(2004/C 33 E/227)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2124/03

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(25 June 2003)

Subject:   Recruitment of officials from the accession States

The Official Journal of the European Communities of 22 May 2003 (C 120 A — Volume 46 — EN) announced 1355 vacancies for which only nationals of the ten new Member States could apply (‘You must be a … citizen’).

In a press release (IP/03/747) of 26 May 2003, the Commission stated that over a period of seven years 3 900 officials would be recruited from the new Member States.

Article 17 of the EC Treaty reads:

Article 39 of the EC Treaty reads:

Does Article 39(4) also apply to officials and other staff of the European institutions? On the basis of what argument?

Does the Commission accept that the required qualifications listed in the Official Journal of 22 May 2003 do not necessarily have to be associated with a nationality? If not, why not? If so, why has it not made all citizens of the Union eligible for these posts?

Does the Commission agree that this constitutes discrimination against applicants from the existing Member States? If not, what is the Commission's message to the — predominantly young — applicants from the fifteen existing Member States who wish to make careers at the European institutions but will find it impossible or virtually impossible to do so because of the quotas for recruitment of candidates from the new Member States?

Can the Commission provide an overview of the numbers of staff recruited in 2000, 2001 and 2002, broken down by nationality (of the Member States), age and level (of post)?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(12 August 2003)

The rules governing the selection of officials for the European institutions are based on the Staff Regulations. Article 27 of Title III of the Staff Regulations stipulates that ‘recruitment shall be directed to securing for the institution 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’.

Article 27 further stipulates that ‘No posts shall be reserved for nationals of any specific Member State’.

As has been the case at the occasion of previous enlargements of the Union, the Commission has adopted a proposal for a temporary exemption clause to the Staff Regulation. It provides for the possibility of recruiting officials from the future new Member States on the basis of citizenship in order to ensure a necessary minimum intake of staff from these countries within the services of the institutions. This proposal, which is currently being discussed in the Council of the European Union, foresees a validity of seven years.

This Commission proposal also provides for the possibility, during that seven years period, to undertake the organisation of competitions specifically related to citizens of the present 15 Member States, in order to ensure balanced recruitment on the broadest possible geographical basis throughout the transitional period following the date of accession of the future new Members States.

In spite of the exceptional character of the exemption clause allowing for recruitment on the basis of citizenship of one of the future new Member States, it must be underlined that the continuation of the organisation of EUR-15 competitions provides an overall framework for a recruitment policy which is in line with the principles laid down in article 39 of the EC Treaty.

Information concerning recruitment by nationality can be found in the tables that are sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat.