22.11.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CA 279/20

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NOTICE OF OPEN COMPETITIONS

(2007/C 279 A/02)

The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is organising the following admission tests and open competitions, based on tests, to constitute a reserve from which to recruit

EPSO/AD/105/07 — HEADS OF UNIT  (1) (AD9) and (AD12)

having Bulgarian as their main language (BG)

EPSO/AD/106/07 — HEADS OF UNIT  (1) (AD9) and (AD12)

having Romanian as their main language (RO)

IN THE FIELD OF TRANSLATION

CONTENTS

I.	DUTIES AND ELIGIBILITY

A.

DUTIES

B.	ELIGIBILITY

II.	ADMISSION TESTS

TEST PROCEDURES

III.	OPEN COMPETITION

TEST PROCEDURES

IV.	HOW TO APPLY

V.	GENERAL INFORMATION

ANNEX:

Requests for review — Appeal procedures — Complaints to the European Ombudsman

I.   DUTIES AND ELIGIBILITY

Open competitions EPSO/AD/105/07 and EPSO/AD/106/07 are being organised to recruit Heads of Unit AD9 and AD12 in the field of translation who have Bulgarian and Romanian as their main language.

The purpose of these competitions is to draw up reserve lists from which to fill vacant posts in the institutions of the European Union. Successful candidates may be offered a post of senior linguistic administrator (AD9) in the field of translation, in particular at the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.

NB:

—	The Council will only recruit Heads of Unit at level AD12,

—	The Commission will only recruit Heads of Unit (2) at level AD9,

—	The Court of Auditors will only recruit Senior Linguistic Administrators or Heads of Unit at level AD9.

Number of successful candidates per competition and level:

	AD9	AD12
EPSO/AD/105/07 (BG)	12	4
EPSO/AD/106/07 (RO)	12	5

The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is organising the following parallel open competitions:

—	EPSO/AD/101/07 to EPSO/AD/104/07 — Heads of Unit (AD9 and AD12) of Bulgarian and Romanian citizenship in the following fields: — Law — Economics — European public administration — External relations (diplomacy, trade and aid management) — Information, press and public relations

—	EPSO/AD/107/07 to EPSO/AD/112/07 — Heads of Unit (AD9 and AD12) of Czech, Polish and Slovak citizenship in the following fields: — Law — Economics — European public administration

—	EPSO/AD/113/07 — Heads of Unit (AD9) in the field of translation who have Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Maltese, Polish, Slovak and Slovene as their main language

—	EPSO/AD/114/07 — Heads of Unit (AD12) in the field of translation who have Estonian, Lithuanian, Latvian and Maltese as their main language

You may apply for only one competition and only one field. You must make your choice when you register online and you cannot change your choice after the deadline for registration.

A.   DUTIES

In all these fields the main activity involves management duties as head of unit under the authority of a director-general, director or head of service/head of sector. The duties fall into three main categories:

Management and attaining objectives — Helping to formulate the strategies and procedures of the directorate/directorate-general/service. — Defining the unit's strategic objectives and approving its operational work programme. — Determining and monitoring the organisation of the unit's work and ensuring the efficient distribution of tasks and responsibilities between members of the unit so as to achieve the expected results. — Analysing and optimising procedures and workflows within the unit so as to attain the objectives set. — Assessing the extent to which objectives have been attained with the help of appropriate indicators and drafting management reports on the results achieved. — Checking that decisions and operations comply with the rules and official procedures.

Personnel and resource management — Ensuring efficient personnel management in the unit in line with the institution's human resources policy. This involves in particular drawing up job descriptions, evaluating staff performance and examining individual objectives and training programmes, and approving, authorising and giving opinions on personnel management matters such as leave or part-time working. — Creating and fostering the development of effective teams. — Developing genuine team spirit in the unit by creating and strengthening the sense of working together towards common goals. — Identifying possible sources of tension in the unit and taking personal initiatives to resolve conflicts. — Developing the efficiency and quality of teamwork by encouraging the individual skills of team members and acting as coach. — Determining funding requirements and managing the annual budget resources allocated to the unit. — Supervising and checking financial operations relating to the unit's work programme. — Verifying and validating the financial and budgetary aspects of the programmes/projects implemented under the unit's responsibility.

