2002/621/EC: Decision of the Secretaries-General of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, the Registrar of the Court of Justice, the Secretaries-General of the Court of Auditors, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, and the Representative of the European Ombudsman of 25 July 2002 on the organisation and operation of the European Communities Personnel Selection Office
Date: 2002-07-25
Institutions: Council of the European Union, Court of Justice of the European Union, European Commission, European Committee of the Regions, European Court of Auditors, European Economic and Social Committee, European Ombudsman, European Parliament, General Secretariat of the Council
Subjects: EPSO, operation of the Institutions

L 197/56

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

26.7.2002

DECISION OF THE SECRETARIES-GENERAL OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL
AND THE COMMISSION, THE REGISTRAR OF THE COURT OF JUSTICE, THE SECRETARIES-
GENERAL OF THE COURT OF AUDITORS, THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS, AND THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE EUROPEAN
OMBUDSMAN

on the organisation and operation of the European Communities Personnel Selection Office

of 25 July 2002

(2002/621/EC)

THE SECRETARIES-GENERAL OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,
THE COUNCIL, THE COMMISSION, THE REGISTRAR OF THE COURT
OF JUSTICE, THE SECRETARIES-GENERAL OF THE COURT OF AUDI-
TORS,
THE
COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS, AND THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE
EUROPEAN OMBUDSMAN,

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL

COMMITTEE,

THE

Having regard to the Staff Regulations of officials of the Euro-
pean Communities and the Conditions of employment of other
servants of
the European Communities, as laid down by
Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 (1),

Having regard to the Decision of the European Parliament, the
Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice, the Court of
Auditors, the Economic and Social Committee, the Committee
of the Regions and the Ombudsman of 25 July 2002 estab-
lishing a European Communities Personnel Selection Office,
and in particular Article 5 thereof (2),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

to Article 27 of

the Staff Regulations,

Pursuant
the
institutions are committed to ensuring that recruitment
is directed to securing 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, without distinction as to race, political,
philosophical or religious beliefs, sex or sexual orienta-
tion and without reference to their marital status or
family situation.

The third subparagraph of Article 1(1) of Annex III to
the Staff Regulations sets out the area of responsibility
of the common Joint Committee and the second para-
graph of Article 3 of that Annex outlines the way the
members of the selection board are to be appointed for
the purpose of organising open competitions,

(1) OJ L 56, 4.3.1968, p. 1.
(2) See page 53 of this Official Journal.

HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Duties of the Office

1.
The Office shall organise open competitions with a view
to securing the services of officials on optimal professional and
financial terms for the institutions of the European Communi-
ties. The Office shall draw up reserve lists enabling the institu-
tions to recruit highly qualified staff meeting the needs deter-
mined by the institutions.

2. More specifically, the Office's tasks shall be to:

(a) organise open competitions at the request of individual
institutions with a view to drawing up reserve lists of
for appointment as officials. The
suitable applicants
competitions shall be organised in compliance with the
Staff Regulations, on the basis of harmonised criteria laid
down in accordance with Article 6(c) and in compliance
with the work programme approved by the Management
Board;

(b) cooperate closely with the institutions with a view to
assessing the future staff needs indicated by the institutions
and preparing and implementing a programme of competi-
tions to meet those needs in a timely manner;

(c) develop selection methods and techniques on the basis of
best practice and in line with the skills profiles laid down
for the various categories of staff of the institutions;

(d) administer and check the use of the reserve lists established

on the basis of Interinstitutional competitions;

(e) submit annual reports to the institutions on its activities.

Article 2

Responsibilities of the institutions

The appointing authority of each institution shall make avail-
able to the Office a sufficient number of selection board
members, examiners and invigilator on the basis of the ‘quota’
approved by the Management Board as provided for in Article
6(i), to enable the selection procedures to proceed smoothly in
accordance with Article 3 of Annex III to the Staff Regulations.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 197/57

Article 3

Other services

Under an agreement between the Head of the Office and
1.
any body, office or agency, the Office may organise selection
procedures for staff to be recruited by such bodies, offices or
agencies. Before concluding such an agreement, the Head of the
Office shall seek the approval of the Management Board. Any
such agreement shall cover the financial arrangements relating
to the services provided by the Office.

