18.12.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 307/28

---

Call for expressions of interest for the position of member of the Scientific Committee of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)

(2007/C 307/16)

This call for expressions of interest invites experts, possessing the necessary up-to-date experience in one or more scientific disciplines in the field of fundamental rights, to express their interest in becoming members of the Scientific Committee of the Agency.

In accordance with Article 14, paragraph 1 of the Council Regulation (EC) No 168/2007 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Regulation’) of 15 February 2007 establishing a European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (1) (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Agency’), the Management Board of the Agency shall appoint a Scientific Committee which shall be comprised of eleven independent persons, highly qualified in the field of fundamental rights.

Role of the Scientific Committee

In accordance with Article 14, paragraph 5 of the Regulation, the aforementioned Scientific Committee shall be the guarantor of the scientific quality of the Agency's work, guiding the work to that effect.

For that purpose, the Director of the Agency shall involve the Scientific Committee in the preparation of all documents drawn up, pursuant to Article 4, paragraph 1(a)-(f) and (h) of the Regulation in connection to:

1.

the collection, recording and dissemination of relevant, objective, reliable and comparable information and data on fundamental rights, including results from research and monitoring communicated to the Agency by EU Member States, Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, research centres, national bodies, non-governmental organisations, third countries and international organisations including the competent bodies of the Council of Europe;

2.	the development of methods and standards to improve the comparability, objectivity and reliability of data on fundamental rights at a European level, in cooperation with the European Commission and the EU Member States;

3.	the carrying out of scientific research and surveys, preparatory studies and feasibility studies on issues related to fundamental rights;

4.	the formulation and publication of opinions on specific thematic topics related to fundamental rights;

5.	the publication of an annual report on fundamental rights issues covered by the areas of the Agency's activity, also highlighting examples of good practice;

6.	the publication of thematic reports based on the Agency's own analysis, research and surveys;

7.	the development of a communication strategy and the promotion of dialogue with civil society, in order to raise public awareness of fundamental rights and actively disseminate information about the Agency's work.

In accordance with Article 14, paragraph 5 of the Regulation, the Scientific Committee shall be involved in the preparation of these documents as early as appropriate.

Composition of the Scientific Committee

In accordance with Article 14, paragraph 1 of the Regulation, the Management Board of the Agency shall ensure even geographical representation in the membership of the Scientific Committee it shall appoint. Furthermore, the Management Board aims to achieve a balanced participation between women and men in the Scientific Committee. It will also pay due attention to the scientific disciplines with the aim of covering the entire field of competence of the Scientific Committee.

In accordance with Article 14, paragraph 1 of the Regulation, the members of the Agency's Management Board are precluded from being members of the Scientific Committee.

The members of the Scientific Committee shall be experts in one or more of the disciplines related to or relevant for human rights, inter alia:

—	human and social sciences,

—	political sciences,

—

law,

—	statistics,

—	communication and media.

Meetings of the Scientific Committee

In accordance with Article 14, paragraph 6 of the Regulation, the Scientific Committee shall meet four times a year in plenary session. The venue of the meetings is the seat of the Agency (Vienna) unless an exception is made. The members are expected to make a substantial contribution in terms of time and workload.

If a member of the Scientific Committee does not attend three consecutive regular meetings of the Committee, his or her membership shall be withdrawn.

Members of the Scientific Committees shall be entitled to indemnities related to their participation in the activities of the Scientific Committee. These indemnities shall conform to the following rules:

—	for participation in meetings, the indemnities shall be EUR 450 for each full day participation or EUR 225 for participation in a morning or afternoon meeting of the Scientific Committee,

—	for questions requiring not less than one day of preparation of a draft opinion, and with the prior written agreement of the Chair of the Scientific Committee, the indemnity shall be EUR 450 (2),

—	where fully justified and subject to budget availability, this last sum may be exceptionally increased to EUR 600 for questions which are particularly demanding in terms of work load or which are particularly complex and of a multidisciplinary nature.

Besides, the members receive travel and subsistence allowances in accordance with the reimbursement rules laid down by the Agency.

