9.7.2013

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CA 196/1

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RECRUITMENT NOTICE No CDR/SG/AD16/15/13

concerning a post of

SECRETARY-GENERAL (M/F)

in the Secretariat-General of the Committee of the Regions

(Recruitment grade AD16/3)

Publication under Article 2(a) and Article 8 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (CEOS)

(2013/C 196 A/01)

1.   INTRODUCTION

Under the authority of the President, who represents the Bureau, the Secretary-General (1) of the Committee of the Regions (hereinafter referred to as ‘the CoR’) has the task of implementing the decisions taken by the Bureau or President in line with the provisions of the CoR Rules of Procedure and the current legal framework. These decisions cover, in particular, the organisation and management of the CoR secretariat-general (around 550 staff and an annual budget of around EUR 90 million) so as to provide effective assistance to the CoR and its constituent bodies, and to its members, in the performance of their duties.

2.   DUTIES

The CoR is a consultative body which was established in 1994. It is the European Union (hereinafter referred to as ‘the EU’) assembly of local and regional representatives. It has 353 members (2) who are representatives of regional or local bodies who either hold a regional or local authority electoral mandate or are politically accountable to an elected assembly. These members:

—	live and work in the regions or cities they come from;

—	are in touch with their electorates' concerns;

—	are spokespersons for their electorate at the very heart of the EU decision-making and legislative process and keep them abreast of EU developments.

The CoR has to be consulted throughout the legislative process involving the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union in the following areas: transport, employment, social policy, European social fund, education, vocational training, youth and sports, culture, public health, trans-European networks, economic social and territorial cohesion, structural funds, environment and energy.

The CoR is also the guardian of the subsidiarity principle. Under the Lisbon Treaty it has the right to bring an action before the Court of Justice of the European Union whenever it considers that the principle has not been respected.

The CoR also takes its role of forming a bridge between Europe and its citizens seriously, mounting local and regional information campaigns and setting up platforms for networking between regions and also for businesses.

Lastly, it is developing a policy of active partnership with the other European institutions.

In the performance of his administrative duties, it will be incumbent upon the Secretary-General, in particular, to:

—	assist the President as regards preparing meetings of the Bureau and the plenary assembly, respecting procedures and ensuring that decisions taken in accordance with the CoR's Rules of Procedure are properly implemented;

—	assist the President in representing the CoR's interests vis-à-vis the other European institutions and bodies and internationally;

—	submit proposals to the Bureau aimed at running the secretariat-general in such a way as to provide effective assistance to the CoR and its constituent bodies and to its members in the performance of their duties;

—	take part in Bureau meetings with an advisory role;

—	organise the preparation of the annual and multiannual programme of the CoR's work;

—	supervise the work of the CoR/European Economic and Social Committee joint services in keeping with the interinstitutional cooperation agreement concluded between the two Committees;

—	exercise the powers which the Staff Regulations and the CoR's Rules of Procedure vest in him as Appointing Authority and Authority Empowered to Conclude Contracts of Employment;

—	draw up the CoR's draft estimates of expenditure and revenue and implement the CoR's budget in accordance with the powers vested in him;

—	ensure optimum use of the human and financial resources allocated to the CoR by the budgetary authorities.

3.   ADMISSION CRITERIA

The selection process is open to all candidates who, on the closing date for filing applications, meet the following criteria. Candidates must:

—	be a national of one of the Member States of the EU;

—	enjoy full rights as a citizen and produce appropriate character references as to their suitability for the performance of the duties of Secretary-General;

—	have fulfilled any statutory obligations concerning military service;

—	be below retirement age, which, for officials and other staff of the EU, is set at the end of the month in which the age of 65 is reached, and not reach retirement age before the scheduled end of the term of office (i.e. 31 March 2019);

—	meet the physical fitness conditions required for the performance of the duties — to ascertain this the successful candidate will be examined by the CoR Medical Officer during the recruitment process;

—

have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma where the normal period of university education is 4 years or more, or a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least 1 year where the normal period of university education is at least 3 years;

—

have at least 15 years of professional experience relevant to the nature of the duties after receipt of the diploma referred to in the previous indent; where the normal period of university education is 3 years, the year of professional experience required to complement this period of education is deemed an integral part of the diploma and shall be in addition to the number of years of professional experience required under this indent;

