CELEX: C2002/171A/01
Language: en
Date: 2002-07-17 00:00:00
Title: Guide to candidates taking part in an open competition

17.7.2002              EN                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                  C 171 A/1
                                                                       III
                                                                    (Notices)
                                                     COURT OF JUSTICE
                                   OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                            GUIDE TO CANDIDATES TAKING PART IN AN OPEN COMPETITION
                                                               (2002/C 171 A/01)
              A.    INTRODUCTION
              B.    NOTICE OF COMPETITITION AND APPLICATION FORM
                    1. General conditions
                     2. Knowledge of languages
                     3. Education and diplomas
                     4. Experience
                     5. Signing of application form
                     6. Submission of application form and supporting documents
              C.    COMPETITION PROCEDURE
                     1. Organisation
                     2. General procedure
                     3. Procedure after submission of applications
                     4. Written tests
                     5. Oral test
                     6. Reserve list
              D.    CAREER PROGRESSION AND WORKING CONDITIONS
                     1. Categories of post
                     2. Remuneration and other special conditions
                       A. INTRODUCTION                                          for a post at the Court of Justice of the European
                                                                                Communities.
1.   Open competitions for the recruitment of officials of the                  If you decide to enter, you should read this guide very
     European Union are organised in accordance with the                        carefully as it tells you:
     Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communi-                    —    how to complete the application form correctly and
     ties. Before a competition is held, a notice of competition                     what other documentation you need to provide,
     is published in the Official Journal of the European Communi-
     ties.                                                                      —    how competitions are organised,
                                                                                —    what kinds of job are available and what working
2.   Only applications submitted for a special competition
                                                                                     conditions are like in the institutions of the European
     will be accepted.
                                                                                     Union.
3.   This copy of the Official Journal includes the notice of                   However, this guide is for information only. The only
     competition and the application form as well as this                       text binding on the selection board in the course of its
     guide for candidates taking part in an open competition                    proceedings is the notice of competition.
 ---pagebreak--- C 171 A/2              EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                    17.7.2002
    B.    NOTICE OF COMPETITION AND APPLICATION FORM                              Union (Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French,
                                                                                  German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and
                                                                                  Swedish) and a satisfactory knowledge of a second
Please read this carefully before completing your appli-                          official language to the extent necessary for the
cation form.                                                                      performance of the duties attaching to the post in
                                                                                  question.
1.    General conditions                                                          Candidates take the written tests in their main
                                                                                  language (this may or may not be their mother
      (a)   You must read the competition notice carefully so                     tongue). If the competition notice so provides, they
            as to make absolutely sure that you fulfil the basic                  may have to take written tests in the second language
            conditions for admission to the competition, in                       of their choice.
            particular those relating to:
                                                                              (b) Some competitions, such as those for lawyer-
            —     nationality (1),                                                linguists, interpreters and secretaries, are organised
                                                                                  for candidates of a particular language.
            —     age,
                                                                                  It is very difficult for candidates, even those who
            —     education, and
                                                                                  consider themselves bilingual, to succeed in a com-
            —     any experience required.                                        petition which is not in their main language.
            The selection board has to take those conditions                      Candidates are therefore advised in such cases to
            into account when deciding whether or not candi-                      decide which is their main language and to apply
            dates are to be admitted to the competition.                          only for competitions held in that language.
      (b) Candidates must use the application form for the
            appropriate competition contained in the Official
            Journal. Only the form bearing the number of the             3.   Education and diplomas
            competition may be used. Since this is the basic
            document used by selection boards when they                       (a) As the notice of competition published in the
            decide which candidates to admit to the competition,                  Official Journal is addressed to nationals of the
            it needs to be filled in extremely carefully.                         15 Member States, it has to cover all the education
            Candidates are also asked to enclosed their curric-                   systems at the various levels and cannot therefore
            ulum vitae supplementing or providing further                         be geared to the subtleties of each individual system.
            details of the information given in the application
            form.                                                             (b) Candidates educated in non-member countries
                                                                                  should provide a certificate of national equivalence,
      (c)   The name under which you apply must be used in all                    issued by the Member State of which they are
            correspondence in connection with the competition                     nationals, for diplomas and certificates obtained
            even if you subsequently change your marital status.                  outside the European Union to enable the selection
                                                                                  board to assess the level of their studies.
