2007 PROMOTION EXERCISE
The 2007 promotion exercise will be the fifth organised in accordance
with the procedures agreed by the Commission in 2002. This
Administrative Notice recaps the key principles of these procedures.
The Commission is currently working to a timetable to allow for revised
appraisal and promotion systems to enter into force in 2008. This would
also require new general implementing provisions (GIPs).
- CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROMOTION SYSTEM IN FORCE SINCE 2003
The current promotion system was applied for the first time in 2003.
The entire promotion exercise is now managed via the Sysper 2
“promotion” module. Officials have individual access to their
promotion files by means of a personal secret password. Promotion
files contain information on the allocation of priority points
received under the exercise and on the individual’s situation as
regards accumulated priority points and merit points.
1.1. Key principles of the promotion system in force since 2003
- Officials accumulate merit points and priority points over
successive promotion exercises. The aggregate number of these
points produces an accumulated stock of points.
- In each promotion exercise, the following individuals are
promoted:
- all officials with a number of accumulated points above
the promotion threshold(1) ;
- officials with a number of accumulated points equal to
the promotion threshold, provided that there are sufficient
budget resources available. To this end, provision has been
made for a mechanism to choose between officials having the
same ranking (“ex-aequo” officials) on a proposal from the
promotion committees.
- The aggregate number of points accumulated by promoted
officials will be reduced by the number of points corresponding
to the promotion threshold.
The principles governing the new promotion system are set out in
detail in Administrative Notice No
34-2003 of 2 May 2003.
1.2. How are merit points and priority points accumulated?
Each year, officials are allocated merit points and, in certain
cases, priority points.
- Merit points are the result of the mark out of 20 given in
the annual career development review (CDR). Officials given a
mark of 15 in their CDR for 2006 will be awarded 15 merit points
for the 2007 promotion exercise.
However, there are a number of exceptions to this general rule,
for instance, if the official in question has had a number of
appraisals each covering part of the previous year, has changed
category or has not been in active employment for the whole of
the reference period. In these cases, merit points will be
calculated in proportion to the period served in the grade.
- There are several categories of priority points:
- Priority points allocated by the Directorate-General
(PPDG): these are awarded by the Directors-General,
within the quota available (see point 1.3.), to officials
deemed most deserving, as follows:
- officials who have demonstrated exceptional merit
may be allocated 6 to 10 priority points;
- other officials may be awarded a maximum of 4
points;
Officials whose most recent CDR contains an assessment of
“poor” or “inadequate” are not eligible for priority points.
The criteria laid down for allocating these points must be
made known to the staff of the Directorate-General
concerned. They are notified to DG ADMIN, which informs the
Staff Committee.
The proposals for the award of priority points by the
Directors-General (the formal intentions) are published by
DG ADMIN (see point 3: timetable for the promotion
exercise).
- Priority points in recognition of additional work
carried out in the interest of the institution (PPII):
the promotion committees may propose the award of priority
points to officials who have carried out tasks which are in
the interest of the institution and which do not form part
of their normal duties. The list of the tasks in question is
contained in
Annex I to the general provisions for implementing Article
45 (adopted by the Commission on 23 December 2004). A
maximum of 2 such points may be awarded per official and per
year.
DG ADMIN has asked the European Personnel Selection Office
and each Joint Committee Chair for a detailed list of the
Commission officials who have taken part in their work and
the number of days worked by each official.
The information relating to these priority points will be
made known to staff before the promotion committees meet (see
point 3: timetable for the promotion exercise).
Officials will therefore be able to lodge an appeal with the
appropriate committee if they consider that the information
published does not reflect the additional work which they
undertook during 2006 in the interest of the institution.
- Priority points awarded by the promotion committees
on appeal (PPPCA): the committees may propose the
allocation of priority points on appeal to officials who
have contested the number of Directorate-General priority
points accorded to them by lodging an appeal with the
committee concerned. For the appeal to succeed, the
committee must consider the appeal to be justified and must
substantiate its proposal. No limit has been set for the
number of points which may be allocated on appeal.
