CERTIFICATION 2024/2025

CERTIFICATION PROCEDURE

(ARTICLE 45a OF THE STAFF REGULATIONS)

2024 PROCEDURE

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS 

1. Introduction

The purpose of the certification procedure is to select officials in function group AST, from grade 5 and above, who are suitable for appointment to a post in function group AD.

The general implementing provisions relating to the certification procedure of 26 September 2005 amended by the Bureau on 7 July 2008 (hereinafter referred to as GIP) can be consulted at the following address:

https://epintranet.in.ep.europa.eu/files/live/sites/epintranet/files/human-resources/rules-rights/rules-in-force/gi-certification-procedure_en.pdf

The certification procedure consists of six stages:                                           

1.     determination of the number of officials to be authorised to take part in the training programme and the criteria to be used in classifying applications in order of priority, and publication of a call for applications;

2.     consideration of the admissibility of applications and establishment of the list of officials selected to take part in the training programme;

3.     publication of the list of official who have been authorised to participate to the training;

4.     participation in the training programme organised by the European School of Administration (EuSA);

5.     organisation of written and oral exams and the establishment by the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) of the list of officials who have passed those exams;

6.     publication of the list of officials who have passed the exams demonstrating that they have successfully taken part in the training programme.

************ 

Pursuant to Article 3(1) of the GIP, after consulting the Joint Certification Procedure Committee (COPAC), the Appointing Authority has:

(a)    decided that seven (7) officials will be authorised to take part in the training programme for the certification procedure that will be run by the EuSA in 2025;

(b)    laid down the precise nature, value and weighting of the criteria to be used to classify admissible applications (staff reports from the last three assessment exercises, level of education and training, professional experience acquired in the European institutions in the light of service needs).

Admissible applications will be marked according to the following scheme (max. 40 points):

This call for applications is intended to enable the Appointing Authority to identify and select the seven Parliament officials who will be authorised to participate in the training programme in 2025.

2. Who may applyOfficials in function group AST, in grade 5 and above, who have been appointed to a permanent post in Parliament's Secretariat in accordance with Article 1a of the Staff Regulations and who, on the date of publication of this call for applications, hold one of the following administrative statuses referred to in Article 35 of the Staff Regulations – active employment, secondment, parental leave, family leave, or leave for military service –, may apply for certification.

However, the following categories of officials may not apply for certification:

(a)   officials who are to be automatically retired, pursuant to Article 52 of the Staff Regulations, during the year concerned or the following year;

(b)   officials in respect of whom a decision has been taken that their service should be terminated pursuant to Article 47 of the Staff Regulations;

(c)   officials who have been granted an invalidity allowance pursuant to Article 78 of the Staff Regulations.

Applicants should note the importance of having an adequate command of at least one of the languages in which the training programme and exams will be held (French and English). No one is authorised to take part in the training programme or to take the exams in their main language as indicated in the HRM portal (Streamline). The motivation letter mentioned in point 4.4 below is used to evaluate the knowledge of the language in which the certification training will be taken. An applicant who drafts their motivation letter in their main language will be excluded from the procedure.

3. Which applications are admissible?

Applications are admissible from officials:

(a)   whose administrative status is as specified above, and who on 31 December 2023 (cf. Article 4(1)(b) of the GIP) had at least six years' seniority in function group AST^[4] (taking account of seniority acquired as a temporary staff member, provided that there has been no interruption between the periods of employment in that capacity and the periods of employment as an official)

and

(b)   whose three of the last five staff reports certify that they have the potential required to carry out the duties of Administrator (cf. Articles 4(1)(a) of the GIP).

The box indicating  the assessment of the official’s potential to perform duties of AD function group must be ticked by the assessor, in at least three staff reports covering the period from 2019 to 2023, to be valid. 

4. How is the list of the seven officials selected to participate in the training programme drawn up?

1. The Appointing Authority establishes a draft list of officials whose applications have been deemed admissible, classified in order of priority on the basis of the points awarded according to the marking scheme, and informs applicants of their score.

2. Applicants may ask for a review, setting out their reasons, by email to the mailbox for the procedure: PERS-Certification@europarl.europa.eu within 10 calendar days of the date on which the email informing them of the decision was sent. A reply will be sent to them as soon as possible.

3. The Appointing Authority transmits to each Directorate-General (DG)^[5] a list of officials that are posted therein and that are among the 28 highest-ranked applicants in the draft list (including any applicants whose score after the request for review is equal or above the score of the 28^th applicant). DGs are allocated 6 points each, which they may award to a maximum of two applicants (4 points for their first preference and 2 points for their second preference). The award of points is not obligatory. Attribution of points must correspond to the service needs and the reasons for doing so must be clearly set out. The points awarded by the DGs are added to the points awarded under 4.1 above, thus, amending the initial ranking.

