C/2024/03223

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Document C/2024/03223

Notice amending the notice of open competition – EPSO/AD/402/23 – Administrators (AD 6) in the following fields: 1. Microeconomics/macroeconomics 2. Financial economics 3. Industrial economics (OJ C 220 A, 22.6.2023)

OJ C, C/2024/3223, 28.5.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/3223/oj (BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, GA, HR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)

ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/3223/oj

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C/2024/3223

28.5.2024

Notice amending the notice of open competition – EPSO/AD/402/23 – Administrators (AD 6) in the following fields: 1. Microeconomics/macroeconomics 2. Financial economics 3. Industrial economics

(Official Journal of the European Union C 220 A of 22 June 2023)

(C/2024/3223)

In the framework of open competition EPSO/AD/402/23, the online testing with automated proctoring held on 2-4 October 2023 encountered serious technical issues. As a result, a significant number of candidates were unable to take the tests under appropriate conditions or complete them.

On 8 November 2023, EPSO announced its decision to suspend the test delivery in competition EPSO/AD/402/23 and look for alternative options for a resilient test delivery system that would maintain integrity whilst ensuring an optimal user experience. Various options have been assessed according to these criteria, while also considering the interests of the service and of the candidates, with the aim of restarting the competitions without unnecessary delays.

The solution identified for competition EPSO/AD/402/23 entails online testing with automated proctoring, but under different testing modalities. A high number of candidates in this competition do not have a valid (or full) performance record and should therefore be retested, under the new conditions. To ensure that all candidates are tested under equal conditions, the testing phase in this competition will be reopened, and all candidates will be required to undergo all tests anew. This includes those candidates who had previously completed the tests.

Given the need to repeat the testing phase in competition EPSO/AD/402/23, this presents an opportunity to align this competition with a full ‘24-language regime’. This approach is consistent with EPSO’s handling of competitions in which the notice was published but the testing had not yet started (see C/2024/1805 of 1 March 2024 (1) and C/2024/2265 of 22 March 2024 (2)).

The alignment with the full ‘24-language regime’ means that candidates will have the flexibility to choose freely any two of the 24 official EU languages for taking the tests, according to the instructions provided in a particular notice of competition.

The transition to the full ‘24-language regime’ in competition EPSO/AD/402/23 requires an adjustment to the test portfolio. In particular, in this context the deployment of the case study causes practical difficulties. It is therefore appropriate to replace it by a written test where the assignment is based on materials/documents already publicly available in 24 languages. The assessment will focus on written communication skills. Scoring and duration will remain the same and are further clarified in the amending notice.

To allow both current and potential new candidates to make the most of the flexibility provided by the full ‘24-language regime’ and potentially to choose other languages for tests, the competition is reopened. Consequently, candidates who have already submitted their application must review and revalidate their application in order to continue taking part in this competition. Further information will be provided to such candidates individually, via their EPSO accounts.

For the reasons outlined above, the notice of open competition EPSO/AD/402/23 shall be amended as follows:

(1)	On page 1, the deadline for application should read: ‘ Deadline for application: 9 July 2024 at 12:00 (midday), Brussels time ’;

(2)

On page 2, Section 3 ‘Am I eligible?’:

for: ‘Candidates must meet all the general and specific eligibility conditions listed below, on the closing date for applications.’,

read: ‘Candidates must meet all the general and specific eligibility conditions listed below, on the closing date for applications (see point (a) of Section 4.3.1 of this notice).’.

(3)

On page 4, Section 4 ‘How will the competition be organised?’ should read:

‘4. HOW WILL THE COMPETITION BE ORGANISED?

4.1. Overview of the competition procedures

This competition will be organised in the following phases:

—	Application (see Section 4.3.1).

—	Testing: reasoning tests, a multiple-choice question test related to the field chosen by the candidate (“field-related MCQ test”), and a written test (see Section 4.3.2).

—	Scoring of the written test and eligibility check (see Section. 4.3.3).

—	Establishment of reserve lists (see Section 4.3.4).