      (d) Candidates are urged to provide their permanent
            address where they can be contacted at any time
            during the duration of the procedure. They must                   (c) Educational qualifications will be checked and
            notify the recruitment section without delay of                       assessed by the selection board and, where necessary,
            any change of address in order to ensure the safe                     by persons with an expert knowledge of your
            arrival of communications concerning the compe-                       country’s education system.
            tition.                                                               It is very important that you give the precise dates
      (e)   Candidates seeking exemption from the age limit                       and details of the different stages and levels of your
            must fill in the appropriate part of the application                  education on your application form.
            form and enclose supporting documents.                                In the case of technical or vocational training and
                                                                                  specialist or refresher training, you should specify
                                                                                  whether the course was full-time or part-time or an
2.    Knowledge of languages                                                      evening course, what subjects were covered and
      (a)   All candidates for a post in an institution of the                    how long the course lasted.
            European Union must have a thorough knowledge
            of one of the official languages of the European                  (d) Photocopies of the diplomas or certificates
                                                                                  required for admission to the competition must
                                                                                  be enclosed with your application form.
(1) The Member States of the European Union are: Austria, Belgium,
    Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxem-             Candidates who fail to submit copies of their
    bourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United                diplomas or certificates will not be admitted to
    Kingdom.                                                                      the competition.
 ---pagebreak--- 17.7.2002           EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                      C 171 A/3
4.   Experience                                                       5.   Signing of application form
     (a) A minimum number of years’ experience is required                 It is compulsory to sign the completed application form.
         for many competitions. This part of the application               In signing you are declaring on your honour that the
         form should be filled in extremely carefully.                     information provided is true and complete, and clearly
                                                                           indicating your intention to take part in the competition.
     (b) You should specify the exact date when you took up
         or left a post, describe your duties and the kind of              An unsigned application will be considered void and
         work involved and give precise details of your                    will be rejected without being forwarded to the
         responsibilities and of your salary.                              selection board.
         Simply to say ‘manager’ or ‘office worker’ is not
         sufficient and may result in exclusion from the
                                                                      6.   Submission of application form and supporting docu-
         competition on the grounds that there is no evidence
                                                                           ments
         that you have the required experience.
                                                                           (a)    Each applicant’s file consists of the official appli-
         It is in your interest to provide full details of the
                                                                                  cation form, which must be signed, together with
         posts your have held. If necessary, you should attach
                                                                                  supporting documents.
         additional sheets to your application.
                                                                           (b) The official application form, together with photo-
     (c) Where professional experience is specified in the                        copies of supporting documents, must be sent,
         notice of competition, it is counted only from                           preferably by registered post, by the deadline speci-
         the time the candidate obtained the certificate or                       fied in the notice of competition, as evidenced by
         diploma required for admission to the competition.                       the postmark.
         Any experience gained prior to this will not be                          Application forms and photocopies of support-
         counted by the selection board.                                          ing documents lodged after the deadline will
                                                                                  be rejected without being forwarded to the
         By providing clear and correct details of your                           selection board.
         experience, you place the selection board in the best
         possible position to decide whether or not to admit               (c)    Candidates may not refer to documents, application
         you to the competition.                                                  forms or information sheets submitted in connec-
                                                                                  tion with previous recruitment procedures.
     (d) Since further training courses leading to a certificate           (d) Documents enclosed with the application form will
         or diploma and duly attested periods of specialist or                    not be returned. Candidates are recommended to
         refresher training count as professional experience,                     send copies of their certificates and diplomas and of
         provided that they are relevant to the duties specified                  documents relating to their professional experience.
         in the notice of competition, full supporting docu-
         mentation must be provided.
         The exact dates (day, month, year) when each period
         began and ended must be specified.                                             C. COMPETITION PROCEDURE
         Without this information, the selection board will
         be unable to determine how much experience to
         credit you with.
                                                                      1.   Organisation
     (e) Photocopies of statements from previous                           (a)    In the case of competitions run by the Court
         employers and from your present employer                                 of Justice, candidates will be dealing throughout
         confirming your experience must be enclosed                              exclusively with the Recruitment Section of the
         with your application form.                                              Personnel Division of the Court of Justice.
         If you are unable to provide a statement from                     (b) All correspondence should be sent to the following
         your present employer, you may send a photo-                             address:
         copy of your contract or of your first and your
         latest payslips instead.                                                  Court of Justice of the European Communities
                                                                                         Personnel Division — Recruitment
         Candidates who fail to provide the necessary                                            L-2925 Luxembourg
         supporting documents in respect of their pro-                                             Tel. (352) 43 03-1
         fessional experience will not be admitted to the                                       Fax (352) 43 03-27 10
         competition.
