ATTESTATION PROCEDURE, 2008 EXERCISE

FINAL LIST OF ADMITTED OFFICIALS

• Response to appeals against the non-admission
• Final list of officials admitted to the 2008 attestation exercise
• List of training courses recommended to the officials admitted to the attestation procedure
• Consequences of attestation on the career
• Follow-up of the attestation implementation
• Next attestation exercise

This administrative notice finalises the admission phase of the exercise and grants to the admitted candidates the right to benefit from attestation, with no limit in time, as a result of the 2008 attestation exercise.

The attestation procedure allows officials currently in the ex-C* (AST 1-7) and ex-D* (AST 1-5) career streams to access the ex-B* career stream and become members of the assistants' function group (“function group AST”) with prospects of promotion to grade AST 11 without career restriction. This procedure was introduced by Article 10(3) of Annex XIII to the Staff Regulations and the 2008 exercise is the third exercise based on the simplified implementing rules adopted in 2006 ⁽¹⁾ Administrative notice 55-2007.

Following the call for applications for the 2008 exercise of the attestation procedure (issued by means of Administrative Notice No 41-2008 ), 530 signed applications were registered. The draft list of 371 officials whose applications were considered admitted was published on 23 January 2009 (Administrative Notice No 8-2009 ).

The officials listed on the provisional list of admitted candidates and the candidates who appealed against their non-admission are invited to read what follows.

1. Response to appeals against the non-admission
   
   Officials who applied and were not included on the draft list of admitted candidates (Administrative Notice No 8-2009) could make a substantiated appeal to the Joint Committee for the attestation procedure.
   
   At its meeting held on 18 February 2009, the Joint Committee issued an opinion on each of the appeals lodged. On this basis, the Appointing authority decided on 23 February 2009 to add to the list of admitted candidates the following officials:

BONGI Lilia; DE LUCA Laurence; GLIBERT Sylvie; MINNEBO Erwin; MUNOZ RUBIO Vicente; PADAZI Panagiota; PAPADAKIS Georges; PARIS Sergio; PUTZ Jean; RAFFAULT Eric; SCHWEITZER Marie-Jose; STEGER-ANTON Bettina; SUOMELA Outi; SWAGEMAKERS Cornelia; TYTGAT-SCHMIT Patricia; VAN APERS Vinciane; VEGRO Stefania

Officials who appealed are invited to consult their attestation file in Sysper2 to see the response of the Appointing authority to their appeal. This information is accessible by cliking on the "Summary" tab under "File history".

Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations permits a complaint to be made against the decision of the Appointing authority. How to do this is explained at: http://www.cc.cec/pers_admin/appeals/complaints/index_en.html

As a reminder, the admission criteria are spelled out in Article 5(1) of the Commission Decision of 29 November 2006 (Administrative notice No 55-2007) and the detailed rules for applying the admission criteria for the 2008 attestation exercise are set out in the Appointing authority decision of 25 September 2008 (Administrative notice No 40-2008).

2. Final list of officials admitted to the 2008 attestation exercise
   
   The final list of the 388 candidates admitted to the 2008 attestation exercise was adopted by the Appointing authority on 23 February 2009 and is published in annex . The admitted officials – the "attestables" – are granted the right to benefit from attestation and to become members of the AST function group with no career restriction.
   
   2.1. Validity of the list
   
   The benefit of being admitted to the attestation procedure – obtained as from the 2006 attestation exercise – is not subject to any time limit.
   
   Therefore, there is no longer the obligation for the "attestables" to be nominated on an "Administrative assistant" level post before the 31st December of the calendar year as it was the case for the first attestation exercise. The officials listed in annex have the right to wait one or more years before applying for an "Administrative assistant" level post. They will always be considered as "attestable".
   
   2.2. Conditions for benefitting from attestation
   
   To be deemed attested, the admitted officials have to occupy or be appointed to an "Administrative assistant" level post, which means a post with all functions corresponding to the ex-B* category. Indeed, attestation implies that all functions performed by the official are of ex-B* level and that the level of the post is recognised as being of "Administrative assistant" level – which corresponds to job description types "Assistant", "Administrative assistant " or "Team leader (Chef d'équipe)".
   
   The admitted officials have therefore the right to apply for any "Administrative assistant" level post published by a Commission service.
   
   Attestation will be requested by the human resources' service of the Directorate general or service to which the admitted official is assigned.
   
   Attestation shall be granted after the information declared by the official in his/her attestation application form has been verified. This verification shall be made by DG ADMIN at the latest once a request for his/her attestation is received. In case of non-conformity between the information declared and the documents contained in the personal file of the candidate, the benefit of attestation shall not be granted.
    