4.2. Languages used in this competition

The Staff Regulations ((1)*) stipulate that an official may only be appointed on condition that they produce evidence of a thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the EU and a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the EU to the extent necessary for the performance of their duties.

Therefore, in this competition, a candidate must have a thorough knowledge (minimum C1 level) of at least one of the 24 official EU languages and a satisfactory knowledge (minimum B2 level) of a different language to be chosen among the remaining 23 official EU languages. The minimum levels indicated here apply to each linguistic ability (speaking, writing, reading, and listening) requested in the application form. These abilities reflect those of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages ((2)*).

For ease of reference, those languages will be referred to as ‘ ‘language 1’ ’ and ‘ ‘language 2’ ’.

Languages will be used in different phases of the competition as follows:

Competition phase	Tests	Language
Application	—	Any of the 24 official EU languages
Testing	Reasoning tests	Language 1
	Field-related MCQ test	Language 2
	Written test	Language 2

Candidates will have to indicate their choice of test languages in their application form and will not be able to change it after validating their application.

4.3. Competition phases

4.3.1. Application

(a)

To apply, a candidate needs to have an EPSO account. Candidates who do not yet have an EPSO account, will need to create one. Only one account may be created for all of a candidate’s EPSO applications.

The candidates must apply online on the EPSO website ((3)*) by

9 July 2024 at 12.00 (midday), Brussels time.

(b)

By validating their application form, candidates declare on their honour that they meet all the conditions mentioned under Section 3 ‘‘Am I eligible?’’. Once the candidates have validated their application form, they will no longer be able to make any changes. It is the candidates’ responsibility to ensure that they complete and validate their application within the deadline.

(c)

Candidates who have already submitted their applications for this competition by the deadline indicated in the original notice of competition published in the Official Journal of the European Union C 220 A, on 22 June 2023, or by the extended deadline indicated in the notice amending the notice of the present competition, published in the Official Journal of the European Union C 280 A, on 9 August 2023, (hereinafter, “existing candidates”) will have their application reopened by EPSO.

(d)	Existing candidates must revisit and validate their applications once again, before the deadline referred to in point (a) of this subsection. This action is mandatory in order to remain a candidate in this competition.

(e)	In addition to reviewing their test language choices, candidates have the possibility to make any other changes to their application form, for example, update their academic record or the duration of their current professional experience.

(f)

By 4 September 2024 at 12.00 (midday), Brussels time, candidates will have to upload to their EPSO account (and link to their application) the scanned copies of the documents supporting the declarations made in their application form. An explanation on how to do this is available on the EPSO website ((4)*).

(g)	Existing candidates who have already uploaded their supporting documents and linked them to their application form will not have to reupload/relink those documents. They may, however, decide to add/link additional documents by the deadline indicated in point (f) of this subsection.

4.3.2. Testing

(a) General information

The test events conducted as part of the present competition on 2, 3, and 4 October 2023 are annulled. Candidates’ test answers and scripts resulting from those test events will not be processed and no test results will be generated.

All candidates who have duly validated their application form by the deadline indicated in point (a) of Section 4.3.1 of this notice and following instructions outlined in Section 4.3.1 will be invited to sit a series of tests described below.

The tests will be held and proctored (invigilated) remotely. EPSO will inform candidates about the testing modalities at the latest when inviting them to the tests.

The following table illustrates how the test scores will be used:

Test	How will the test scores be used?
Verbal, numerical, and abstract reasoning	“Pass/fail” The tests will be scored to determine if the candidate reached the required pass scores.
Field-related MCQ	“Pass/fail and ranking” The scores of candidates who reached the pass score will be used to create a ranking according to candidates’ performance.
Written test	“Pass/fail” The test will be scored to determine if the candidate achieved the required pass score.

Should a candidate fail to reach the required pass score(s) in one of the tests, their participation in the competition will come to an end. Such candidates will not have their test answers and/or scripts processed any further and will not have their eligibility checked, as applicable.