- Transitional priority points awarded by the
Appointing Authority (PPTAA): these will be awarded to
officials whose seniority in their grade at 1 January 2007
exceeds the average seniority in that grade for officials
promoted in 2006. The number of these points will depend on
the official’s merit mark for 2005. It cannot exceed 4
points and must be calculated in accordance with the table
at point 2.3 of Annex II of the
general provisions for
implementing Article 45.
- Transitional priority points awarded by the promotion
committees (PPTPC): the committees are able to propose
the allocation of up to 3 priority points to offset any
problems resulting from the transition from the old to the
new promotion system.
1.3. How is each Directorate-General’s quota of priority
points calculated?
Each Directorate-General or department has, for a given grade, a
quota of priority points equal to 2.5 times the number of officials
in that grade (as at 31 December 2006) and for whom the
Directorate-General has by 15 June 2007:
- completed the CDR(s) covering 2006;
- set validated objectives for 2007;
- drawn up a training map covering at least 2007.
The quota of priority points is reduced if, for the grade in
question, the average merit marks exceed the expected average by
more than one point. However, Directorates-General may apply for
exemptions. These applications are examined by a joint working party
chaired by the Director -General of DG ADMIN and comprising four
members representing the administration and four members designated
by the Staff Committee, representing the staff.
The average number of merit points expected for each grade, as
referred to in Article 8 of the general provisions for implementing
Article 43 of the Staff Regulations, has been set at 14.65 for the
2007 staff appraisal and promotion exercise.
1.4. How are the promotion thresholds set?
Promotion thresholds are not set in advance but established at the
end of the annual promotion exercise, for each grade, by the
promotion committees and the Appointing Authority. Thresholds depend
on the budget resources available and the points allocated by the
Directorates-General.
Officials are classified on the basis of the number of points
accumulated: top of the list is the official with the most points.
If the available budget resources are sufficient to promote 100
officials from grade X to grade Y, the 100 officials with most
accumulated points are promoted. The promotion threshold is set at
the number of points accumulated by the official ranked 100 on the
list.
In view of this mechanism, it is impossible to determine the
definitive promotion threshold for a given grade at the start of the
exercise.
However, at the start of the exercise DG ADMIN estimates an
indicative threshold based on statistical simulations. The
indicative promotion thresholds for 2007 are annexed to this
Administrative Notice.
1.5. Who is promoted?
Officials with a total number of points above the promotion
threshold are promoted, provided that they meet the criteria
applicable under the Staff Regulations (minimum seniority in the
grade and in service; compliance with article 45.2 where
applicable). However, there is one key exception to this rule:
officials who scored less than 10 in their most recent CDR cannot be
promoted, even if they have accumulated a total number of points
above the promotion threshold.
Officials who have accumulated a number of points which coincides
exactly with the promotion threshold may possibly be promoted. If
budget resources do not permit the promotion of all the officials
who have reached the definitive promotion threshold (“ex aequo”
officials), the promotion committee proposes, from among these
officials, those who may be promoted on the basis of subsidiary
criteria such as seniority in the grade and factors relating to
equal opportunities or the nature of duties undertaken. Officials
with the same total number of points (whatever the origin of those
points) are deemed to have the same merit.
1.6. What are the appeal procedures?
The general provisions for implementing Article 43 of the Staff
Regulations (staff appraisal) provide for appeal procedures for
officials who contest the content of their CDR, in particular the
merit mark obtained.
Joint Evaluation Committees have been specially set up covering
each Directorate-General(2).
During the actual promotion exercise, officials who contest the
proposed number of priority points from their Directorate-General or
for additional work undertaken in the interest of the institution
may lodge an appeal with the relevant promotion committee in
accordance with the following procedures:
- Once priority points have been awarded by the
Directors-General, DG ADMIN informs staff of the lists which
show, grade by grade, the officials to whom it is proposed to
allocate priority points from their Directorate-General and
those who might be granted priority points for additional work
undertaken in the interest of the institution. Officials are
then invited to consult their promotion file.
