Guide for candidates in selection procedures organised by the European Parliament

1.	INTRODUCTION

What form does a selection procedure take?

2.	THE VARIOUS STAGES OF THE SELECTION PROCEDURE

Receipt of applications

Assessment for compliance with the general conditions

Assessment for compliance with the specific conditions

Assessment of qualifications

Tests

List of suitable candidates

3.	HOW TO APPLY

General remarks

How should the complete application file be submitted?

What supporting documents should be enclosed in the complete application file?

General remarks

Supporting documents proving compliance with the general conditions

Supporting documents proving compliance with the specific conditions and assessment of qualifications

4.	COMMUNICATION

5.	GENERAL INFORMATION

Equal opportunities

Requests from candidates for access to information concerning them

Protection of personal data

Travel and subsistence expenses

ANNEX I

ANNEX II

1.   INTRODUCTION

What form does a selection procedure take?

A selection procedure consists of a series of stages in which candidates compete against one another; such procedures are open to all citizens of the European Union who meet the relevant criteria, give all candidates a fair opportunity to demonstrate their skills, and are intended to result in a selection which is based on merit and avoids any discrimination.

Successful candidates are placed on a list of suitable candidates, on which the European Parliament will draw in order to fill the post to which the recruitment notice applies.

For each selection procedure a selection committee is appointed, consisting of members representing the Administration and the Staff Committee. The proceedings of the selection committee are confidential and are conducted in accordance with Annex III to the Staff Regulations of Officials.

Candidates may not under any circumstances approach the selection committee themselves, directly or indirectly. The appointing authority reserves the right to disqualify any candidate who disregards this instruction.

The selection committee applies the conditions for admission set out in the recruitment notice strictly when deciding whether or not each candidate should be admitted to the competition. Candidates admitted to a previous competition or selection procedure will not automatically be eligible.

In order to select the best candidates, the selection committee compares their performance with the aim of assessing their suitability to perform the duties described in the recruitment notice. This means that it must not only assess the candidates' knowledge, but also identify the best-qualified individuals on the basis of their merit.

Please note that selection procedures take between six and nine months, depending on the number of candidates.

2.   THE VARIOUS STAGES OF THE SELECTION PROCEDURE

The selection procedure comprises the following stages:

—	receipt of the applications,

—	assessment for compliance with the general conditions,

—	assessment for compliance with the specific conditions,

—	assessment on the basis of qualifications (admission to compulsory tests),

—

tests,

—	list of suitable candidates.

Receipt of applications

Should you decide to apply, you must, on pain of disqualification, submit a complete application file, including the application form provided with the recruitment notice, completed and signed and accompanied by all the requisite supporting documents showing that you meet the general and specific conditions set out in the recruitment notice, so that the selection committee can verify the accuracy of the information given. The application file must be sent by registered post (dispatch by private courier company will be accepted as equivalent to dispatch by registered post. In such cases, the date appearing on the delivery form will be taken as the date of dispatch) . Please see Section C of the recruitment notice for the address and closing date for applications.

Assessment for compliance with the general conditions

The Competitions and Selection Procedures Unit will check whether applications can be accepted: in other words, whether they have been submitted in the form and by the closing date indicated in the recruitment notice and whether candidates meet the general admission conditions.

Accordingly, candidates will automatically be eliminated if they:

—	send their application after the closing date, as evidenced by the postmark,

—	do not send their application form by registered post or by private courier,

—	do not use and duly complete the official application form provided with the recruitment notice,

—	fail to sign the application form,

—	do not meet the general conditions for admission.

Candidates will be informed individually after the closing date for applications if their application has been rejected.

A list of the candidates who meet the general conditions set out in the recruitment notice will be drawn up by the appointing authority and forwarded to the selection committee with the application files.

Assessment for compliance with the specific conditions

The selection committee will consider the application files and draw up a list of candidates who meet the specific conditions set out in the recruitment notice. It will base its decisions exclusively on the information given on the application forms and substantiated by supporting documents .

Your application must give full details of your studies, training, professional experience and knowledge of languages, as follows:

—	as regards your studies: the dates on which they began and ended and the nature of the diploma(s), as well as the subjects studied,

—	as regards your professional experience: the dates on which the relevant periods began and ended and the precise nature of the duties performed.

If you have published studies, articles, reports or any other texts relevant to the duties set out in the job description, you should give details of them on the application form.

Candidates who do not meet the specific conditions governing admission set out in the recruitment notice will be eliminated at this stage.

You will be informed individually of the selection committee's decision whether or not to admit you to the tests.

