WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2556/97 by Harald ETTL to the Commission. Discriminatory age limits in the advertising of posts in EU institutions
Date: 1997-07-24
Institutions: ETTL, European Parliament
Subjects: Council of the European Union, EU initiative, EU institution, European civil service, European official, admission to examinations, anti-discriminatory measure, competition (EU), older worker, recruitment

C 82/106

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

17. 3. 98

(98/C 82/174)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2556/97

by Harald Ettl (PSE) to the Commission

(24 July 1997)

Subject: Discriminatory age limits in the advertising of posts in EU institutions

In the EU employment debate the blame is very often laid at the door of the individual, mobility and lifelong
learning  being  described  as  the  panacea  for  unemployment.  The  EU  institutions  in  particular  should  set  an
example in this context by refraining from the practice of imposing discriminatory age limits as a requirement for
admission to the EU(cid:146)s service and taking suitable initiatives to create skilled jobs in the EU sphere for anyone,
male or female, of any age.

1.
Is  it  true  that  some  notifications  of  vacant  posts  in  the  European  institutions  impose  an  age  limit
(Notification of Open Competition EUR/A/121 published by the Council of the European Union, the Economic
and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions in OJ C 363 A, 3.12.1996)?

2. What objective arguments for the discriminatory exclusion of older people from working and professional
life are advanced when, on the one hand, the people concerned still have 20 or more years of working life before
them and, on the other hand, programmes for the integration of older people into the labour market indicate a
different policy?

3.

How is this inconsistency justified?

4. What suitable initiatives have been taken by the EU institutions to create skilled jobs in the EU sphere for
anyone, male or female, of any age?

(98/C 82/175)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2720/97

by Susan Waddington (PSE) to the Commission

(1 September 1997)

Subject: Age discrimination in recruitment › Amsterdam Draft Treaty

Given that the Amsterdam Draft Treaty text includes a new Article 6a, which provides for Community action (cid:145)to
combat  discrimination  based  on  sex,  racial  or  ethnic  origin,  religion  or  belief,  disability,  age  or  sexual
orientation(cid:146), what effect does the Commission envisage that this article will have on its own recruitment practices
that incorporate age limits, once Treaty ratification has been completed?

Will this prospect now lead the Commission to remove the use of age barriers in its recruitment?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-2556/97 and E-2720/97
given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(22 September 1997)

In reply to questions 1, 2 and 3, the Commission confirms that there is an agreement between the Community
institutions to apply a general age limit of 35 for admission to competitions for starting grades. There are several
reasons  for  applying  age  limits,  and  they  have  virtually  all  been  aired  in  the  answers  given  to  parliamentary
questions.

Nevertheless,  as  indicated  in  the  answer  to  Question  E-1623/97  by  Mr  Alex  Smith (1),  the  Commission  has
started taking a more flexible approach to age limits for recruitment.

The Board of the Heads of Administrative Departments have begun preliminary talks with a view to adopting a
common approach to be applied by all European institutions. Discussions will resume early in the autumn.