Information pack

Information pack
for laureates
for
laureates

Information pack
for laureates

v.3.0 : 12.02.14

Information pack for laureates

Content
Introduction
What next?

Terminology and process: reserve list and flagging process

Recruitment by the institutions

You, your EPSO account and recruitment

Access to vacancies

Overview of the institutions

Questions?

Frequently Asked Questions

Contact EPSO

Information pack for laureates

Introduction
Congratulations! You have been successful in an EU Careers competition. What happens now? Your
name is on the reserve list and you will be flagged. Confused?
The aim of this information pack is to give you an insight into the next steps in the recruitment procedures of the EU institutions. It covers:
What next? : an overview of the recruitment process and the terminology used
Overview of the institutions
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
You can keep up-to-date with the latest information on our website:
www.eu-careers.eu
If you have any questions, use the web form to get in touch with us:
https://europa.eu/epso/application/passport/webform.cfm?lang=en
What next?
In this section, we will look at what to expect next and explain some of the terminology used when
talking about the recruitment process.
Terminology and process
Reserve list
After a competition is completed, your name is on the reserve list. As the name indicates, the reserve
list constitutes of a pool of potential recruits.
Through this electronic reserve list (ERL database), your CV and your competency passport are provided
by the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) to the EU institutions. Being on a reserve list does
not guarantee your recruitment by the institutions.
A reserve list is, in general, valid for one year (three years in case of specialists). The validity of a list starts
counting from the moment candidates are notified about their placement on the reserve list. The initial
validity of the reserve list is published in the Official Journal and on the competition specific web page
(on www.eu-careers.info). The validity of reserve lists may be prolonged (by EPSO) according to the
needs of the institutions.
The decision to prolong the validity of a list will usually be taken shortly before it expires. This decision
will be published on the EPSO website1.
Institutions are assigned a quota of candidates from the reserve list. This means that a number of candidates are assigned to be recruited by a specific institution. As a general rule, the quota is lifted three
months (or six months in the case of some specialists) after the publication of the reserve list, and institutions can then recruit freely. Quotas may be extended up to six months for generalist profiles, and up
to one year for specialists. These quotas are established by EPSO.
If you are in the process of being recruited but the list expires before the finalisation of the recruitment process, recruitment may still proceed.

Information pack for laureates

Laureate preferences questionnaire

When you received the letter informing you that your name has been placed on a reserve list, you may
also have been asked to complete a questionnaire indicating in which institution/location/policy area/
job family you would prefer to be recruited (this is only applicable for some competitions). If you received such a questionnaire, you must submit your completed form by the date indicated. Please make
your choices carefully. After you have submitted your questionnaire, the information will be provided to
the recruiting institutions and it will not be possible for you to make any changes.
Flagging
After a competition is completed, institutions check the profiles of the candidates on the reserve list in
order to identify those who best match their needs, in terms of language skills, professional experience,
education and so on. They will also take into account the candidates preferences indicated in the preferences questionnaire.
EPSO operates a system of flagging to indicate the availability of every candidate whose name is on a
reserve list. Each flag has a colour with a specific meaning (see below). This status is visible to all other
institutions, as well as the candidate concerned, through the EPSO account.
Once one or several institutions identify a candidate of interest, they can directly contact the candidate
for interview. You may be invited by a number of institutions for interview. If the institution wishes to
recruit you they will make a formal job offer and ask EPSO to set a red flag against your name.
For practical reasons, you may also be asked at this time to undergo a medical examination, which is
required before any decision can be taken on appointment.
Should you not fulfil an institutions needs, you are again made available for consideration by other institutions, i.e. the flag is reset to green to indicate your availability once again.
Pilot project
At the instititutions request, in order to simplify and speed up recruitment, EPSO has launched a pilot
project with a reduced number of flags. As a result, four flags will be used (green, blue, red and grey)
instead of seven.
Important: This pilot project applies to all reserve lists except for lawyer-linguist reserve lists for the
Council and the Parliament, where seven flags will remain in use.
Flagging colours what do they mean?
Green flag: This is the default flag, meaning that the candidate is available for consideration by any
institution with an interest in the list.
The comment you can read in your EPSO account status in the reserve list will be as follows:
Successful candidate available for consideration by any institution with a quota in the list
Blue flag: The candidate is already employed by an EU institution and this institution is interested in
recruiting him/her. Normally, a candidate cannot remain blue-flagged by an institution for longer than
90 days.
The comment in your EPSO account status in the reserve list will be as follows:
Successful candidate currently employed by an institution.
Available for consideration only by the institution to whom allocated.

