European Parliament resolution on the special report from the European Ombudsman to the European Parliament following the own-initiative inquiry into the secrecy which forms part of the Commission's recruitment procedures  (C5-0082/2000 - 2000/2048 (COS))
Date: 2000-11-17
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: European Ombudsman, competition (EU), fact-finding mission, professional secret, recruitment

C 223/368

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

8.8.2001

Friday 17 November 2000

3. Special Report from the European Ombudsman on secrecy in Commission

recruitment

A5-0280/2000

European Parliament resolution on the special report from the European Ombudsman to the Eur-
opean Parliament following the own-initiative inquiry into the secrecy which forms part of the
Commission’s recruitment procedures (C5-0082/2000 ( 2000/2048 (COS))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the special report of the European Ombudsman (C5-0082/2000) (1),

(cid:1) having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 195

thereof,

(cid:1) having regard to Rules 47(1) and 179(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:1) having regard to its resolutions of 20 June 1996, 15 July 1997, 16 July 1998 and 15 April 1999 on

the role and activities of the European Ombudsman (2),

(cid:1) having regard to the report of the Committee on Petitions and the opinion of the Committee on Legal

Affairs and the Internal Market (A5-0280/2000),

A. whereas it is the duty of the Ombudsman, pursuant to the EC Treaty, to conduct on his own initiative,
or on the basis of reports received by him, and at his own discretion inquiries in connection with
mismanagement involving the activities of the bodies or Institutions of the Community, with the
exception of the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance in the pursuit of their judicial activ-
ities,

B. whereas, pursuant to Article 3(7) of the regulations and general conditions governing the performance
of his duties, the Ombudsman subsequently submits to the European Parliament and the relevant body
or Institution a report with appropriate recommendations,

C. whereas, in his special report on the recruitment procedures of the Commission, the Ombudsman
sought to recommend ways of ensuring ‘that citizens receive a positive impression when first encoun-
tering the Community Institutions’ (3),

D. whereas the Ombudsman confirms in his special report that the Commission has already implemented
three of the four recommendations addressed to it and states that no further inquiries are planned in
this matter,

E. whereas, following submission of his special report, the Ombudsman was informed by the Commis-
sion (4) that the Commission had agreed to implement the fourth recommendation forming the object
of the special report by granting candidates access to their marked examination scripts in competitions
to be organised from 1 July 2000 onwards,

F. whereas the special report of the Ombudsman is an excellent opportunity for an in-depth considera-

tion of all four recommendations made to the Commission,

Notes that the Ombudsman’s own-initiative inquiry is an appropriate example of the exercise of his

1.
mandate pursuant to Article 195 of the Treaty;

2.
Is appreciative of this special report of the Ombudsman, in particular with regard to improving the
impression which citizens, as candidates in recruitment procedures, have of the European Institutions;
points out that in the absence of more specific arrangements it is not possible, in principle, to deny can-
didates access to their marked examination scripts;

3.
Congratulates the Commission on its positive response to the recommendations of the Ombudsman
with regard to recruitment procedures; points out that the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal
Market has endorsed the Ombudsman’s view that candidates in Community recruitment procedures are
entitled to see their marked examination scripts;

(1) OJ C 371, 22.12.1999, p. 12.
(2) OJ C 198, 8.7.1996, p. 215; OJ C 286, 22.7.1997, p. 41; OJ C 292, 21.9.1998, p. 168; OJ C 219, 30.7.1999,

p. 456.

(3) See Special Report of the Ombudsman, Point C, 10th paragraph.
(4) See letter from Romano Prodi, President of the Commission, 7.12.1999.

8.8.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 223/369

Friday 17 November 2000

4.
Hopes that all other European bodies and Institutions will follow the example set by the Commission
and guarantee, in applying their recruitment procedures, the measure of transparency which candidates are
entitled to expect, pursuant to the principles of the Treaty, as citizens of the Union;

Calls on all the institutions and bodies of the European Communities to give candidates access to

5.
their own marked examination scripts upon request in their future recruitment competitions;

Points out that the principle of transparency must apply throughout the selection procedure and that

6.
implementing guidelines should therefore be drawn up providing for the following measures:

(a)

(b)

(c)

candidates should automatically be notified, promptly and in an appropriate form, of the evaluation
criteria;

in this connection the attention of candidates should be explicitly drawn to the possibility of
approaching the European Ombudsman in the event of an appeal;

candidates completing a multiple-choice test may take the text of the questions with them when they
leave the examination room unless the contents thereof are protected by copyright; the answers
should also be made available to candidates;

(d) posts for temporary and auxiliary officials with the bodies and institutions of the Community should
be published in the press and on the Internet to guarantee that the criteria of openness and transpar-
ency applicable to posts as officials apply to these posts, too;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to all bodies and Institutions of the European Union

7.
and the parliaments and governments of the Member States.

4. Provisional establishment of the European Police College (EPC) *

A5-0316/2000

Initiative of the Portuguese Republic with a view to adopting a Council Decision on the provi-
sional establishment of the European Police College (EPC) (9679/2000 ( C5-0373/2000 ( 2000/
0811(CNS))

The initiative was amended as follows:

TEXT PROPOSED
BY THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC (1)

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

(Amendment 2)
Recital 3a (new)

(3a) The Governing Board of the Association of Eur-
opean Police Colleges (AEPC), which has coordinated law
enforcement training activities for EU Member States and
the candidate countries since early 1996, issued a state-
ment on 20 September 2000 containing a number of
recommendations on the proposed creation of a European
Network of Police Colleges.

(Amendment 3)
Recital 4

(4)
It is desirable to develop quickly a relationship between
the European Police College and national training institutes in
Iceland, Norway and the States which have applied for accession to
the European Union so that the activities of the College can be
made accessible to them.

(4)
It is desirable to develop quickly a relationship between
the European Police College and national training institutes in
the candidate countries with which the European Union is
conducting accession negotiations, as well as in Iceland and
Norway, so that the activities of the College can be made acces-
sible to them.

(1) OJ C 206, 19.7.2000, p. 3.