Managing relations — communication, coordination, consultation, representation and negotiation — Establishing and maintaining interactive dialogue in the unit so that staff are properly informed about the major policy and strategic aspects and receive appropriate feedback on their work. — Contributing to internal communication and the dissemination of knowledge within the directorate-general and other departments of the Community institutions. — Providing regular reports and advice on legal and/or policy developments and the outcome of discussions and negotiations. — Advising, coordinating and/or negotiating with other departments on matters relating to the unit's work. — Representing the unit or department on advisory, management or regulatory committees, relevant working parties or other ad hoc bodies. — Representing the department vis-à-vis representatives of the Member States and other countries, or in public and private international organisations, as regards matters relating to the unit's work. — Negotiating on behalf of the institutions with Member States, third countries, or public and private international organisations.

And more specifically for translators:

—	You should note that those recruited may be called on to revise, reread, and if necessary translate into their main language texts of various kinds relating to the activities of the institution. They will also be responsible for quality evaluation in the unit.

—	To exercise these responsibilities, candidates must be service-minded, have a sense of organisation and be open to new technologies, in particular those relating to translation.

The European Union institutions place particular importance on the ability of applicants to grasp problems of all kinds, often complex in nature, to react rapidly to changing circumstances and to communicate effectively. You will have to show initiative and imagination and be highly motivated. You should be able to work frequently under pressure, both on your own and in a team, and adjust to a multicultural working environment. You will also be expected to develop your professional skills throughout your career.

B.   ELIGIBILITY

(a)   General conditions

You must:

—	be a citizen of a Member State of the European Union,

—	enjoy full rights as a citizen,

—	have fulfilled any military service obligations imposed on you by law,

—	meet the character requirements for the duties involved.

The competition notice does not set any age limit, but please note the information in Section V.7 concerning the retirement age.

(b)   Special conditions

1.   Qualifications

You must:

(i)	have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies (or equivalent) attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is four years or more; or

(ii)	have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies (or equivalent) attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least one year when the normal period of university education is at least three years.

NB: the minimum of one year's professional experience required under (ii) above counts as an integral part of the above qualification and cannot be included in the professional experience required under 2 below.

The selection board will allow for differences between education systems. For examples of the minimum qualifications required, see the tables annexed to the Guide for Applicants (http://europa.eu/epso/on-line-applications/guide_en.htm) for each category. Note that these are examples only — more stringent requirements may be set in the competition notice.

2.   Professional experience

AD9 You must have acquired at least 10 years' professional experience relevant to the duties in question, with 3 years in a personnel management function as described in I.A: — after obtaining the qualification required under (i), or — after obtaining the qualification and professional experience required under (ii).

AD12 You must have acquired at least 10 years' professional experience relevant to the duties in question, with 5 years in a personnel management function as described in I.A: — after obtaining the qualification required under (i), or — after obtaining the qualification and professional experience required under (ii).

Your professional experience will be assessed according to the level of responsibility you exercised in terms of management of both human and financial resources.

3.   Knowledge of languages

You must satisfy the following conditions:

(a)	have a perfect command of your main language: — Bulgarian for competition EPSO/AD/105/07 — Romanian for competition EPSO/AD/106/07

(b)	have a thorough knowledge of English, French or German (first compulsory source language);

(c)	have a thorough knowledge of English, French or German (second compulsory source language); this must be different from the language chosen under (b) above.

A knowledge of an additional language (third source language) from among the following: Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish) will be an advantage and in the case of successful candidates this may be assessed during the recruitment interview.

You must specify the language you choose for the admission tests and the competition tests in your online registration (3). This choice may not be changed after the deadline for online registration (7 January 2008).

To ensure that all general texts relating to the competition and all communication between you and EPSO are clearly understood on both sides, only English, French or German will be used for the invitations to the various tests and correspondence between you and EPSO.

The language you choose as your second language will be the language used for communicating with you.

You may send any questions to EPSO by e-mail (EPSO-AD-..-07@ec.europa.eu), but please check first that the information you want is not in the competition notice, the Guide for Applicants or on the EPSO website (http://europa.eu/epso).

II.   ADMISSION TESTS

The appointing authority will admit those candidates to the admission tests whose online registration shows that they meet the general and specific requirements in I.B on the closing date for online registration (7 January 2008):

TEST PROCEDURES

EPSO will organise computer-based admission tests for all these candidates. The tests will be held in the European Union in one or more centres specialised in this type of test, depending on availability.

You will be informed of the procedure for attending these tests via your EPSO profile.

You will take the admission tests in English, French or German (your first compulsory source language).

