CERTIFICATION PROCEDURE, 2007 EXERCISE

DRAFT LIST OF ADMITTED APPLICANTS AND DRAFT LIST OF PRE-SELECTED APPLICANTS

Following the call for applications for the 2007 exercise of the certification procedure, issued by means of Administrative Notice N° 51-2007, 880 signed applications were registered. The officials who applied are invited to read what follows.

1. DRAFT LIST OF ADMITTED APPLICANTS
   
   The draft list of 835 officials whose applications are considered as admitted is given in annex 1.
   
   The names of the officials in grades 5 upwards of the Assistants' function group who, on the date of publication of the call for applications, were appointed to a permanent post at the Commission and were in active employment, on parental leave, on family leave or seconded in the interests of the service and who applied for the 2007 certification exercise are on the draft list of admitted applicants provided they meet each of the two following criteria:
    
   • As at 16 January 2008, have acquired a minimum of 3 years seniority in the ex-B/B* career path and in grade AST5 or above.
      
   • Have the potential required to take on the functions of an administrator positively assessed in at least one of the annual CDRs covering the years 2004, 2005 and 2006.
      
2. THE DRAFT LIST OF PRE-SELECTED APPLICANTS
   
   All admitted applicants were granted points and two rankings were established as follows.
   
   2.1. Points according to merit
   
   An average of the merit points in the five last annual CDRs – i.e. the CDRs covering the years 2001-02, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 in the ex-B/B* career path – was calculated (without applying a pro rata).
   
   2.2. Points according to the level of education
   
   The admitted candidates were awarded points according to their level of education – as demonstrated by qualifications/diplomas officially recognised by the Member state or the third country in which they were issued – as follows:
    

   Highest level of education of the candidate		Points
   a)	Primary education	0
   b)	Secondary education (not giving access to higher education)
   c)	Secondary education (giving access to higher education)	2
   d)	Higher education (higher non-university degree or short university cycle of a legal duration of at least 2 years)	4
   e)	University level education of a legal duration of at least 3 years	6
   f)	University level education of a legal duration of at least 4 years	8
   g)	University level education – third stage	10

   2.3. Points according to the recent professional experience acquired in the institutions in priority fields
   
   Points were granted as follows to the admitted candidates who acquired, over the last 10 years, a professional experience within the institutions in at least two of the 17 priority fields⁽¹⁾:
    

   • 2 points awarded for every full year of professional experience acquired between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2007; if the professional experience acquired does not amount to a full year, 2 twelfths of a point was awarded for every full month.
      
   • 1,25 point awarded for every full year of professional experience acquired between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2001; if the professional experience acquired does not amount to a full year, 1,25/12ths of a point was awarded for every full month.

   2.4. Two scores for each admitted candidate
   
   Each candidate admitted to the 2007 certification exercise was awarded two scores on the basis of the points defined above and of the following weighting:

   SCORE 1	Combining the points granted for merit (with a weighting of 60%) and the points granted for the recent professional experience in the priority fields (with a weighting of 40%)
   SCORE 2	Combining the points granted for merit (with a weighting of 60%) and the points granted for the level of education demonstrated by an officially recognised qualification/diploma (with a weighting of 40%)

   2.5. Two lists established
   
   Two provisional ranking were established as follows:

   LIST 1	Ranking of the admitted candidates according to scores 1 (combining points granted for merit and for recent professional experience in the priority fields)
   LIST 2	Ranking of the admitted candidates according to scores 2 (combining the points granted for merit and for the level of education demonstrated by an officially recognised qualification/diploma)

   2.6. Number and list of provisionally pre-selected candidates
   
   In view of pre-selecting a minimum of 220 candidates – i.e. twice the number of officials who shall be authorised to follow the training programme as a result of the 2007 certification exercise –, the 220 best-ranked admitted candidates are listed on the draft list of pre-selected candidates. This unique list is published in annex 2 .
   
   The provisionally pre-selected candidates are the highest-ranked admitted candidates on the two lists as follows:
    

   • the candidates with a ranking better or equal to the 120^th position on list 1; and
      
   • the candidates with a ranking better or equal to the 85^th position on list 2.
      