3. List of training courses recommended to the officials admitted to the attestation procedure
   
   In order to acquire or consolidate the competencies they require to perform "Administrative assistant" level functions, the admitted officials are encouraged to follow the training courses listed below, taking into account their development needs and the needs of the service to which they are assigned.
   
   Participation in these training courses is not a prerequisite for attestation itself.
   

   List of training courses recommended to the officials admitted to the attestation procedure
   Titre des formations (et lien direct vers Syslog), FR	Title of the training courses (and direct link to Syslog), EN	Length	Syslog code
   Résolution de problèmes	Problem solving techniques	2 days	CTO_RESOL_PROB
   Maîtriser votre technique de Communication	Mastering your communication Skills	2 days	CTO_SKILLS
   Présider et conduire les réunions	Chairing and conducting meetings	2 days	CTO_REUNIONS-2
   Rédaction claire	Fight the fog - clear writing	2 days	CTO_REDACTION
   Techniques de rédaction administrative	Administrative drafting	2 days	CTO_ADMINDRAFT
   Parler en public	Public speaking	2 days	CTO_PUBL_SPEAK
   Initiation à la gestion des projets	Initiation to project management	2 days	CTO_GEST_PROJET
   Cycle de la cépense : introduction à la gestion financière	Expenditure Life Cycle : introduction to financial management	1 day	CTO_CYC_INTROGES
   Prise de notes et rédaction de comptes rendus	Taking notes and writing minutes	3 days	CTO_PRISE_NOTES

   
   Each admitted official shall evaluate, in agreement with his/her reporting officer, the usefulness to follow one or more of these training courses, taking into account the ones that he/she already attended and the constraints of the service to which he/she is assigned. Officials are requested to formalise this dialogue with the reporting officer by adding these training courses in their training map in Syslog. If a training map has already been validated, the officials should create a new version with the following justification: "Modification of the training offer". This shall enable the "Learning and development" unit of DG ADMIN (ADMIN/A.3) to identify the needs and, consequently, the number of training courses to organise, in the limit of available resources.
   
   These training courses are available in Syslog Web Formation, by clicking on the direct link included in the table above or in the "Attestation" file of the general catalogue of the central training (ADMIN/A.3), under the heading "Career development". The training requests must be introduced in Syslog and will follow the usual workflow: validation by the reporting officer and by the central training coordinator (CoFo), registration by the training manager. The profile of officials admitted to the attestation has been updated in Syslog Web Formation so that any request they enter on one of the recommended training courses shall automatically be identified with an "Attestation" priority. These requests shall be registered in priority by the central training managers.
   
   Please note that the list of training courses might be adapted according to the evolution of the central training offer. The Syslog "Attestation" file shall be modified to take these possible changes into account.
   
   If you have questions on the training courses, please send an e-mail to the functional mailbox ADMIN LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT or to the central training manager whose name is indicated in Syslog.
    
4. Consequences of attestation on the career
   
   The attestation act shall indicate that the official is "attested". His/her career path in the AST function group shall no longer be restricted, with prospects of promotion to grade AST 11. He/she will no longer be limited to grade AST 7 (for ex-C*) or AST 5 (for ex-D*).
   
   Attestation does not modify the grade, the step and the multiplication factor. The basic salary remains therefore unchanged.
   
   The officials attested in 2009 will figure on the AST/C* or AST/D* promotion lists in the framework of the 2009 promotion exercise. They will figure on the AST (without career restriction) list as from the 2010 promotion exercise.
   
   More details on the consequences of attestation on the career can be found in the FAQs (frequently asked questions) available on the attestation Intracomm web site .
    
5. Follow-up of the attestation implementation
   
   The Joint Committee for the attestation procedure shall be informed, on a monthly basis, on the number of attested officials (profile, DG, etc.) and on the number of courses requested and followed (see point 3). The Joint Committee shall send any appropriate recommendation to the Appointing Authority.
    
6. Next attestation exercise
   
   The implementing rules for the attestation procedure were modified in November 2006 (Administrative notice No 55-2007 ).
   
   The fifth exercise – the 2009 attestation exercise – shall be launched in the second half of the year 2009 by the publication of a call for applications which shall give all details on its implementation and admission criteria.
   
   If you have questions on the attestation procedure, please send an e-mail to the functional mailbox ADMIN PROCEDURE D'ATTESTATION  managed by ADMIN/A.6.
   See also the Intracomm site on "Attestation": http://www.cc.cec/pers_admin/attestation/index_en.html

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Annex: final list of the 388 officials admitted to the 2008 attestation exercise

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Footnotes

⁽¹⁾ Commission Decision laying down the rules for implementing the attestation procedure, C(2006)5788 of 29/11/2006.