EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/633

(2004/C 84 E/0711)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0588/04

by Antonio Tajani (PPE-DE), Giuseppe Gargani (PPE-DE) and Stefano Zappalà (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(26 February 2004)

Subject: Appointment and promotion of senior Commission officials

According to official bulletins issued by the main trade unions representing staff at the Commission, the latter is planning to appoint both officials from the Commissioners' offices and political advisers to the President (be they internal or external to the Commission) to top posts within the directorates-general, thereby enabling them (through a misuse of the procedure referred to in Article 29(2) of the Staff Regulations concerning external recruitment) to make a ‘career jump’ of a kind which is not possible under the normal promotion procedure laid down in the Staff Regulations. This would be injurious to the Commission's staff, who are required to follow the standard procedure.

Such a policy could also be seen as an attempt by the Commission President and the outgoing Commissioners to move — without justification — into new spheres of power within the Commisssion structure, in blatant disregard for the need for sufficient room to be left for the acceding countries and for the new Commission (which will assume office in November 2004) to be allowed to appoint the heads of its directorates-general itself. It should be borne in mind that the current Commission has already replaced 50 of the 60 or so directors-general and 140 of the 200-odd directors.

In the light of the above, will the Commission consider:

1. informing the staff and their representatives of the action it intends to take pursuant to Article 29(2) of the Staff Regulations and — in any event — not applying that article for the benefit of Commissioner office staff and the President's political advisers?

2. not recruiting staff from outside until it has exhausted the possibility of recruiting from within its own ranks?

3. creating new posts for officials from the acceding countries, so as not to frustrate the legitimate expectations of officials who are already in service?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(6 April 2004)

1. In preparation for the forthcoming enlargement and for implementation of the new Staff Regulations a Communication of 18 February 2004 (1) set out the Commission's intentions relating to the appointment of senior officials. That Communication already provides answers to several of the points raised in the Honourable Members' question. In addition, the main points of this Communication were the subject of a press release (2) and were also immediately notified to staff on the Commission's intranet. The Commission can confirm that, to provide further information to the staff and its representatives, procedures for filling vacant posts will be notified in advance in line with the regulatory provisions. This applies to all procedures for filling vacant posts under Article 29 of the Staff Regulations. All of the vacancy notice publication provisions will continue to be observed in full. Staff serving in Commissioners' offices will be considered for any vacant post only if they meet the requirements stipulated in the relevant vacancy notice. They will therefore not be treated differently from any other official (in the case of a procedure under Article 29(1)) or qualified citizen of the Union (if the vacancy notice is also published for the purposes of an Article 29(2) procedure). It would of course be illegal for the Commission to exclude someone from a selection procedure merely because he or she was working in a Commissioner's office. The Commission attaches great importance to selection procedures that, through their rigour and transparency, give clear indications as to who appear to be the best-qualified candidates.

2. Posts can be filled under Article 29(2) of the Staff Regulations only if the possibilities for internal recruitment, i.e. from the European Institutions, have been fully assessed and the Commission confirms that this requirement will continue to be scrupulously observed. Simultaneous publication both internally (Article 29(1)) and externally (Article 29(2)) is exceptional and done periodically solely in the interests of not delaying the recruitment procedure when there is a significant probability that suitable candidates are to be found outside the Institution (for example when specialised profiles are required). Using such a facility does not compromise adherence to the principle that the appointing authority (i.e. the Commission) examines the internal applications before the external applications.

3. In its Communication of 18 February 2004, the Commission indicated the numbers and nature of the Al, A2 and middle management posts to be reserved for nationals of the new Member States. Additional posts have been granted by the budget authority and the expectations of serving officials will, consequently, not be negatively affected. The Commission has always upheld the principle of reserving for nationals of acceding countries a number of posts that is the same as the additional number received by the Institution so that post-enlargement needs can be met. This approach allows smooth integration of officials from the new Member States and ensures that serving officials are not disadvantaged.

(1) SEC(2004)217/2.

(2) IP/04/2009.