3. APPEAL PROCEDURE
   
   The applicants can check how their application was processed and the results in terms of admission and ranking. The number of points obtained and their ranking in the two lists are available in their “certification” file in Sysper2.
   
   The non-admitted candidates who consider they meet the admission criteria and the candidates who contest the number of points obtained and their ranking may lodge a substantiated appeal before the Joint committee for the certification procedure within 10 working days following the publication of this Administrative Notice.
   
   This appeal has to be lodged via their « certification » file in Sysper2, by clicking on the “Launch an appeal” button. The appeal has to be substantiated: a free-text area of unlimited size will be available; documents supporting the appeal have to be enclosed (via the “Annexes” tab).
   
   If, for some reason, an official is prevented from accessing Sysper2, he/she may lodge an appeal by sending a substantiated note to:
   

   European Commission
   Unit ADMIN A/6 « Certification procedure appeals »
   MO 34 5/15
   B-1049 Brussels

   The note must be sent within 10 working days, as evidenced by the postmark.
    
4. NEXT STAGES IN THE PROCEDURE
   
   After examination of the appeals by the Joint committee, the appointing authority shall publish the final list of admitted candidates and the final list of pre-selected candidates.
   
   The DG and services of the pre-selected candidates (according to the assignment on the date of signature of their application) shall provide a motivated opinion on the basis of a comparative analysis of the pre-selected applications. This analysis by the DGs and services shall be based on the needs of the services and in particular on the 3 criteria defined by the general implementation provisions adopted on 20/11/07⁽²⁾ :
    
   • responsibilities and duties currently performed by the pre-selected applicants as mentioned in their job description or other relevant documents, and how these responsibilities and duties are carried out by the applicants;
      
   • versatility of the pre-selected candidates on the basis of the various functions performed and responsibilities held within the European Institutions;
      
   • relevant training courses followed as mentioned in their training passport; ability to work in Community languages as required by the service; ability to follow a training programme in French or English (given that the candidates may not follow the training referred to in Article 7 in their principal language).

   Common evaluation grids and guidelines for allocating the points and establishing the ranking, were established by the appointing authority after consulting the Joint committee for the certification procedure. They are available for consultation by the candidates on the PersAdmin website dedicated to the certification procedure.
   
   On the basis of the points allocated by the DGs and services, DG ADMIN shall establish a ranking and publish the draft list of the 110 best-ranked pre-selected candidates. The pre-selected candidate will then have the possibility to lodge a substantiated appeal before the Joint committee for the certification procedure.
    

5. THE COMPULSORY "CERTIFICATION" TRAINING PROGRAMME
   
   Courses and exams will take place in English and French. A sufficient level of linguistic knowledge is essential and no official will be allowed to follow the programme in his/her principal language.
   
   The training programme should start at the end of May 2008 as follows:
    
   • Block 1: from Tuesday 27 May to Friday 20 June 2008 (every day except on Wednesdays 4, 11 and 18 June);
      
   • Block 2: from Monday 29 September to Friday 17 October (every day except on Wednesdays 1, 8 and 15 October);
      
   • Individual study period between the 2 blocks.

   EAS shall organise information sessions for the candidates authorised to follow the training. These sessions shall take place in Brussels and Luxembourg early May 2008.
   
   You will find more information on the calendar and on the content of the training on the EAS web site.
    

6. CONTACT DETAILS
   
   If you have any queries, you can contact ADMIN/A.6
   Tel.: 93640 or 93936
   E-mail: ADMIN PROCEDURE DE CERTIFICATION
   PersAdmin web site / Certification

Annexes:
1/ Draft list of the 835 applicants admitted to the 2007 certification exercise
2/ Draft list of the 220 pre-selected applicants

_____________
Footnotes

⁽¹⁾ The Commission has identified particular needs in the following 17 fields: Planning, quality management and evaluation; Policies; Legal; Inter-institutional relations; External relations; Information, communication and publications; Budget, finance and contracts; Programmes, projects, actions and funds; Compliance and infringement handling; Statistics; Control and inspection; Audit; Analysis and advice; Scientific research; Human resources management; Linguistics; Information technology.

⁽²⁾ Decision C(2007) 5694 of 20 November 2007 laying down the general provisions for implementing Article 45a of the Staff Regulations.