—	have a thorough command of one of the official EU languages as main language and a satisfactory knowledge of a second official EU language;

—

in the interest of the service, have at least a satisfactory knowledge of English or French. Given the nature of the duties to be performed, a knowledge of English or French which is at least satisfactory is required; the need to recruit a staff member with the highest qualities of competence, performance and integrity must be balanced against the interest of the service, which requires a candidate to be immediately operational and capable of communicating effectively within the institution in the course of his everyday work in one of the languages most used by officials and other staff of the Union as an internal working language. The testing of candidates' linguistic knowledge during the recruitment procedure is thus a proportionate means of verifying that they possess the highest qualities for performing the duties of Secretary-General in the CoR's the working environment. A candidate having one of the abovementioned languages as his main language will also be called on during the oral test to express himself satisfactorily in an official language other than his main language. The ability to communicate effectively in other official EU languages will be an advantage;

—	state in the signed declaration (see point 6.1 below) that they meet the requirements in the area of language skills, which will be assessed during the interview.

4.   INITIAL SCREENING CRITERIA (examination of the application)

4.1	Initial screening of candidates will take the form of a comparative assessment of their professional experience on the basis of the information given in their applications:

Preference will be given to candidates possessing:

4.1.1

Leadership skills — ability to ensure the smooth operation of an international, multilingual and multicultural organisation, requiring a command of management methods and the ability to lead teams; significant managerial experience would be appreciated.

4.1.2

Negotiating and communication skills — negotiating skills; the ability to reach compromises in high-level decision-making would be an advantage; — communication and public relations skills.

4.1.3

Knowledge relevant to the nature of the duties — familiarity with EU policies; — familiarity with regional or local aspects of European integration; if this was acquired in a local or regional body it would be an advantage; — familiarity with the EU's decision-making processes and experience in the area of interinstitutional cooperation, preferably in a political environment; — familiarity with the administrative and budgetary procedures, as well as the legal framework, governing the activities of the European institutions.

4.2	Initial screening of candidates will also be conducted in the light of their reasons for wishing to assume the duties of Secretary-General and their vision of the future challenges that will face an institution such as the CoR, as set out in their letter of application.

5.   SELECTION CRITERIA (interview)

Selection will be by means of an interview, during which the panel referred to in point 6 below will ask the candidates a number of similar questions in order to carry out a comparative assessment of the various candidacies being considered at that stage.

The questions will in particular concern:

—	candidates' ability to draw up and implement innovative strategies, to identify future objectives for the CoR, and to set out and report on the results to be achieved;

—	candidates' ability to represent the interests of the CoR at European and international level.

In the course of the interview the panel will in particular assess candidates' managerial skills, ability to communicate, accessibility and open-mindedness, negotiating skills and breadth of interests.

The language skills required for performance of the duties of CoR Secretary-General will also be assessed during the interview, in particular a satisfactory knowledge of English or French.

The ability to communicate effectively in other official EU languages will be an advantage.

6.   APPLICATION PROCEDURE

6.1   Filing of applications

Applications must be sent, solely by e-mail, in pdf format to the following address: vacancysg@cor.europa.eu

Candidates with a disability which makes it impossible for them to submit their application online may send it by registered post with proof of delivery to the following address: Committee of the Regions, for the attention of the President, Rue Belliard/Belliardstraat 101, 1040 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË, marked ‘Confidential — recruitment notice — not to be opened by the mail department’, at the latest by the closing date for applications stipulated in point 6.2 below, as indicated by the postmark. Any subsequent communication between the CoR and these candidates will be conducted by post. Candidates applying by post must attach to their application a certificate, issued by a competent body, attesting to their disabled status. They are also asked to indicate, in their own words, any arrangements they consider necessary to facilitate their participation in the recruitment procedure.

Applications must mention the reference number of the recruitment notice in the subject line and include:

—	a covering letter setting out their reasons for applying for the post (maximum five pages), signed and dated;

—	an up-to-date curriculum vitae (Europass format);

—	the curriculum vitae and covering letter must be written in English or French (3);

—	a declaration, signed and dated (form in Appendix 1), that the admission criteria set out in point 3 above are met;

—	the check-list in Appendix 2, signed and dated;

—	a copy of one of the candidate's official identity documents;

—	a copy of the diploma giving access to the grade (see point 3 above);

—	a copy of the professional documents certifying the candidate's experience, in line with the criteria set out in point 3 above. The documents must clearly state the length of employment and, if possible, the level of responsibility held.

