EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/101

(2004/C 78 E/0101)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2291/03

by Marjo Matikainen-Kallström (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 July 2003)

Subject: Equal treatment of Member States in recruiting EU officials

Equality and equal treatment of Member States are among the most important principles governing the activities of the European Union. At present, these principles are not adhered to in filling the top posts. Finland is the only EU Member State which does not have a single one of its nationals in an EU Director-General's post. Yet there is no shortage of capable Finnish candidates for A1 posts with the EU.

In Finland this situation is regarded as unsatisfactory and it is liable to damage the EU's whole image in the eyes of the people of Finland. The protracted dispute about the seat of the Food Standards Agency has also damaged confidence in the EU among Finns. As well as having no Directors-General, Finland still does not have any EU agency in its territory. In view of the forthcoming enlargement, the concerns felt by Finns are particularly acute at present.

Why is the principle of equality and of quotas not applied when selecting candidates for the most senior posts in EU officialdom? How and in accordance with what timetable will the Commission remedy the defect which exists in the filling of vacancies?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(23 September 2003)

The Commission can, of course, respond to the Honourable Member's question only in terms of this Institution. Any enquiries that she has about ‘EU Directors General posts’ in ‘EU officialdom’ elsewhere must be addressed to the administrations of the other Institutions.

The Commission does not apply quotas for its selection of officials, whether that selection is through open competition or for senior level posts. Paragraph 3 of Article 27 of the Staff Regulations specifies that ‘no posts shall be reserved for nationals of any specific Member State’.

Maintaining geographical balance is not only a policy objective and practise for the Commission as a multinational and multilingual public service, it is a requirement of the Staff Regulations of the European Communities, subject to the overriding consideration of merit. That is apparent from the wording of paragraph 1 of Article 27 of the Staff Regulations which states 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’.

The Court of First Instance has given a clear interpretation of this rule: under the Staff Regulations, merit and qualifications are the prime consideration and nationality considerations may be invoked only to distinguish between candidates whose qualifications are equivalent.

When taking office in September 1999 the Prodi Commission confirmed some clear general principles concerning Senior management posts, namely that:

— merit is the prime consideration in taking appointment decisions,

— every effort should be made to respect the need for a balance of nationalities in senior management positions, and

— every effort should be made to respect the need for a better balance of qualified women and men in the most senior posts in the Commission.

This policy has been applied since then, and all appointments have been made in full conformity with the Commission's commitment to these principles as reflected in its internal procedures for the selection and appointment of senior officials.

As to the representation of Finnish nationals at the A1 level, the fact that there is at the moment no Director General of Finnish nationality does not mean that the Commission is ignoring the principle of geographical balance in its senior management positions.

In fact, since June 2002, when the Commission appointed a Finnish national at A1 level as Deputy Director General in Directorate General Health and Consumer Protection, there have been two Finnish nationals holding A1 positions in the Commission. The relative numbers of nationals from Member States holding A1 positions can, of course, vary from time to time. For instance, the number of Finnish citizens who have A1 positions is currently larger than the number of citizens in A1 posts from other Member States of similar or larger population size.

There is no ‘timetable’ determining the appointments to senior posts other than the one established by the policy which this Commission has implemented of requiring all Directors General, Deputy Directors General and Directors to ‘rotate’ to equivalent positions in not more than 5 — or, in particular circumstances and at an absolute maximum — 7 years. Other than in these general rotations — which do not mean automatic or guaranteed movement from one Director Generalship to another — vacancies in those senior posts are filled as they arise.

In making appointments, whether in the course of ‘rotations’ or otherwise, the Commission is, of course, continually mindful of the principle of geographical and gender balance whilst maintaining the essential commitment to merit.

Decisions on the location of EU agencies are, as the Honourable Member will know, nothing to do with the Commission. Those decisions are entirely taken by the Heads of State and Government in the European Council.