Test results will only be notified to candidates at the end of the competition, irrespective of the stage of the competition the candidate reached.

(b) Reasoning tests

The tests of the candidates’ reasoning abilities will be organised as follows:

Tests	Language	No of questions	Duration	Scoring	Pass scores
Numerical reasoning	Language 1	10 questions	20 minutes	0 to 10	6/10
Verbal reasoning		20 questions	35 minutes	0 to 20	Verbal and abstract reasoning combined: 15/30
Abstract reasoning		10 questions	10 minutes	0 to 10	Verbal and abstract reasoning combined: 15/30

To succeed in the reasoning tests, a candidate needs to reach both

(i)	a pass score of 6/10 in the numerical reasoning test and

(ii)	a combined pass score of 15/30 in the verbal and abstract reasoning tests.

The field-related MCQ test will be specific to the field chosen by the candidate. It will be organised as follows:

Test	Language	No of questions	Duration	Scoring	Pass score
Field-related MCQ test	Language 2	30	40 minutes	0 to 30	15/30

A candidate needs to reach a pass score of 15/30 and to be amongst the candidates who score the highest. Candidates who reach the pass score will be ranked in the descending order of the scores obtained, per field. This ranking will be used (i) to determine the candidates who will have their written test scored and their eligibility checked (see Section 4.3.3) and (ii) for the purpose of establishment of the reserve lists according to the procedure defined in Section 4.3.4.

Should a candidate not be amongst the candidates who scored the highest as defined in Section 4.3.3(a), their participation in the competition will be considered to have come to an end. Such candidates will not have their written test scripts processed and will not have their eligibility checked.

(d) Written test

The written test is aimed at assessing candidates’ written communication skills. It will be organised as follows:

Test	Language	Duration	Scoring	Pass score
Written test	Language 2	45 minutes	0 to 10	5/10

Candidates will be required to respond to the test assignment(s) based on the provided documentation related to the area of economics. The documentation will be made available on the EPSO website ahead of the test date. Candidates will receive the same documentation during the test, along with the assignment(s) based on it.

The written test is not a language test. The assessment will be based on the specific anchors published on EPSO’s website ((5)*).

4.3.3. Scoring of the written test and eligibility check

(a)

Scoring of the written test and eligibility check (the latter conducted in accordance with paragraph (b) below), will be carried out in parallel. This will be performed in the descending order of the ranking referred to in Section 4.3.2(c). The Selection Board will only score the scripts of the written test and check the eligibility of a limited number of candidates for each field (not more than 1,5 times the number of successful candidates sought per field).

(b)

The eligibility check involves verifying compliance with the eligibility conditions set out in Section 3 (“Am I eligible?”) of this notice. The Selection Board will take the decision on a candidate’s eligibility by comparing (a) the declarations made in the application form and (b) the documents uploaded to the candidate’s EPSO account to support those declarations.

4.3.4. Establishment of reserve lists

(a)

After the procedures referred to in Section 4.3.3 have been completed, the Selection Board will include in the relevant reserve list the names of the candidates who have obtained (i) all the required pass scores and (ii) one of the highest scores in the field-related MCQ test from amongst those referred to in Section 4.3.3(a), and (iii) were found to be eligible.

(b)	This will be performed in the descending order of the ranking referred to in Section 4.3.2(c) until the number of successful candidates sought for each field is reached or until the pool of candidates meeting the criteria mentioned in point (a) above is depleted.

(c)	Candidates who tie for the last available place in the reserve list will also be added to that reserve list.

(d)

Names in the reserve lists will be listed alphabetically. The reserve lists will be made available to the recruiting services. The candidates will be notified of their results (test results and eligibility-check results) unless their test answers and/or scripts have not been processed and/or document files have not been handled for the reasons indicated in this notice.

Inclusion on a reserve list does not confer any right to or guarantee of recruitment.

((1)*) Regulation No 31 (EEC), 11 (EAEC), laying down the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (OJ 45, 14.6.1962, p. 1385/62). Consolidated text: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01962R0031-20220101."