Eligibility

Applicants for membership of the Scientific Committee must have:

—	postgraduate university degree in a relevant scientific area,

—	seven years of experience dealing with fundamental rights in the context of disciplines such as human and social sciences, political sciences, law, statistics, or communication and media, after obtaining the above mentioned degree,

—	nationality of one of the EU Member States,

—	a thorough knowledge of at least one of the official languages of the European Union and a satisfactory knowledge of another of these languages.

Selection criteria

The requirements for the selection of the members of the Scientific Committee are:

—	experience in delivering scientific opinions at national or international level,

—	professional experience in peer reviewing scientific work related to the fields of interest of the Agency in a multidisciplinary and international environment,

—	proven scientific excellence related to the fields of the mandate of the Agency,

—	organisational and managerial experience in research,

—	a thorough knowledge of English,

—	Possession of a doctoral degree will be an added advantage.

the need to ensure a fair geographical and gender balance shall also be taken into account.

Independence and declaration of commitment

The members of the Scientific Committee are appointed on a personal basis. Members are required to sign a declaration that they will undertake to act independently of any outside influence.

Selection process, appointment and term

Applications meeting the eligibility requirements shall be submitted to a comparative evaluation carried out by the Agency on the basis of the selection criteria given above.

The Director of the Agency shall chair a pre-selection panel, composed of the Heads of Unit of the Agency and a person appointed for the purpose by the Council of Europe. Two members of the Agency's Management Board may attend the pre-selection panel as observers. The pre-selection panel shall verify the eligibility of the candidates, in accordance with the eligibility requirements. The panel shall then assess each eligible candidate according to the requirements for selection.

The Executive Board of the Agency shall assess all the candidates on the basis of the established selection requirements and, shall submit to the Management Board a list of most eligible candidates. This list should include more than eleven and fewer than twenty-two names.

On the basis of the list submitted by the Executive Board, the Agency's Management Board shall appoint the members of the Scientific Committee, after having consulted the competent committee of the European Parliament. The candidates not appointed shall be put on a reserve list. The candidates on this reserve list may be invited to fill the position of members of the Committee who resign or become otherwise incapacitated. However, in accordance with Article 14, paragraph 1 of the Regulation, the Management Board shall follow a process of appointment identical to the one followed for the appointment of the original member including consultation of the competent committee of the European Parliament.

In accordance with Article 14, paragraph 2 of the Regulation, the term of office of the members of the Scientific Committee shall be five years without the possibility of renewal.

Equal opportunity

The Agency applies the EU policy of equal opportunities and accepts applications without distinction on the grounds of age, race, political, philosophical or religious conviction, gender or sexual orientation and regardless of disabilities, marital status or family situation. The Agency actively encourages applications from women.

Application procedure

Interested candidates should send a letter of interest and the application form, available at: http://fra.europa.eu, as well as a list of scientific publications in books and peer-reviewed journals, including abstracts of the 10 most relevant Articles. Further supporting documents may be requested at a later stage.

Applications, letters of interest and the supporting documents (list of publications and abstracts) should be submitted only by e-mail to the following address:

recruitment@fra.europa.eu

N.B.: All personal data collected for this selection process will only be used for the purposes of this selection procedure and will in no case be transmitted to any third party. Any data provided will be treated in the strictest confidence and with high standards of security. All documents provided to the Agency during this selection procedure will be kept in the Agency's files and will not be returned to applicants. Application documents will only be kept for as long as it is mandatory to fulfil the requirements of existing auditing/control procedures applicable to the Agency.

Closing date

The closing date for the submission of applications is 29 January 2008 at midnight, Vienna time (date and hour of e-mail count). The Agency reserves the right to disregard any expressions of interest sent after that date.

Candidates who have not been contacted by the Agency by 28 March 2008 should consider that their application has been unsuccessful.

Contact person

Eleni Karakitsou

Personnel Manager

E-mail: eleni.karakitsou@fra.europa.eu

---

(1)  OJ L 53, 22.2.2007, p. 1.

(2)  This is the amount paid by DG RDT for independent experts.

---