- Officials have five working days from the publication of
those lists to lodge an appeal, via Sysper 2, with the relevant
promotion committee.
- The promotion committees(3) are
responsible for:
- making proposals on the allocation of some priority
points (see point 1.2. above);
- examining any individual appeals lodged by officials;
- selecting possible promotees from among ex-aequo
officials (see point 1.5 above).
- Any points allocated by the Appointing Authority following
the promotion committees’ work are included in the promotion
file of each official concerned. In addition, DG ADMIN publishes
the lists of officials whom the promotion committees consider to
be the most deserving of promotion(4)
, the lists of officials to whom points have been awarded for
additional work undertaken in the interest of the institution,
and the lists of officials promoted.
At the end of the promotion procedure, moreover, officials may
lodge a complaint with the Appointing Authority under Article
90(2) of the Staff Regulations to challenge:
- the fact that they have not been promoted;
- the calculation of their merit points on the basis of
the marks in the CDR concerned (any challenge involving the
merit marks themselves is to be made as part of the
appraisal exercise, as indicated above);
- the total number of priority points obtained during the
promotion exercise, regardless of the type of points
concerned.
- PARTICULAR FEATURES OF THE 2007 PROMOTION EXERCISE
2.1. Career structure
The 2007 promotion exercise will be held in the framework of the
Staff Regulations which entered into force on 1 May 2004. This means
that promotion exercises will take place for grades within the AD
and AST (without a career restriction) function groups and the AST C
and AST D career streams.
2.2. Ability to work in a third language
Administrative notice 16-2007 of
15.2.2007 sets out the
implementing condition for Article 45(2) of the staff regulations in
2007 and succeeding years.
To recall the basic principles:
- Article 45(2) refers only to the first promotion after
recruitment
- The demonstration of the ability to work in a third language
must be carried out in one of the several ways described in the
administrative notice 16-2007.
- Officials who are in line for a first promotion after
recruitment in 2007 and who are thus concerned by article 45(2),
must demonstrate the ability to work in a third language before
the end of 2007.
- Such officials who do not succeed in making such a
demonstration will not be eligible for promotion in 2007.
2.3. Transitional provisions
Article 13 of the general implementing provisions for this promotion
exercise refers to transitional provisions which provide, inter
alia, that when the promotion thresholds mentioned are published,
the Directorate-General for Personnel and Administration shall
indicate the grades for which thresholds have levelled off and for
which the transition phase has been completed.
In this regard, the transition phase has been completed for the
following grades: AD7, AST5, AST2/C and AST2/D. Moreover, for new
grades (AD5, AD6, AD9, AST1, AST2, AST3, AST4, AST9), transitional
provisions should not apply.
This means that for these grades:
- priority points (PPDG) should be based on the merit shown by
the official during 2006;
- there will be no allocation of transitional points (PPTAA
and PPTPC).
In addition, transitional points allocated by the promotion
committees (PPTPC) will not apply to the grades AD13, AD12, AST10,
AST6/C, and AST4/D for which no promotion possibilities were
foreseen in the former career structure.
2.4. The rucksack of attested officials or officials who have
passed an internal competition D* to C* or C* to B*and who have
become members of the AST function group with no career restriction
with effect from 1 May 2006.
- Officials who have become members of the AST function group
without career restriction in 2006 following attestation or
having succeeded an internal competition will figure on the AST
(without career restriction) promotion lists in the framework of
the 2007 promotion exercise. Their rucksacks have been
re-calculated at the beginning of 2007, to maintain their
relative distance from the new promotion threshold.