 ---pagebreak--- C 171 A/4                EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                     17.7.2002
      (c)   The Court of Justice applies a policy of equal                      (e) after considering the files, the selection board draws
            opportunity and of selection according to merit by                      up a list of candidates who meet the conditions set
            means of fair competitions open to all. All such                        out in the notice of competition:
            steps as shall be considered reasonable will be taken
            to ensure that handicapped persons can take part in                     —     for competitions based on tests, all candidates
            competitions on an equal footing with the other                               on the list are admitted to the tests,
            candidates.
                                                                                    —     for competitions based on qualifications and
            In accordance with the code of good conduct in
                                                                                          tests, the selection board first establishes the
            force at the Court of Justice, handicapped persons
                                                                                          criteria on the basis of which it will assess the
            are requested to specify, in their application form,
                                                                                          candidates’ qualifications and then decides on
            the equipment they consider necessary for their
                                                                                          the basis of the list, after examining the qualifi-
            participation in the tests. Everything will be done to
                                                                                          cations, which candidates are to be admitted to
            ensure that they are treated equally with the other
                                                                                          the tests,
            candidates and all reasonable arrangements re-
            quested by them will be made.
                                                                                    —     for competitions based on qualifications, the
                                                                                          selection board establishes the criteria on which
                                                                                          it will examine the qualifications of candidates
2.    General procedure                                                                   on the list, gives marks for the qualifications
                                                                                          and draws up a list of suitable candidates in
                                                                                          order of merit.
      The Staff Regulations provide for three different types of
      competition.
                                                                           3.   Procedure after the submission of applications
      As a general rule, staff are recruited to the Court of Justice
      by means of competitions based on qualifications and
                                                                                (a) The safe arrival of your application form will
      tests. In exceptional cases, competitions may be based on
                                                                                    be acknowledged by the Personnel Division. This
      qualifications only.
                                                                                    acknowledgement does not necessarily mean that
                                                                                    you will be admitted to the competition.
      The competition procedure is as follows:
                                                                                (b) When it has examined all the application forms, the
      (a)   candidates must complete and sign the official                          selection board will inform candidates by letter
            application form. It is essential that they provide                     whether or not they have been admitted to the
            copies of supporting documents and any necessary                        competition.
            additional information by the deadline specified in
            the notice of competition;                                          (c) In the letter stating that they have been admitted to
                                                                                    the competition, candidates will be asked to attend
      (b) a selection board is set up for each competition; it                      the tests; the date and the venue for the tests will be
            consists of members designated by the appointing                        specified in the letter.
            authority and by the Staff Committee; since selection
            board members are not released from their usual                     (d) Candidates not admitted to the tests will be told
            duties, a certain amount of time will necessarily                       why.
            elapse before the names of candidates admitted to
            the tests and the results of the tests are known;                       Candidates who feel that a mistake has been made
                                                                                    regarding eligibility have 30 days from the date
      (c)   the proceedings of the selection board are secret;                      postmarked on the letter stating that they have been
            candidates are not entitled to contact it or to see                     excluded from the competition in which to ask for
            their papers after they have been marked;                               their application to be reconsidered.
                                                                                    The selection board will then reconsider the appli-
      (d) the appointing authority draws up a list of candi-                        cation and decide whether the complaint is justified.
            dates who satisfy the general conditions laid down
            in the Staff Regulations (1) and have submitted their               (e) Most applications are made by candidates who have
            application in time, and sends it to the selection                      omitted to enclose supporting documents relating to
            board with the candidates’ files;                                       their professional experience or who have enclosed
                                                                                    insufficiently detailed evidence to enable the selec-
                                                                                    tion board to assess how much, what kind or what
(1) In order to qualify for appointment as an official in an institution            level of experience they possess. A curriculum vitae
    of the European Union, you must be a national of one of                         is not regarded as a supporting document.
    the Member States (unless the appointing authority makes an
    exception in your favour) and enjoy your full rights as a citizen.
    You must also have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the laws            (f) The fact that a candidate has not been admitted to a
    concerning military service and meet the character requirements                 given competition does not prevent his candidature
    for the duties involved.                                                        from being taken into consideration for another.
