WRITTEN QUESTION P-0200/00

by Reinhard Rack (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(31 January 2000)

Subject: Posts at the European Commission reserved for Austrian nationals Grade A2 (to be specified as such)

Late in 1999, the European Commission organised a competition with a view to the filling of three posts of director reserved for Austrian nationals. At the end of the subsequent selection procedure, only one of the three posts was actually filled. In the procedure for the filling of the post of director in the Directorate for Citizenship and Youth in the Directorate-General for Education and Culture, the Advisory Committee on Appointments put forward to the appointing authority the names of two candidates who duly fulfilled all the requirements for the relevant posts. Nevertheless, the Commission subsequently decided not to take the procedure for the filling of the post any further. In the third selection procedure, the Advisory Committee on Appointments failed to come up with any proposal whatsoever.

Why did the Commission decide not to take any further the procedure for the filling of the post of director in the Directorate for Citizenship and Youth, even though the names of two duly qualified candidates were put forward?

What was the cost to the European taxpayer in terms of material costs, competition costs, allowances and the like and infrastructure costs of the selection procedure, which was abandoned half way through in the circumstances described above?

Why did the selection procedure for the filling of the post of director in the Directorate for Audit and Control not result in any proposals for appointment being made? What was the cost of the procedure?

Are the two unfilled posts of director still reserved for Austrian nationals? If not, why not?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(13 March 2000)

The Commission notes the concern expressed by the Honourable Member regarding the fact that two posts of Director (in the Directorate general for Education and culture and the Directorate General for Financial Control) were not filled by Austrian nationals.

The Commission would confirm that, under the exceptional arrangements introduced in accordance with the Council decision reserving posts for the three new Member States (Austria, Finland and Sweden), the posts in question had been intended for Austrian nationals. The procedure for filling these posts was carried out transparently, and in compliance with the new provisions on appointments to posts in grades A1 and A2, which the Commission approved in its decision of 18 September 1999.

In the case of the A2 post in the Directorate General for Education and Culture the procedure under which all applications received following the publication of a vacancy notice are examined resulted in an opinion issued by the Consultative Committee on Appointments for the attention of the Appointing Authority which meant that two candidates were shortlisted. The Consultative Committee on Appointments shortlisted none of the candidates for the A2 post in the Directorate General for Financial Control having found that none of the career profiles matched the qualifications stipulated in the vacancy notice.

The Commission would point out that, in its capacity as the Appointing Authority, it is responsible for the final selection of candidates to fill vacant A1 and A2 posts. It confirms that, in the cases raised by the Honourable Member, it was regrettably unable to find a satisfactory match between the candidates' career profiles and the qualifications required for the two posts of Director. The Commission accordingly decided to relaunch the two selection procedures, which will be advertised again. The Commission can confirm that these two posts will no longer be reserved for Austrian nationals, since the exceptional arrangements relating to recruitment from the new Member States ended on 31 December 1999.

The Commission can inform the Honourable Member that the costs of organising these two selection procedures were 4 117. The interviewing of 10 candidates for the post of Director in the Directorate General for Education and Culture cost 2 482 (hire of a videoconferencing studio in Vienna for five candidates, 1 591, and travel expenses for interviewing five candidates in Brussels 891) while the interviewing of six candidates in Brussels for the post of Director in the Directorate General for Financial Control cost 1 635 in travel expenses.