((2)*) https://eu-careers.europa.eu/en/documents/common-european-framework-reference-languages."

((3)*) https://epso.europa.eu/en/job-opportunities/open-for-application."

((4)*) https://epso.europa.eu/en/help/faq/competitions-published-after-january-2023."

((5)*) https://eu-careers.europa.eu/en/help/what-written-test.’;"

(4)

On page 11, Annex I, Section 5 ‘Testing’ should read:

‘5. Testing

(1)

EPSO will inform candidates on the testing modalities as well as any necessary details and instructions at the latest when inviting the candidates to the tests.

(2)

If and when instructed, candidates must book a test appointment following the instructions received from EPSO. The booking and testing periods are limited.

(3)

Candidates must complete all the necessary steps referred to in the instructions issued prior to the tests, such as installing software, performing the required synchronisation(s), undergoing a connectivity trial, technical prerequisites’ test, or a systems’ check and/or taking a mock test. Compliance with instructions will allow to check the readiness of the candidate’s IT environment and the compatibility of the candidate’s device with the testing platform or application. Failure to complete the mandatory steps may prevent the candidate from taking the tests and will impede the ability of the test delivery provider to address effectively any technical issues encountered by the candidate during testing.

(4)

In cases where candidates fail to book, sit or complete one or more of the tests, it will be considered that their participation in the competition has come to an end, unless the candidates can prove that the failure to book, sit or complete a test was due to circumstances beyond the candidates’ control or due to a situation of force majeure. They should contact EPSO as soon as possible, preferably before the test, and must provide the necessary justification, including, where applicable, proof that they contacted the technical support services.

(5)

Failure to comply with the terms and conditions applicable in relation to testing, specified in the instructions and information made available to candidates, will not be considered as a circumstance beyond the candidates’ control or a situation of force majeure.

(6)

Candidates are also invited to consult EPSO's website (*1) to become more familiar with EPSO’s selection procedures, including general requirements applicable to testing.

(*1) https://eu-careers.europa.eu/en ’;"

(5)

On page 11, Annex I, Section 7.1 ‘Technical and organisational issues’ should read:

‘7.1. Technical and organisational issues

(1)

If at any phase of the selection procedure candidates encounter a serious technical or organisational problem, they should inform EPSO via the online contact form (*2).

(2)

For issues with the application form, candidates must contact EPSO immediately and in any case before the deadline for applications.

(3)

If the problem occurs during testing, a candidate must do both of the following:

(a)	report the issue immediately closely following instructions outlined in the letter(s) inviting candidates to test(s), and

(b)

within 3 calendar days, counting from (and including) the day following the day on which a candidate took the test, contact EPSO via the online contact form (*3), giving a detailed description of the problem. The candidate should also attach the proof of attempt(s) to resolve the issue (for example, help-desk or technical support ticket number, chat transcripts, troubleshooting report, etc.). This documentary proof is necessary to enable EPSO to make inquiries into the situation. The invitation letters to tests may specify further requirements and instructions related to reporting of issues encountered during testing.

The obligation to inform EPSO applies in all cases, even where the test delivery provider followed up on the candidate’s complaint.

(4)

Complaints received after the deadline specified in this point will be considered inadmissible.

(5)

Complaints about technical issues, submitted by candidates who failed to undertake the steps referred to in Section 5(3) will be considered inadmissible unless the candidate can prove that the failure to complete the necessary steps was due to circumstances beyond the candidates’ control or due to a situation of force majeure.

(6)

Claims made in the context of complaints referred to in Sections 7.2.2 and 7.3.1 and based on alleged technical and/or organisational issues that had not been reported in accordance with Section 7.1 read together with Section 5, will be considered inadmissible.

(*2) https://epso.europa.eu/en/help/faq/complaints."

(*3) https://epso.europa.eu/en/help/faq/complaints ’."

(1) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/1805/oj.

(2) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/2265/oj.

ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/3223/oj

ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)

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