(a)	A test comprising a series of multiple-choice questions to assess your general ability, in particular your verbal reasoning skills. This test will be marked out of 50.

(b)	A test comprising a series of multiple-choice questions to assess your general ability, in particular your numerical reasoning skills. This test will be marked out of 50.

The aggregate pass mark for tests (a) and (b) together is 50.

Wrong answers in these tests will not be penalised.

The candidates with the highest aggregate marks (4) in the admission tests (see table below) will be invited to submit a full application for admission to the open competition.

	AD9	AD12
EPSO/AD/105/07 (BG)	36	12
EPSO/AD/106/07 (RO)	36	15

III.   OPEN COMPETITION

The appointing authority will draw up a list of the candidates who meet the general conditions set out at I.B(a) above and send it to the chair of the selection board together with their application files.

You will be admitted to the written tests by the selection board if you are among the candidates with the highest aggregate marks in the admission tests (a) and (b) (see table above) (4) and meet the specific conditions set out at I.B(b).

TEST PROCEDURES

1.   Written tests — marking

(a)

Translation into your main language, using a non-electronic dictionary, of a general text approximately 45 lines long relating to the activities of the European Union, in the language chosen for the admission tests (your first compulsory source language). This test will be marked out of 50 (pass mark: 25). Time allowed: 2 hours.

(b)

Translation into your main language, using a non-electronic dictionary, of a general text approximately 45 lines long relating to the activities of the European Union, in your second compulsory source language, which must be different from that chosen for admission tests (a) and (b) and test (a) above. This test will be marked out of 50 (pass mark: 25). Time allowed: 2 hours.

Test (b) will be marked only if you obtain the pass mark in test (a).

(c)	Revision without dictionary, of a difficult general text translated into your main language from your first compulsory source language. This test will be marked out of 20 (pass mark: 10). Time allowed: 1,30 hours.

Test (c) will only be marked if you obtain the pass mark in tests (a) and (b).

These written tests will be held simultaneously at one or more centres in the European Union. The date of the written tests scheduled by EPSO cannot be changed at your request. You will be notified of this date when you receive your invitation to the tests (via your EPSO profile).

2.   Oral test — marking

Once the written tests have been marked, the candidates with the highest aggregate marks (4) in these tests (see table below) and a pass mark in each will be admitted to the oral test.

	AD9	AD12
EPSO/AD/105/07 (BG)	18	6
EPSO/AD/106/07 (RO)	18	8

(i)

Before your interview with the selection board, you will be asked to take tests in an assessment centre. The tests will be held in English, French or German only (your first compulsory source language). For organisational reasons, the tests and the interview will be held in Brussels, normally on consecutive days. The report on the tests will be communicated to the selection board as a specialist aid and technical contribution to the decision-making process. The tests will comprise in particular: — a written exercise in which you will be asked to deal with various documents, — an exercise to assess your management skills, — an interview with a human resources expert to asses your skills profile.

(ii)

The day following the tests in the assessment centre, you will be invited to an interview with the selection board (in your first compulsory source language) to enable it to complete its assessment of: — your professional experience, ability to organise and coordinate the work of an administrative unit, and your ability to adapt, negotiate, take decisions and, more generally, perform the duties of a head of unit, — your general knowledge of the European Union, its institutions, and its policies, — your knowledge of your main language.

The selection board may also choose to assess your knowledge of other languages.

This test is marked out of 100 (pass mark: 60).

NOTE: the report produced by the assessment centre is not covered by the rules on secrecy governing the selection board's deliberations and will be given to you at the end of the oral test.

3.   Reserve lists

Following the competition, the selection board will place on the reserve lists the names of the candidates (see Section I, Number of successful candidates) with the highest aggregate marks (4) in the written and oral tests and a pass mark in each.

The lists will be drawn up by competition, level, and merit group (maximum of four groups) and the names of the successful candidates will be given in alphabetical order within each group.

The reserve lists and their expiry dates will be published (5) in the Official Journal of the European Union and on the EPSO website (http://europa.eu/epso).

III.   HOW TO APPLY

Please also consult the Guide for Applicants (http://europa.eu/epso/on-line-applications/guide_en.htm), which can be found on the EPSO website (http://europa.eu/epso). It contains detailed instructions to help you submit your application correctly.

The closing date for online registration is 7 January 2008, with a deadline of 12.00 (noon) Brussels time on that day.

