitled to be sent, on request and within a month of the date of notification of their results, a copy of their answers together with a list of the correct answers. After the written tests, they may obtain, on request and within a month of the date of notification of their results, a copy of their written paper as well as a copy of their personal evaluation sheet including the selection board's remarks on their written test(s).

Candidates who give up during the tests will have none of their tests marked.

3.   Travelling and subsistence expenses

As a rule, no contribution will be made towards any travelling or subsistence expenses associated with the preselection and written test(s).

You may be entitled to a flat-rate contribution towards travelling and subsistence expenses once you are admitted to the oral test. You will be notified of the applicable rates and the procedure to follow when you are invited to attend.

4.   Reserve list

At the end of the competition, the selection board draws up a list of candidates it considers qualified for the vacant posts.

Please note that being included on the reserve list does not guarantee eventual employment.

B.   RECRUITMENT  (2)

Before being appointed to your post, you must undergo a compulsory medical examination designed to verify your capability to perform the duties associated with your position.

1.   Probation period

Successful candidates are initially recruited as probationer officials. Their appointment is not made permanent until they successfully complete the probation period (nine months).

2.   Categories and grades

Categories A*, B* and C* comprise the following posts:

3.   Pay and welfare benefits

(a)   Pay and reimbursement of expenses

The pay of officials consists of a basic salary supplemented with various allowances, including family allowances.

(b)   Community tax

The salaries of the officials of the European institutions are subject to a Community tax deducted at source. They are exempt from national tax. The European institutions have their own social security and pension schemes. The basic salary used for calculating net monthly pay, before any deductions or allowances, is indicated in the notice of competition.

(c)   Pre-school and school education for officials' children

There are European Schools at most of the main places of activity of the European institutions, providing infant, primary and secondary education in several language sections up to the level of European Baccalaureat. The education provided and the qualifications awarded by these Schools are recognised in all Member States.

There are also nursery facilities for children under school age.

The European Commission's ‘General horizontal Issues. Policy and recruitment of external staff’ unit of Directorate-General Personnel and Administration will be dealing with all candidates. If you need information, please see Title C, point 5 of the competition notice ‘HOW TO APPLY’.Any other correspondence should be addressed to: Chairman of the Selection Board for COM/AD/2/04 at the address given at Title C, point 5 of the competition notice.

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(1)  http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/personnel_administration/working_en.htm

(2)  The Council has adopted new staff regulations involving a new career structure: recruitment will be made in accordance with the arrangements set out, in particular, in Article 12 of Section 2 of Annex XIII of the new staff regulations (see website: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/personnel_administration/statut/tocen100.pdf).

(3)  The linguistic duties require a perfect command of one's main language (mother tongue or other) and a thorough knowledge of at least two other official languages of the European Union.

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ANNEX

EXAMPLES OF MINIMAL DIPLOMA REQUIREMENTS GIVING ACCESS  TO THE COMPETITION

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