Information pack for laureates

Red flag: The candidate is in the process of being recruited by an institution. Once recruited, the
status (red flag) remains.
The comment in your EPSO account status in the reserve list will be as follows:
Successful candidate in process of being recruited and therefore unavailable for consideration by the
other institutions.
Grey flag: The candidate is temporarily unavailable for recruitment for the reason(s) and date(s)
stated.
The comment in your EPSO account status in the reserve list will be as follows:
Successful candidate temporarily unavailable for reason(s) and date(s) provided.
Yellow flag: The candidate has attracted the interest of an institution. The candidate will be contacted
by that institution for an interview in order to assess whether he/she matches the institutions requirements. Normally, a candidate cannot remain yellow-flagged by an institution for longer than 60 days.
The comment in your EPSO account status in the reserve list will be as follows:
Successful candidate available for consideration only by institution to whom allocated.
Orange flag: The institution that yellow-flagged the candidate has requested an extension of 30
days in order to complete the final recruitment procedure.
The comment in your EPSO account status in the reserve list will be as follows:
Request for extension of 30 days.
Available for consideration only by the institution to whom allocated.
Where a candidate is yellow- or orange-flagged for an institution, no other institution may ask for flagging, or otherwise attempt to contact the candidate. If the candidate declines the potential offer, or if
the institution has decided not to recruit the candidate, the institution will return the candidate to the
green flag status.
Black flag: The laureate is no longer available for recruitment.
The candidate is not available due to special circumstances (i.e. the candidate has decided for him/herself not to work for an institution, does not fulfil the recruitment conditions or for other reasons should
no longer be considered for recruitment).
The comment in your EPSO account status in the reserve list will be as follows:
Successful candidate not available due to special circumstances.
Please see the note below.

Information pack for laureates

Recruitment by the institutions

Flagged successful candidates are essentially reserved for a short period (60 to 90 days) by the institution that set the flag. At the end of that period, should no recruitment offer have been made by this
institution, the flag is removed and the successful candidate is made available once again for other
institutions to consider.
The process of flagging first and foremost reflects the recruitment needs of the institutions. This is why
your personal preference of which institution to work for cannot always be taken into account.
All institutions need staff in numbers commensurate to their size and missions. It may be the case,
therefore, that you wish to work for a particular institution, but will in fact be chosen by another. You
have the right to refuse an offer that you consider unsuitable, but there is no guarantee that a new offer
will be made to you in time before the validity of your reserve list expires. Please be aware that a comment may be added to your file.
EPSO is only responsible for the selection of candidates. It has no further role in the recruiting of candidates by the institutions.
You, your EPSO account and recruitment
You are probably looking forward to starting your EU Career today. To facilitate the process, it is of crucial importance that you upload and regularly update your CV (see the CVs tab next to Applications
and Personal data in your EPSO account) and make sure that all other relevant information in your
EPSO account is also kept up-to-date.
The CV in your EPSO account will automatically be made available to all recruiting institutions and there
is no need to send them your CV personally, unless otherwise stated in the descriptions of institutions
below.
You can check via your EPSO account if you have been earmarked with a flag by an institution. In that
case you may not contact any other institution to request a job or an interview during the period that
the flag is set.
You may also check your status on the reserve list at any time by clicking on the message entitled Your
status on the reserve list published in your EPSO account about one month after you receive the letter
informing you of your competition results. The date of the message remains unchanged but the information inside the message is updated every time there is a change in your status.
Access to vacancies
Successful candidates on reserve lists without quotas have access to available vacancies within the
EU institutions. Access to the vacancy database of the EU institutions can help you in the recruitment
process. It gives you an insight into the available vacancies for which you can apply.
You can apply for these vacancies until your reserve list expires.
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Information pack for laureates

For the validity of your reserve list check our website.