1.   Creating an EPSO profile/online registration

Before registering, you should carefully check whether you meet all the eligibility criteria.

If you want to apply, you must register via the Internet by going to the EPSO website and following the instructions there concerning the various stages of the procedure.

It is your responsibility to complete your online registration in time. We strongly advise you not to wait until the last few days before applying, since heavy Internet traffic or a problem with the Internet connection could lead to the online registration being terminated before you complete it, thereby obliging you to repeat the whole process. Once the deadline has passed, you will not be able to register.

On completion of your online registration, you will receive on screen a registration number which you must note — this will be your reference number in all matters concerning your application. Once you receive this number, the registration process is finished — it is the confirmation that we have registered the data you entered.

If you do not receive a number, your application has not been registered!

Please note that you must have an e-mail address. This will be used to identify you. The information you must enter in your registration includes your choice of languages and details of the qualifications required for admission to the competition (qualification, name of issuing establishment and date obtained).

No documents are required at this stage. Candidates will subsequently be invited to send a full application (see Section IV.3).

Once you have registered online, you can follow the progress of the competition by going to the EPSO website (http://europa.eu/epso) and clicking on ‘Ongoing competitions’.

If you have a disability that prevents you from registering online, you may request — preferably by fax — a paper version of the form  (6) , which you should fill in, sign and return by registered mail, postmarked no later than the closing date for registration. All subsequent communication between EPSO and you will be by post.

You must enclose with your application form a certificate attesting your disability, issued by a recognised body. 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 part in the tests.

2.   Invitations

Details of when and where to attend the admission tests and other tests will be available only on the EPSO website (http://europa.eu/epso). You can access this information by entering the user name and password you specified when registering online. You are responsible for updating your EPSO profile to reflect any change in your postal or e-mail address.

You are also responsible for consulting your EPSO profile to keep track of the progress of the competition and to check the information relevant to your application at every stage. If you find that you cannot do this, you must notify EPSO immediately by e-mail (EPSO-AD-..-07@ec.europa.eu).

Wherever possible, you will be asked to sit the admission tests in the city you chose when registering online. For organisational reasons you will not be able to switch to another venue unless you can prove that you have changed residence and unless you have informed EPSO of this no later than three weeks before the planned date of the admission tests.

3.   Full application

The candidates with the highest marks, as specified in Section II, will be asked to print out and complete the full application form which they will find in their EPSO profile on the website. It must be sent in by the required closing date (7).

Documents to enclose

Your application must give details of your citizenship, studies and any professional experience. You must enclose with it the following documents:

—	a copy of a document proving your citizenship (e.g. your passport, identity card or any other official document specifying your citizenship, which must have been obtained no later than the closing date for online registration),

—	a copy of the diploma(s) attesting successful completion of your studies,

—

employers' references clearly indicating the starting and finishing dates and the level and exact nature of the duties carried out, particularly the level of responsibility you exercised in terms of management of both human and financial resources (level of position within the company, number of people under your responsibility, etc.); you will be given more detailed instructions, via you EPSO profile, on how to present your professional experience.

A numbered index of these documents should be annexed to the above on a separate sheet of paper.

All documents not in English, French or German must be accompanied by a translation into one of those languages, which you may do yourself.

You should only send uncertified photocopies of these documents. Paper copies of web pages and/or references to websites do not constitute supporting documents for these purposes.

When completing your application form, you may not refer to any previous application forms submitted or any other documents enclosed with such applications. None of the documents submitted with your application will be returned.

Signing and sending the form

It is your responsibility to make sure that your application form, duly completed, SIGNED and accompanied by all the supporting documents, is sent by registered post to the address below by the closing date  (7) (the postmark will serve as proof of the date of sending):

European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO)

C-80

Open competition EPSO/AD/105/07 or EPSO/AD/106/07

B-1049 Brussels

Scrutiny of applications

The selection board will examine the files of the candidates with the highest aggregate marks in the admission tests to determine whether they meet the criteria laid down in Section I.B of this notice. The candidates who meet all the criteria will be invited to the written tests.

You will be disqualified if:

—	you do not complete your online registration by the deadline (7 January 2008),

—	you do not complete and/or sign the application form (original signature required),

—	you do not meet all the eligibility criteria,

—	you post your application after the closing date (7),

—	you do not send all the required supporting documents.

4.   Reserve list

The names of the successful candidates (see Section III.3) will be placed on the reserve list.