 ---pagebreak--- 17.7.2002            EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                     C 171 A/5
4.   Written tests                                                          (c) During the test, the selection board will also assess
                                                                                knowledge of other official languages of the Euro-
     (a) The organisation of the written tests depends on the                   pean Union by asking the candidate to reply to
         examination rooms available in the various Member                      questions in a language or languages other than his/
         States. The place where candidates are invited to                      her main language.
         attend depends on their country of residence. Some-
         times, however, the tests are held only in Luxem-
         bourg or in some other convenient place.                      6.   Reserve list
     (b) Candidates invited to attend the written tests are                 (a) Once the selection board has completed its deliber-
         given full details of the date, time and place of the                  ations, it draws up a list of candidates deemed
         tests.                                                                 suitable for the posts to be filled. In accordance with
                                                                                the Staff Regulations every attempt is made to
     (c) A flat-rate contribution is made towards the travel-                   ensure that the number of candidates on the list
         ling expenses of candidates who have to travel                         exceeds the number of posts available.
         further than 300 kilometres (one way) to the
         examination centre. It is stressed that this is a flat-            (b) Candidates are informed by letter whether or not
         rate contribution and not full reimbursement of the                    they have been placed on the list of suitable
         travelling expenses.                                                   candidates.
                                                                            (c) Candidates should note that inclusion on the
     (d) The written tests will take place simultaneously for
                                                                                reserve list does not necessarily lead to appoint-
         all candidates at all the centres on the date indicated
                                                                                ment.
         in the letter of invitation to attend. No exception to
         this can be allowed.                                                   The list is known as the ‘reserve list’ because it is on
                                                                                the basis of that list that successful candidates may
     (e) Irrespective of the type of diploma or certificate                     be offered a post. Offers are made depending on
         required for admission to a given competition,                         requirements and the availability of posts commen-
         candidates should note that the written and oral                       surate with the qualifications of the successful
         tests presuppose a thorough knowledge of the                           candidates.
         subject(s) or area(s) described in the notice of
         competition (Section I. Nature of duties). The                         However, in view of budgetary and operational
         specialised knowledge needed to pass the tests                         constraints, successful candidates should note that
         should not therefore be underestimated.                                some time many elapse between being placed on
                                                                                the reserve list and receiving a definite job offer.
     (f) The test papers are not identified by the candidates’                  In addition, reserve lists may be used to take
         names and so there is no possibility of candidates’                    on temporary or auxiliary staff depending on the
         being identified by the examiners or the selection                     budgetary funds available.
         board.
                                                                            (d) Successful candidates must also undergo a medical
     (g) After the written and/or typewritten tests have been                   examination as laid down in the Staff Regulations in
         marked, the selection board draws up the list of                       order to make sure they are physically fit to perform
         candidates who are to be invited to attend for the                     the duties in question.
         oral test.
                                                                            (e) Before the successful candidates are appointed as
                                                                                probationary officials, a check will be carried out to
                                                                                ensure that they:
5.   Oral test
                                                                                —    are nationals of one of the Member States of
     (a) Candidates are given details of the date, time and                          the European Union and enjoy their full rights
         place of the oral test in the letter inviting them to                       as citizens,
         attend. Oral tests are normally held in Luxembourg.
         Candidates will be given a contribution towards their                  —    have fulfilled any obligations imposed on them
         travelling and subsistence expenses as determined by                        by the laws concerning military service in the
         the rules applicable to the Court.                                          country of which they are nationals,
     (b) Most of the interview will be conducted in the                         —    meet the character requirements for the duties
         candidate’s main language and simultaneous                                  involved,
         interpretation is available if necessary.
                                                                                —    satisfy the requirements as to physical fitness
         The purpose of the oral test is to assess, first, the                       for the duties to be performed (medical examin-
         candidate’s professional knowledge and, secondly,                           ation),
         his fitness to carry out in an institution of the
         European Union the duties attached to the category                     —    have produced the originals of their diplomas
         of post for which the competition was held.                                 or certificates.
 ---pagebreak--- C 171 A/6              EN                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                    17.7.2002
   D.    CAREER PROGRESSION AND WORKING CONDITIONS                              (d) Category D: staff who have completed the basic
                                                                                    course of ‘compulsory’ and/or vocational education
                                                                                    and obtained a certificate or diploma, engaged
                                                                                    in manual or service duties (messenger, driver,
                                                                                    storeman, workshop staff, etc.)
1.    Categories of post
                                                                                    Category D runs from grade D 4 up to D 1.
