EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/798

(2004/C 84 E/0894)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0479/04

by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(23 February 2004)

Subject: Commission open competitions

Regarding the open competition for Commission vacancies, what criteria are used to select successful candidates?

Do these criteria include the nationality of the candidate?

Does the Commission have targets for the number of successful candidates from each Member State? If so, what are these targets now and also after the enlargement of the EU?

Could the Commission provide the results of the successful candidates for the open competition by nationality for 2001, 2002 and 2003?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(18 March 2004)

Commission vacancies are first published internally in order to provide the possibility of internal mobility for existing officials. If this publication does not result in the identification of a suitable internal candidate or candidates, recourse can then be made to the results of open competitions.

Successful candidatures from these competitions are assessed in order to identify those whose profile corresponds the most closely to the requirements of the vacancy notice which is based on the job description of the post concerned. The criteria used are the field covered by the competition (e.g. law, economics etc.), the candidates' education/professional training and professional experience and, where appropriate, linguistic knowledge.

The basis of recruitment is set out in Article 27 of the Staff Regulations, which provides that:

Recruitment shall be directed to securing for the institution the services of officials of the highest standard of ability, efficiency and integrity, recruited on the broadest possible geographical basis from among nationals of Member States of the Communities.

Officials shall be selected without distinction as to race, political, philosophical or religious beliefs, sex or sexual orientation and without reference to their marital status or family situation.

No posts shall be reserved for nationals of any specific Member State.

As is made clear by the last sentence of this article, the Commission cannot reserve or earmark a post for successful candidates of a specific nationality and thus make the nationality of a candidate one of the determining factors for the selection of a person for this post. However, the Institutions, including the Commission, must also be mindful of their obligation to recruit on ‘ … the broadest possible geographical basis …’. This means that the Institutions try to ensure that there is a reasonable number of nationals of each Member State working within the Institutions. The Court of First Instance has given a clear interpretation of this rule (1): under the Staff Regulations, nationality considerations may be invoked only to distinguish between candidates whose qualifications are substantially equivalent.

A Council Regulation can derogate from the provisions of the Staff Regulations, for example in order to permit the filling of vacant posts by the appointment of candidates of specific nationalities. Such ‘derogation regulations’ have traditionally been adopted by the Council on the occasion of the accession of new Member States. That is the case with the present enlargement where the Council is in the process of adopting a Regulation which will provide that, ‘ … until 31 December 2010 vacant posts may be filled, within the limit of the number allotted, taking into account budgetary discussions, by appointment of nationals of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia after the actual date of accession of the countries concerned’. The Council Regulation thus aims to provide for a fair and balanced representation of the nationals of the 10 new Member States in the staff of the Institutions.

The Commission does not have ρ re-determined targets for the number of successful candidates, by nationality, for existing Member States. It is only in the context of enlargement that such overall targets for recruitment are established (see below). In this instance, the Commission decided (2), on the basis of objective criteria (population size, weighted vote in Council, number of seats of a Member State in Parliament) and a clear methodology, that nationals of the new Member States should hold 3 441 posts by the end of the transition period (that is December 2010) set out in the Council Regulation. The results of reference to the criteria and methodology are seen in the indicative recruitment targets that have been published:

Indicative recruitment targets

Total staff Malta 83 Cyprus 110 Estonia 117 Slovenia 134 Latvia 155 Lithuania 241 Slovakia 279 Hungary 489 Czech Republic 492 Poland 1 341 Total 3 441

It should be noted that achievement of these indicative targets is and will depend on the budgetary authority confirming that the additional resources required to meet the measured needs arising from enlargement of the Union by 10 Member States will be granted. If the establishment plan is not increased year on year according to the forecasts of needs, the share of posts for nationals of new Member States' would obviously have to be decreased accordingly with consequent implications for overall performance of the Commission.

The results of successful candidatures in open competitions by nationality for 2001, 2002 and 2003 are given in the annexe which is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat.

(1) Decision 22/03/1995 Kotzonis/CES (T-586/93, Rec. p. II-665, RecFP p. II-203).

(2) Communication of 19 February 2003, C (2003) 436.