5.	If, at any stage in the procedure, it is established that the information in your online registration or official application form is incorrect you will be disqualified from the competition.

6.	To simplify administration of the competition, please quote in all correspondence YOUR FULL NAME AS GIVEN ON YOUR APPLICATION FORM, THE COMPETITION NUMBER AND THE REFERENCE NUMBER YOU RECEIVED WHEN YOUR ONLINE REGISTRATION WAS ACCEPTED.

IV.   GENERAL INFORMATION

1.   Equal opportunities

The European Union institutions apply a policy of equal opportunities and accept applications without distinction on the grounds of 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 or sexual orientation.

2.   Selection board

A selection board is appointed for each competition. Its members are designated by the institutions and their staff committees in equal numbers. The chair and members are then appointed by EPSO's appointing authority. Their names will be published on the EPSO website once candidates have been notified whether or not they have been admitted to the competition.

The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is responsible for all communication with you until the competition is completed. You are strictly forbidden to make any contact with the members of the selection board, either directly or indirectly. It is up to the selection board to decide whether candidates infringing this rule are to be disqualified.

3.   Approximate timetable

Depending on the total number of candidates, the competition will take approximately one year altogether from the closing date for online registration.

Full details will be available on the EPSO website.

4.   Requests from candidates for access to information concerning them

Candidates involved in selection procedures have the specific right of access to certain information concerning them directly and individually, as described below. EPSO may therefore supply supplementary information on candidates' participation in the competition at their request. Candidates must send such requests in writing to EPSO within a month of being notified of their results in the competition. EPSO will reply within a month of receiving the request. Requests will be dealt with taking account of the confidential nature of selection boards' proceedings provided for by 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. Examples of the type of information which may be supplied are given in the Guide for Applicants, Section III.2.

5.   Requests for review — Appeal procedures — Complaints to the European Ombudsman

See Annex.

6.   Recruitment

If you are placed on the reserve list, you will be eligible for appointment as head of unit or senior linguist administrator; you will be recruited as a probationary official as and when required by the European institutions, in Brussels, Luxembourg or any other place of activity.

If you are on the reserve list and are offered a post, you will be asked to produce the originals of all the requisite documents, in particular your qualifications, so that copies can be authenticated.

Recruitment will depend on posts and funds becoming available.

Depending on the nature of a post, successful candidates on the reserve list may initially be offered a temporary contract; in this case, their names will remain on the reserve list.

Article 29(1)(b) of the Staff Regulations refers to the possibility for officials to request a transfer to another institution or agency at any time during their career. However, in the interests of the service, during their first three years of service newly recruited officials are transferred only in exceptional and duly justified cases. Any such transfer is subject to the agreement of both the institution and agency that originally recruited the official and the institution or agency receiving the transfer request.

7.   Retirement

You should note that the rules on the retirement age for staff laid down in the Staff Regulations are as follows:

Officials are retired:

—	either automatically at the age of 65 years,

—	or, at the official's own request, at the age of 63 years or where the official is between 55 and 63 years of age and satisfies the requirements for immediate payment of a pension,

—	exceptionally, at the official's own request and where it is considered to be in the interest of the service, at not later than the age of 67.

8.   Grade

Head of unit will be recruited from the reserve list to grade AD9 and AD12.

9.   Remuneration

Basic monthly salary as at 1 January 2007:

grade AD9, first step: EUR 6 574,76

grade AD12, first step: EUR 9 522,89

10.   Protection of personal data

As the body responsible for organising the competition, EPSO ensures that applicants' personal data are processed as required by 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 (OJ L 8, 12.1.2001). This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.

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(1)  The European Union institutions apply a policy of equal opportunities and accept applications without distinction on the grounds of 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 or sexual orientation.

(2)  According to Council Rule No 1760/2006, the Commission will only recruit successful candidates with Bulgarian and Romanian citizenship.

(3)  For practical reasons this form is available in English, French or German only.

(4)  Where a number of candidates tie for the last available place, they will all be taken into consideration by the selection board.

(5)  A successful candidate may explicitly request that his/her name not be published. Any such request must reach EPSO no later than two weeks after the candidate is notified of the results.

(6)  EPSO — Info-recrutement — Avenue de Cortenbergh, 80 — 4/11 — B-1049 Brussels — Fax: (32-2) 295 74 88.

(7)  The closing date will be indicated in good time in your EPSO profile.

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