- The calculation can be illustrated by the following example
of an attested official in the function group/grade AST4/C:
- the promotion threshold for the AST4/C grade for the
promotion exercise 2006 is X;
- the number of points accumulated by the former grade
AST4/C official at the end of 2006 represents 50% of the
2006 promotion threshold;
- the official concerned becomes a member of the AST
function group without a career restriction as from 1 May
2006;
- the promotion threshold for the grade AST4 (B*4) noted
during the 2006 promotion exercise is Z;
- at the beginning of 2007 the official’s rucksack has
been re-calculated to keep the same percentage distance from
the threshold in the new grade as in the old grade. It will
therefore be equal to 50% of Z.
- Officials who have become or will become members of the AST
function group (without a career restriction) in 2007 following
attestation or having succeeded an internal competition will
figure on the AST/C and AST/D lists in the framework of the 2007
promotion exercise. They will figure on the AST (without a
career restriction) list from the 2008 promotion exercise.
- TIMETABLE FOR THE 2007 PROMOTION EXERCISE
– May:
- All officials will be able to access, via the 2007 promotion
file in Sysper 2, their merit points (calculated in accordance
with the methods described above) and transitional priority
points awarded by the Appointing Authority.
– June:
- Directorates-General will submit any requests for exemption
in the event that they exceed by more than one point the
expected average merit marks covering 2006.
- Directorates-General will inform their staff of the criteria
for awarding priority points.
- The joint working party will meet to examine any requests
for exemption.
- Directorates-General will submit to the Joint Evaluation
Committees their proposals for awarding priority points.
– July:
- DG ADMIN will publish the formal intentions regarding the
award of priority points, the lists of officials most deserving
of promotion and the number of days worked in relation to work
carried out in the interest of the institution.
- End of July: closing date for lodging appeals with the
promotion committees.
– September/October:
- The promotion committees will meet.
– October/November:
- DG ADMIN will publish the lists of those whom the promotion
committees consider most deserve promotion, the lists of those
promoted and the list of those awarded points for additional
work undertaken in the interest of the institution.
Further information on the promotion exercise can be found at:
http://www.cc.cec/pers_admin/promotions/index_en.html.
ANNEX
Indicative promotion thresholds for 2007
As stated at point 1.4 above, the definitive promotion thresholds
will not be established until the end of the promotion exercise, since
they are determined by the number of promotions possible and the final
list broken down by total points for each grade.
The indicative promotion thresholds which DG ADMIN is required to
publish before the promotion exercise result from a statistical estimate
based on a number of assumptions about how the exercise will progress.
It is the best estimate available.
The results are obtained from the largest group of officials, those paid
from the operating budget, but they are also valid for those paid from
other budgets.
The indicative thresholds are given below.
TABLE OF INDICATIVE THRESHOLDS
Grade |
Indicative threshold 2007
(1) |
AD13 |
85 |
AD12 |
118 |
AD11 |
93.5 |
AD10 |
77.5 |
AD09 |
68 |
AD08 |
66 |
AD07 |
51 |
AD06 |
42 |
AD05 |
42 |
AST10 |
114 |
AST09 |
85 |
AST08 |
95 |
AST07 |
87 |
AST06 |
85 |
AST05 |
38 |
AST04 |
51 |
AST03 |
42 |
AST02 |
51 |
AST01 |
42 |
AST06.C |
111.5 |
AST05.C |
101 |
AST04.C |
84.5 |
AST03.C |
83 |
AST02.C |
38 |
AST04.D |
112 |
AST03.D |
84 |
_________
FOOTNOTES
(1) With the exception of certain specific
cases such as officials who are not in active employment at the
Commission when promotion decisions are taken, officials who obtained
fewer than 10 merit points in the previous appraisal exercise, officials
who are the subject of disciplinary procedures, etc.
(2) When the promotion exercise is launched,
this appeal procedure has in theory been exhausted.
(3) There are three promotion committees:
one for the AD function group, one for the AST function group (without a
career restriction) and one for the AST/C and AST/D career streams. A
promotion subcommittee has also been set up for staff paid from research
appropriations in the general budget.
(4) Lists containing, for each grade, the
names of officials who are not more than five points below the promotion
threshold and the names of officials who have reached or passed that
threshold.
Author: ADMIN A.6
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