WRITTEN QUESTION E-1794/99 by Michiel van Hulten (PSE) to the Commission. Article in HP De Tijd of 27 August 1999 concerning the Commission's traineeship programme.
Date: 1999-10-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Commission, European official, operation of the Institutions, traineeship

C 170 E/102

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.6.2000

(2000/C 170 E/118)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1794/99

by Michiel van Hulten (PSE) to the Commission

(11 October 1999)

Subject: Article in HP De Tijd of 27 August 1999 concerning the Commission(cid:146)s traineeship programme

Is the Commission aware of the article entitled (cid:145)Dad, I(cid:146)ve learnt how to lobby(cid:146), which appeared in the

1.
Dutch weekly HP De Tijd on 27 August 1999 concerning the Commission(cid:146)s traineeship programme?

Is there any truth in the claim made by Ms Dabertrand, a former trainee on the programme, that
2.
trainees in the Commission(cid:146)s Secretariat-General are allowed to take decisions on (cid:145)applications for small
grants of up to € 50 000(cid:146)? If so, what do such applications relate to, and how many applications per year
are involved?

3.
Is there any truth in Ms Dabertrand(cid:146)s claim that applications for grants are automatically rejected if
applicants supply (cid:145)too much(cid:146) information or write outside the spaces provided, or if they are not written in
the applicant(cid:146)s own language? If so, which applications have been treated in this way? Are the applicants
aware that their applications have been rejected for reasons that have to do with formalities?

4.
It also appears from the article that the selection procedure does not include testing of the knowledge
of languages trainees have indicated on their CVs. It also appears that trainees are placed in the various
Commission departments mainly on the basis of passport photographs. Does the Commission intend to
alter the trainee selection procedure so that it is based solely on proven abilities and is not based on
passport photographs?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(10 November 1999)

1.
The Commission is grateful to the Honourable Member for drawing its attention to the article in
HP De Tijd. The Commission very much regrets that a number of its officials and trainees have been
wilfully misquoted and misrepresented by this article. Several of the trainees mentioned in the article have
indicated to the Commission their intention to protest in the strongest possible terms to the weekly in
question since the remarks and actions attributed to them are in most cases pure fiction.

2. Ms Dabertrand has subsequently been interviewed by her former head of unit. The claim attributed
to her but which she strenuously denies having made, that trainees in the Commission(cid:146)s Secretariat General
are allowed to take decisions on applications for small grants of up to € 50 000 is entirely untrue.
No trainee has ever been involved in any stage of the procedure for selecting grant applications.

3.
It is completely untrue that applications for grants are automatically rejected if applicants supply (cid:145)too
much(cid:146) information, write outside the spaces provided, or if they are not written in the applicant(cid:146)s own
language. Ms Dabertrand also denies having been the source of the misinformation.

4. With regard to the recruitment of its trainees, the Commission operates a rigorous and systematic
procedure for checking candidates(cid:146) applications. Applicants are selected on the basis of their academic
qualifications, any relevant experience and their linguistic skills. Every application is examined by
preselection groups for each nationality made up of experienced Commission officials of that nationality.
One of the many inaccuracies in the article relates to the candidates providing photographs during the
selection procedure. Candidates do not have to provide a photograph of themselves at any stage during the
recruitment process.