Assessment of qualifications

In order to select the candidates who are to be admitted to the tests, the selection committee will assess the qualifications of those admitted to the selection procedure. It will base its decisions exclusively on the information given on the application forms and substantiated by supporting documents (see point 3 below). The selection committee will base its work on criteria agreed in advance, taking account in particular of the qualifications specified in Section B.2 of the recruitment notice.

You will be informed individually of the selection committee's decision whether or not to admit you to the tests.

Tests

All the tests are compulsory, but only the oral tests are eliminatory. The maximum number of candidates admitted to the tests is indicated in Section B.2 of the recruitment notice.

For organisational reasons, candidates may be invited to take all the written/oral tests, but the tests will be marked in the order in which they appear in the recruitment notice; consequently, if a candidate does not achieve the minimum mark required in one of the eliminatory tests, the selection committee will not mark the subsequent tests.

If a candidate does not complete all the tests, none of them will be marked.

List of suitable candidates

No more than the maximum number of candidates specified in Section B.4 of the recruitment notice will be placed on the list of suitable candidates.

3.   HOW TO APPLY

General remarks

Before applying, you should check carefully whether you meet all the admission conditions, both general and specific. You should therefore first study the recruitment notice and this guide and take due notice of the requirements they set out.

Although recruitment notices do not lay down any age limit, you should note that the retirement age for staff is laid down in the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union (http://ec.europa.eu/civil_service/docs/toc100_en.pdf)

Candidates must use the official application form (original or copy) supplied with the recruitment notice for this selection procedure and published in the Official Journal printed by the Publications Office of the European Union.

Documents sent after the closing date will not be taken into account.

If you have a disability or if your circumstances are such that they might cause difficulties during the tests (e.g. because you are pregnant or are breastfeeding, or because you have health problems or are undergoing medical treatment etc.), you must indicate that fact on the application form and provide any relevant information so that the Administration can take appropriate measures, where possible. If necessary, you should also set out on a separate sheet of paper any special arrangements you think are needed to make it easier for you to take the tests.

How should the complete application file be submitted?

1.	Complete and sign the application form supplied with the recruitment notice for this selection procedure.

2.	Enclose all the supporting documents required, which you should first number.

3.	Enclose a list of all the supporting documents enclosed with your application, indicating the numbers you have assigned to them.

4.	Submit the application in the way and before the closing date specified in the recruitment notice.

What supporting documents should be enclosed in the complete application file?

General remarks

Do not send the originals of the documents required: you need only send photocopies, which do not have to be authenticated. References to websites cannot be regarded as constituting supporting documents for this purpose. Printouts of pages from websites are not regarded as certificates, although they may be enclosed purely to provide supplementary information.

Your attention is drawn to the fact that successful candidates included on the list of suitable candidates who are offered a job will be required to produce the originals of all necessary documents for verification before they can be recruited.

A curriculum vitae will not be regarded as a supporting document.

You may not refer to application forms or any other documents already submitted in connection with previous applications (1).

None of the documents submitted with the application will be returned to you.

Supporting documents proving compliance with the general conditions

No document is required at this stage to show that candidates:

—	are nationals of a European Union Member State,

—	enjoy full rights as a citizen,

—	have fulfilled any obligations imposed on them by the laws on military service,

—	can provide appropriate character references for performing the duties concerned.

Candidates must sign the application form. By doing so, they declare on their honour that they fulfil these conditions and that the information supplied is true and complete.

Supporting documents proving compliance with the specific conditions and assessment of qualifications

Candidates must provide the selection committee with all the information and documents it needs in order to verify the accuracy of the information given on the application form.

Diplomas and/or certificates attesting the successful completion of studies

Candidates must supply photocopies of the diplomas or certificates attesting that they have completed studies of the level required by the recruitment notice.

The selection committee will take account of the different education systems which exist in the European Union Member States.

In the case of post-secondary diplomas, the most detailed possible information must be provided, particularly concerning the subjects studied and the length of time for which they were studied, so that the selection committee can assess the relevance of the diplomas to the duties to be performed.

In the case of diplomas relating to technical or vocational training, further training or specialisation courses, candidates must state whether the course was full-time or part-time or consisted of evening classes, what subjects were covered and the official duration of the courses.

Professional experience

Professional experience will be taken into account only if it has been obtained more recently than the requisite diploma or qualification. The supporting documents must prove the duration and level of the professional experience and the nature of the duties performed must be described in as much detail as possible, so that the selection committee can assess the relevance of your experience to the duties to be performed.