      All posts in the institutions of the European Union,
      whether permanent or temporary, are classified as fol-                        Category D breaks down as follows: D 4 (Unskilled
      lows.                                                                         employee, Unskilled worker), D 3/D 2 (Skilled
                                                                                    employee, Skilled worker), and D 1 (Head of Unit).
      (a)  Category A: staff who have completed a course
           of university education and obtained a degree or                     (e) Officials other than those in grades A 1 and
           diploma, engaged in administrative and advisory                          A 2 serve a probationary period, which must be
           duties in areas of activity falling within the com-                      satisfactorily completed before they can be estab-
           petence of departments of the institutions.                              lished.
           Category A runs from grade A 8 up to A 3 and is                          The period is nine months for officials in category A,
           divided into four career brackets: A 8 (Assistant                        the Language Service and category B, and six months
           Administrator), A 7/A 6 (Administrator), A 5/A 4                         for other officials.
           (Principal Administrator) and A 3 (Head of Division).
           Language service (LA): staff who have completed a
           course of university education and obtained a degree            2.   Remuneration and other special conditions
           or diploma, working as translators and/or
           interpreters; the LA structure corresponds to grades
           A 8 to A 3 of category A above.                                      (a) Salary: the basic monthly salary for the career
                                                                                    bracket covered by the competition is given in
           The Language Service comprises four career                               the notice of competition. The basic salary varies
           brackets: LA 8 (Assistant translator, Assistant                          according to step classification on recruitment.
           interpreter), LA 7/LA 6 (Lawyer-linguist/interpreter),
           LA 5/LA 4 (Reviser, Principal Lawyer-linguist, Princi-               (b) Allowances: in addition to basic salary, the person
           pal interpreter) and LA 3 (Head of Translation or                        appointed will receive the allowances to which he/
           Interpretation Division).                                                she is entitled under the Staff Regulations. These
                                                                                    may include the following:
           NB: The linguistic duties specified above require a
           perfect command of mother tongue or main
           language and a good knowledge of at least two other                      1.    daily subsistence allowance (payable for a lim-
           official languages of the European Union.                                      ited period);
      (b) Category B: staff who have completed a course of                          2.    expatriation allowance or foreign residence
           advanced secondary education and obtained a final                              allowance equivalent to 16 % and 4 % of basic
           certificate or diploma, engaged in executive duties                            salary respectively;
           (comparable with those performed by an executive
           officer, administrative assistant, etc.).                                and the following family allowances:
           Category B runs from grade B 5 up to B 1.                                1.    household allowance equivalent to 5 % of basic
                                                                                          salary;
           Category B breaks down as follows: B 5/B 4
           (Administrative assistant), B 3/B 2 (Senior adminis-
           trative assistant), and B 1 (Principal administrative                    2.    monthly dependent child allowance;
           assistant).
                                                                                    3.    education allowance equal to actual education
      (c)  Category C: staff who have completed a course of                               costs incurred, with a monthly ceiling, for each
           secondary education and/or a course of vocational                              dependent child.
           education at secondary level and obtained a certifi-
           cate or diploma, engaged in clerical duties (compar-                 (c) Deductions: officials qualify for a pension scheme
           able with those performed by a secretary, filling                        and sickness and accident insurance. Officials’ con-
           clerk, technician, etc.).                                                tributions to these schemes are deducted from their
                                                                                    remuneration.
           Category C runs from grade C 5 up to C 1.
           Category C breaks down as follows: C 5/C 4 (Clerical                 (d) Taxes: the remuneration of officials of the European
           assistant, Typist), C 3/C 2 (Clerical officer, Secretary/                Communities is subject to a tax deducted at source.
           typist), and C 1 (Executive secretary, Principal sec-                    The proceeds of the tax are paid into the budget of
           retary, Principal clerical officer).                                     the European Union.
 ---pagebreak--- 17.7.2002           EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                 C 171 A/7
         The overall amount of the tax raised reduces the               (e) Social environment: there are European Schools at
         financial contribution of the Member States to the                 most of the main places of activity of the Com-
         budget of the European Union accordingly. For that                 munity institutions, providing primary and second-
         reason, under Article 13(2) of the Protocol on                     ary education up to the level of the European
         the Privileges and Immunities of the European                      baccalaureate. The Schools, which have sections for
         Communities, remuneration is exempt from                           each of the main teaching languages, are recognised
         national tax.                                                      by all 15 Member States. There are also crèches for
                                                                            children under school age.