WRITTEN QUESTION P-1350/98

by Ernesto Caccavale (UPE) to the Commission

(27 April 1998)

Subject: Discrimination in open competitions COM/A/8/98 and COM/A/11/98

The notice of open competition for administrators (A6/A7) and assistant administrators (A8) at the European Commission was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities of 31 March 1998. The first of the two competitions, at the higher level, is for those who not only have a university degree, but have also had experience in the relevant field, whilst the second only requires a degree. However, there is a further requirement for access to the competition, namely that the degree must have been obtained after 4 May 1995. The previous notice of competition was published in 1993.

This means that, paradoxically, a person who is looking for his or her first job or is unemployed but who graduated before 4 May 1995 cannot apply to work as an A8 or as an A6/A7 at the Commission. Furthermore, anyone who graduated after 1993 would have been unable to take part in the previous competition.

Can the Commission:

1. say what steps it intends to take to put an end to this obvious discrimination;

2. if not, state fully and clearly the reasons why unemployed young people who graduated after 1993 and before 4 May 1995 cannot benefit from the equality of opportunities so widely publicized by the Commission in information campaigns paid for by the citizens of Europe;

3. finally, say who will bear all the administrative and legal costs of the vast numbers of appeals which will very probably be lodged against the provisions which exclude applications from graduates who at present do not qualify to be admitted to the competition?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(19 May 1998)

On 31 March 1998 the Commission published notices of open competitions for economics/statistics, external relations/management of aid to non-member countries and law/European public administration. For the economics/statistics and law/European public administration fields, the competitions are being organised at A8 and A7/A6 levels; for external relations/management of aid to non-member countries, they are being organised solely at A7/A6 level.

These competitions have been designed to attract potential candidates of the highest calibre in terms of both university qualifications and relevant professional experience. Candidates for the A7/A6 competitions are required to have at least three years' experience after graduating, at least two of them relevant to the chosen field. Candidates for the A8 competitions, where no experience is required, must have obtained the degree giving access to the competition after 4 May 1995; this is to ensure that recent graduates apply, for they can share with the Commission the benefit of the latest developments in the subjects they have studied. The Commission uses these competitions to secure a balance between recruits with proven experience and those just out of university.

It is true that there may be people who did not have the required experience or obtained their degree before the cut-off date. But it should be borne in mind that the notices of competition provide for work placements and periods of specialist or further training, as well as additional periods of training, studies or research preparing for the duties to be performed, as specified in the notice, to count as experience. This is to enable candidates to apply who have no actual experience but have pursued further studies or vocational training, especially in the fields covered by the competition.

The Commission recruits to meet its staffing needs, and not on an annual basis; when competitions are organised, they may not necessarily be accessible to everyone who has graduated since the previous competition. It is also worth remembering that competitions like the ones in question attract a vast number of candidates: there were 55 000 applications last time round.

To conclude, the Commission considers that the notices of competition to which the Honourable Member refers are such as to attract candidates with the profiles best suited to its requirements and that all eligible candidates can count on equal treatment.