All periods of work experience cited must be substantiated by supporting documents, for example:

—	attestations from candidates' former employers and current employer certifying the professional experience required for admission to the selection procedure,

—	if, for reasons of confidentiality, candidates cannot enclose such attestations, it is essential that they should enclose, in their place, photocopies of their employment contract or letter of recruitment and/or their first salary statement, and, without fail, of their most recent salary statement,

—	where the work has not been performed on behalf of an employer (as a self-employed person, member of the liberal professions, etc.), invoices or order forms detailing the duties performed, or any other relevant official supporting document, will be accepted as evidence.

Knowledge of languages

Knowledge of the required languages must be confirmed by a diploma, a certificate or a declaration on the candidate's honour, to be made on a separate sheet of paper, explaining how the knowledge of the languages in question was acquired.

If, at any stage in the procedure, it is established that the information given on your application form is incorrect or does not tally with the supporting documents or that all the conditions set out in the recruitment notice have not been met, you will be disqualified.

4.   COMMUNICATION

It is your responsibility to make sure that the application form (original or copy), duly completed and signed and accompanied by all the supporting documents, is sent in time, as evidenced by the postmark, by registered post (2).

All correspondence concerning the selection procedure, including invitations to tests, will be sent by ordinary post to the address given on the application form. You are responsible for informing the Competitions and Selection Procedures Unit of any change in your particulars. It is your responsibility, taking postal delays into account, to send a fax (3) or write to the Competitions Unit secretariat if you do not receive a letter of invitation or a letter informing you that you have not been admitted.

In order to facilitate processing, any correspondence concerning an application must quote the name given in that application and the number of the selection procedure.

In the interests of clarity and comprehension, all texts of a general nature, communications to or from candidates, invitations to the various tests and any correspondence between the Competitions and Selection Procedures Unit and candidates will be in English, French or German only. No correspondence will be exchanged with candidates in their main language.

In order to maintain the independence of the selection committee, candidates may not under any circumstances approach the selection committee themselves, directly or indirectly: if they do so, they may be disqualified. Any correspondence addressed to the selection committee and any request for information or other correspondence concerning the procedure must be addressed solely to the Competitions and Selection Procedures Unit.

The Competitions and Selection Procedures Unit is responsible for communicating with candidates until the selection procedure has been completed.

5.   GENERAL INFORMATION

Equal opportunities

The European Parliament takes great care to avoid any form of discrimination during selection procedures.

It is an equal opportunities employer and accepts applications without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status or family situation.

Requests from candidates for access to information concerning them

Candidates involved in selection procedures have a specific right of access to certain information concerning them directly and individually, as described below. The European Parliament may therefore supply the following supplementary information to a candidate on request:

a)

Those candidates who do not pass the written tests and/or who are not among those invited to the oral tests may, on request, obtain copies of their test papers and a copy of their personal evaluation sheet containing the selection committee's remarks on their performance. All requests for copies must be made within one month of the date on which the letter of notification of the decision ending the candidate's participation in the selection procedure was sent.

b)

Those candidates invited to the oral tests but whose names do not appear on the list of suitable candidates will be informed of their results in the various tests only once the oral tests have taken place and the list of suitable candidates has been drawn up by the selection committee. These candidates may also obtain copies of their written tests in the same way as outlined under point (a).

c)	Candidates included on the list of suitable candidates will merely be informed that they are successful candidates in the selection procedure.

Requests will be dealt with in accordance with the requirement for the proceedings to be secret, as laid down in the Staff Regulations (Annex III, Article 6) and in compliance with the rules on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data.

Protection of personal data

The European Parliament, as the body responsible for organising selection procedures, ensures that candidates' personal data is processed in strict compliance with 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 (4), particularly as regards confidentiality and security.

Travel and subsistence expenses

A contribution will be made towards the travel and subsistence expenses of candidates invited to the tests. You will be given details of the procedure and the rates applicable in the letter inviting you to the tests.

The address given on the application form will be taken to be the place from which you set out to take the tests at the nearest test centre.

Organisational reasons dictate that no change of address will be accepted once the invitations to the tests have been sent out, except on grounds involving force majeure or unforeseeable circumstances, which you must duly set out in writing and which Parliament's Administration accepts as being wholly exceptional.

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(1)  These conditions apply to all candidates, including officials and other servants of the European Union.

(2)  Dispatch by private courier company will be accepted as equivalent to dispatch by registered post. In such cases, the date appearing on the delivery form will be taken as the date of dispatch.

(3)  Fax number of the Competitions Unit: +32 22831717.

(4)  OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.