It is not necessary for the copies included in the application to be certified.

Any applications which are incomplete, are filed after the closing date or fail to comply with these provisions on filing applications will not be considered.

6.2   Closing date for filing applications: 19 August 2013 at midday (Brussels time)

Candidates will receive confirmation of receipt of their application by e-mail. Any applications received by registered post with proof of delivery, as referred to in point 6.1 above, will be duly acknowledged.

6.3   Examination of applications and initial screening and selection files

A panel made up of the President, the first Vice-President and the CoR political group chairs (or their representatives) will assess the applications. The CoR President will chair the panel, with administrative assistance from the Secretary-General.

There are four stages in the process, as follows:

6.3.1

The panel will check candidates' admissibility on the basis of their declarations, CVs and copies of the documents specified in point 6.1 of this recruitment notice. The admission criteria to be applied at this stage of the process are specified in point 3.

6.3.2

The panel will then carry out a screening of applications admitted following the phase described in the previous point. This will be done on the basis of the application. The names of the candidates who best meet the criteria set out in point 4 of this recruitment notice will be placed on a shortlist of no more than five names. With a view to this screening, candidates are invited to highlight in their covering letter the aspects of their CV which are suited to the post, their reasons for applying and their vision of future challenges facing an institution like the CoR. The shortlisted candidates will then be invited to an assessment centre. They will be informed of the programme and methodology in due time. The purpose of this assessment will be to evaluate their managerial skills (handling of information, tasks, people and interpersonal relationships, and ability to achieve goals). The result of the assessment will be non-binding and is intended to provide the panel with additional input in connection with the selection interview.

6.3.3

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a selection interview conducted by the panel, in accordance with the provisions of point 5 above. The candidates invited to the selection interview will be asked to produce an identity document, along with the original of their diploma and of the documents certifying their professional experience.

6.3.4

After the interviews, the President will propose to the Bureau the candidate deemed most suitable to assume the post of Secretary-General of the CoR. The Bureau reserves the right to interview the candidate proposed by the President.

In accordance with Rule 68 of the CoR Rules of Procedure, the engagement of the Secretary-General requires a favourable vote of the Bureau, meeting in camera, with a specific quorum.

If the Bureau votes in favour, it will instruct the President to sign the employment contract with the successful candidate.

Candidates' attention is drawn to the fact that the Commission has formally submitted to the Council and the European Parliament a proposal for an amendment to the Staff Regulations and the CEOS. When he is recruited, the successful candidate might therefore be offered a contract based on revised provisions of the Staff Regulations adopted before he enters into service.

7.   RECRUITMENT CONDITIONS

The successful candidate will be employed on a five-year contract as a temporary staff member (Article 2(a) of the CEOS) at grade AD16/3. The starting date of employment will be 1 April 2014.

He will be required to undergo a six-month probationary period.

He will be required to produce the original documents proving that he meets the admission criteria at least one month before he actually starts work.

In addition, and without prejudice to the above requirements, the successful candidate will be asked to undertake to comply with certain rules of ethics. Candidates' attention is drawn to the restrictions imposed by the Staff Regulations of Officials of the EU concerning outside activities, assignments and conflicts of interest (Articles 11, 11a, 12b, 13 and 15 of the Staff Regulations), which apply to temporary staff under Article 11 of the CEOS.

In the interests of the successful candidate's independence, he will have to be free of any prior professional obligations at the latest by the time he starts work. He will be required to take any necessary administrative steps to this end.

If the person is an EU official, he must either resign from his current post or obtain leave on personal grounds.

8.   NOTES

The post will be filled as and when budget resources permit.

The CoR will ensure that candidates' personal data is handled in full compliance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data.

The CoR is an equal-opportunities employer, precluding any discrimination.

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(1)  Any reference in this notice to a person of the male sex shall be deemed also to constitute a reference to a person of the female sex.

(2)  Including, as of 1 July 2013, the Croatian members.

(3)  The panel will ensure that candidates for whom one of these languages is their main language will not enjoy any undue advantage.

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