2. Where requested,
the Office may provide technical
support for internal competitions organised by individual insti-
tutions, bodies, offices or agencies.

3.
At the request of individual institutions, the Office shall
organise the selection procedure for other servants with a view
to drawing up reserve lists of suitable applicants and/or data-
bases from which the individual institutions may recruit other
servants.

4.
These activities shall be included in the Office's work
programme in accordance with Article 6(f), provided that the
request is submitted in a timely manner by the institution in
question.

Article 4

Complaints and requests

The Head of

1.
the Office shall exercise the powers
conferred on the appointing authority under Article 90 of the
Staff Regulations in respect of all requests or complaints
relating to the tasks of the Office.

2.
In the event of any such complaints, the Head of the
Office shall consult the Chairman of the Management Board
where he or she intends to endorse the original decision.

3.
The Office shall answer requests from the European
Ombudsman concerning any matter falling within its area of
responsibility under this Decision.

Article 5

Management Board

A Management Board shall be set up for the Office,
1.
comprising one member appointed by each institution and
three staff representatives with observer status appointed by
common assent by the staff committees of the institutions.

The Management Board shall meet at the initiative of the

4.
Chairman or at the request of one of its members.

5. Where the Management Board takes a decision by a
simple majority, each institution shall have one vote. Where
votes are tied, the Chairman shall have the casting vote.

6. Where the Management Board takes a decision by a
qualified majority, the votes allotted to the institutions shall be
as follows: Commission, 18 votes; European Parliament, seven
votes; Council, seven votes; Court of Justice, three votes; Court
of Auditors, two votes; Economic and Social Committee, two
two votes; European
the Regions,
votes; Committee of
Ombudsman, one vote. A qualified majority shall be 24 votes
cast in favour.

Article 6

Tasks of the Management Board

In the common interest of the institutions, the Management
Board shall:

(a) acting by a qualified majority, approve the rules governing

the running of the Office;

(b) acting by a simple majority on a proposal from the Head of
the Office, approve the organisational structure of
the
Office;

(c) acting by a qualified majority on proposals from the Head
of the Office,
in compliance with the Agreement to be
concluded between the Secretaries-General of the European
Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the Registrar of
the Court of Justice, the Secretaries-General of the Court of
Auditors, the Economic and Social Committee and the
Committee of the Regions and the representative of the
European Ombudsman on the common principles for a
shared selection and recruitment policy and the principles
for managing reserve lists, together with the relevant provi-
sions of
the Staff Regulations, approve the principles
governing the selection policy to be followed by the Office;

(d) acting by a simple majority under the budget procedure on
the basis of a draft drawn up by the Head of the Office,
draw up an estimate of the Office's revenue and expendi-
ture and send it to the Commission with a view to the
drawing-up of the estimate of the Commission's revenue
and expenditure; at the same time it shall propose to the
Commission any adjustments to the Office's establishment
plan that it deems necessary;

2.
The Management Board shall elect a Chairman for a
two-year term by a simple majority from among its members.

3.
The Management Board shall adopt its Rules of Procedure
by a simple majority after submitting them to the institutions.

(e) acting by a simple majority, approve the type of and the
rates chargeable for additional services that the Office may
perform against payment for the institutions, bodies, offices
and agencies and the conditions under which the Office
may perform them;

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EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

26.7.2002

(f) acting unanimously on a proposal from the Head of the
Office, approve the work programme, and in particular the
scheduling of and timetable for competitions to be orga-
nised. The work programme shall also cover services not
relating to open competitions organised for the institutions,
bodies, offices and agencies;

(g) acting by a qualified majority on the basis of a draft
prepared by the Head of the Office, approve an annual
individual revenue and
management report covering all
expenditure headings relating to work performed and
services provided by the Office. Before 1 May each year, it
shall send the institutions the report on the preceding
financial year, drawn up in the light of
the analytical
accounts;

(h) acting by a simple majority, approve a fair, balanced break-
down of the variable and direct costs to be charged for
analytical purposes to the individual institutions and update
it every three years;

(i) acting by a simple majority on the basis of recruitment
needs, agree on rules whereby each institution is to make a
suitable number of selection board members, examiners
and invigilator available to the Office;

(j) acting by a simple majority, approve the conditions under
which the Office may grant agreement to the institutions to
organise their own competitions in accordance with Article
2(1) of the Decision of the institutions.

Article 7

Appointment of staff

1.
The Office shall be administered by a Head appointed by
the Commission after the Management Board has issued a
favourable opinion by a simple majority. The Management
Board shall be closely involved in the procedures to be
followed before the Head of the Office is appointed, and in
particular in the drafting of a notice of vacancy and the consid-
eration of the applications.

The Head of the Office shall be the Appointing Authority

2.
for the staff of the Office.

3.
The Commission, as far as the Head of the Office is
concerned, and the Head of the Office, as far as the staff for
whom the latter is the Appointing Authority are concerned,
shall
inform the Management Board of appointments made,
contracts signed, promotions granted and disciplinary proceed-
ings initiated against officials or other servants.

4.
The officials of all Community institutions shall be
informed of posts vacant within the Office as soon as the
Appointing Authority decides to fill those posts.

Article 8

Tasks of the Head of the Office; management of staff

The Head of

1.
the Office shall be responsible for the
smooth running of the Office. Within the area of responsibility
the Management Board, he or she shall act under the
of
authority of
the latter. He or she shall provide secretarial
services for the Management Board, shall report to it on the
performance of his or her duties and shall submit to it any
suggestion for the smooth running of the Office.

Administrative procedures connected with the day-to-day
2.
management of personnel, such as salaries, leave, and sickness,
accident and retirement insurance, shall be carried out under
the same conditions as for the officials and other servants of
the Commission. That list shall not be exhaustive and the
Office may extend it to cover other areas in agreement with the
Commission.

Article 9

Financial matters

The appropriations allocated to the Office,

1.
the total
amount of which shall be entered in a separate budget heading
within the section of the budget relating to the Commission,
shall be set out in detail in an Annex to that section. That
Annex shall take the form of a statement of revenue and
expenditure, subdivided in the same way as the sections of the
budget.

The establishment plan of the Office shall be annexed to

2.
the Commission's establishment plan.

On the basis of a proposal from the Management Board,
3.
the Commission shall, as regards the appropriations for the
Office entered in the Annex, delegate the powers of authorising
officer to the Head of the Office and shall set the limits and
conditions applying to that delegation of powers. At the end of
inform the
the financial year the Management Board shall
budgetary authority of the breakdown of amounts obtained in
return for extra services provided by the Office, within the
budget heading in the Annex.

4.
The Office's accounts shall be drawn up in accordance
with the accounting rules and methods laid down by the
Commission accounting officer. The Office shall keep separate
accounts of revenue from payments for services provided.

Article 10

Review

The Head of the Office shall be appointed for a term of

5.
five years, renewable for one further term.

This Decision shall be reviewed after a period of three years
following the establishment of the Office.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 197/59

This Decision shall take effect on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 11

Effective date

For the European Parliament

For the Council

The Secretary-General

J. PRIESTLEY

For the Commission

The Secretary-General

D. O'SULLIVAN

The Deputy Secretary-General

P. DE BOISSIEU

For the Court of Justice

The Registrar

R. GRASS

For the Court of Auditors

For the Economic and Social Committee

The Secretary-General

M. HERVÉ

The Secretary-General

P. VENTURINI

For the Committee of the Regions

The European Ombudsman

The Secretary-General

V. FALCONE

J. SØDERMAN