4. The COPAC invites applicants with the highest scores to a written test and an interview. During the written test and the interview, the COPAC evaluates applicants on their potential to become Administrators. That evaluation will be based on whether the applicants have sufficient

a.     motivation (as expressed in the motivation letter[6] and demonstrated during the interview);

b.     presentation skills (clarity, concision);

c.     oral language skills in the language they would use for the certification  training and exams (English or French);

d.     written language skills in the language they would use for the certification training and exams (English or French) as they appear from the motivation letter and the written test. 

5. On the basis of the outcome of the written tests and the interviews, the COPAC transmits to the Appointing Authority its opinion on which seven of the highest-ranked applicants fulfil the above criteria.

6. The Appointing Authority decides on the officials to be selected to follow the training programme and informs all applicants of the outcome by sending them their rank and scores for the 2024-2025 procedure.

7. After dealing with any appeals made under Article 4(5) of the GIP, the Appointing Authority adopts and publishes the definitive list of officials authorised to take part in the certification training programme to be held in 2025.

5. How to apply?

Officials who consider that they fulfil the above conditions should apply by completing the application form via the specific section of the Apply4EP platform reserved for European Parliament staff (https://apply4ep.gestmax.eu/employee/search/index/lang/en_US). The closing date for applications is  

17.00 Luxembourg time on 24 October 2024             

Applications received after the deadline will not be accepted.

Please note:

1.         You are strongly advised not to wait until the last day before applying. The European Parliament cannot be held responsible for any last minute technical problems caused by the system being overloaded.

2.         Applications sent by email, internal mail, by post or handed in personally will not be taken into consideration and will be rejected.

3.         The Directorate-General for Personnel will use its databases to verify:

§  the officials’ administrative status on the date of publication of the call for applications;

§  the officials’ seniority in the European institutions;

§  the officials’ main language;

§  that the official’s performance was described as satisfactory in their staff reports for 2021, 2022 and 2023;

§  that the officials’ potential to perform the duties of the AD function group has been confirmed, by ticking the appropriate box, in three of the staff reports for the years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

4.         The Directorate-General for Personnel will assess the nature of the professional experience acquired by the applicants within the institutions (see marking scheme for admissible applications in point 1 above) on the basis of the applicants’ last five staff reports and will use its databases for that purpose. In case of unavailability of the last five staff reports, the total of the points obtained for x staff reports will be converted proportionally to a total corresponding to five staff reports.

5.         A diploma or certificate obtained in a country that is not a member of the European Union must first be approved by the competent authority of a Member State, and a copy of the decision by that authority must be attached to the application.

6.         The Directorate-General for Personnel will consult the competent national authority, should there be any doubt as to the official recognition of a qualification by a Member State.

7.         If any supporting documents in their personal files are needed, applicants may download them from their electronic personal file in the HRM Portal (Streamline).

8.         A curriculum vitae is needed to create your APPLY4EP profile but it is not regarded as a supporting document (e.g. to prove the award of a diploma, professional experience etc.).

9.         Applicants’ files, with the added information from the Directorate-General for Personnel’s databases, are communicated to the COPAC. According to Article 45a, paragraph 2, of the Staff Regulations, the COPAC may hear officials who have applied to take part in the certification procedure and representatives of the Appointing Authority.

10.      Applicants must keep their personal information and contact details up-to-date in the ‘My account’ section on the Apply4EP platform.

11.      The application files will be kept for three years from the date of publication of this call for applications or, if appropriate, until all appeal procedures have been exhausted, including actions before the Court of Justice.

12.      The officials selected to participate in the certification training programme will, as it appears from Article 6(4) of the GIP, have three possibilities in total to take the certification exams. The successful applicants are informed that the possibility to “retake the exams twice in subsequent years” means in the years immediately following the selection to the training programme, provided that they still meet the conditions laid down in Article 3(2) of the GIP.

13.      The guide for applicants should be read in conjunction with and as a complement to this call for applications.

6. Appeals

In addition to the appeals procedure specific to the certification procedure (Article 4(5) of the GIP), applicants who consider that a decision has been taken which adversely affects them may use the appeals procedures provided for by the Staff Regulations or, subsequently, lodge a complaint with the European Ombudsman.

Applicants may consult their application files on request. They may at any time refer a matter to the European Data Protection Supervisor^[7].

7. Equal opportunities

The European Parliament is an equal opportunities employer and accepts applications without discrimination on any grounds, such as gender, 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.