Some general information to take into account:

Publication of these vacancies in your EPSO account is the responsibility of the institutions. The
recruiting institution decides which successful candidates are invited to apply. Some institutions
might decide not to open vacancies for successful candidates with a yellow flag.

Institutions have no obligation to open their vacancies to all or part of successful candidates.

Some vacancies are not accessible to successful candidates. They are either not yet open for external
applicants or not available for other reasons laid down in the Staff Regulations (art. 29).

The reserve list is deployed in line with the quota system. Successful candidates on a reserve list with
quotas do not receive any vacancies in their EPSO account.
Please send your application only to the recruiting institution. EPSO itself is not involved in the recruitment process.

The vacancy system is easy to use and allows you to view vacancies related to each competition in which
you have been successful (please see important note below regarding Commission vacancies and their
relevance to your competition). When a vacancy is available, you will see a button Show Vacancies in
the blue title bar of the competition concerned, within your EPSO account. This gives a list of vacancies,
each with a vacancy code, job title and the EU institution offering the vacancy. Clicking on it will provide
you with detailed information about location, duties, tasks and contact details. This button is only
available if an institution posted vacancies for successful candidates of your reserve list.
We advise you to check your EPSO account on a regular basis. Institutions can upload vacancies at any
time. You will not be notified automatically when new vacancies have been published.
It is possible that you will only have a limited amount of time during which to apply. (This is related to
the stages of internal vacancy publishing procedures.)
Note: For some Commission vacancies you may be able to view notices which are relevant to your
category of reserve list (i.e. Administrator (AD) or Assistant (AST)) but which you are not eligible to
apply for. Please check that you are eligible for each post before expressing an interest:
Example - Grade: If the post is at AST 3 level but you are on a AST 1 reserve list then you are not
eligible.
If you have any questions about your eligibility please contact the recruiting service using the contact details detailed in the vacancy notice.
Some tips on how to prepare your application for a vacancy:

Before you apply check carefully if you are eligible to apply for the vacancy, particularly for Commission
vacancies (please see above).

Please use the contact details stated in the vacancy notice if you have any questions about a vacancy
or the recruitment procedure. EPSO itself will have no additional information to offer you on job
vacancies.
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Prepare a cover letter. Always mention the competition in which you have been successful.

Update your Europass CV in your EPSO account.

Additional information regarding Article 29(1) of the Staff Regulations

Article 29(1) of the Staff Regulations sets out the successive stages which must be observed when a
vacant post in an Institution is to be filled. To summarise, under that provision, internal candidates from
the same Institution or one of the other Institutions must be considered first. If the position is not filled
internally, successful candidates on reserve lists can then be considered. Some Institutions may publish
the same vacant posts internally and via the vacancy system at the same time, but internal candidates
will always be considered first.

Overview of the institutions

General information on all of the EU institutions is available at www.europa.eu
The links below give you an overview of the recruitment pages on the websites of the different institutions and services for which EPSO selects candidates.
European Parliament
Council of the European Union
European Commission
Court of Justice of the European Union
European Court of Auditors
European Ombudsman
European Data Protection Supervisor
European Economic and Social Committee
Committee of the Regions
Publications Office of the European Union
Agencies and decentralised bodies
All institutions are not necessarily associated with every competition and certain profiles are restricted
to some institutions only. This means that you may only be eligible for recruitment in some of the institutions. You should refer to your Notice of Competition to find out for which institutions your competition was organised. Agencies may only exploit a reserve list once the quotas have been lifted.

Information pack for laureates

European Parliament
The European Parliament is to the European Union what the national parliaments are to the Member
States. It is the voice of around 500 million Europeans.
Elected by universal suffrage, it votes jointly with the Council - which comprises representatives from all
27 Member States - on the vast majority of European laws and the European Unions budget.
It exercises oversight with regard to the European Commission and maintains an ongoing dialogue
with the President of the European Council and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs
and Security Policy.
Who does what?
Parliament numbers 736 Members, most of whom belong to one of the seven political groups in existence today.
Parliaments work is directed by its President. The work is prepared by the parliamentary committees
and political groups and planned by the Conference of Presidents, comprising the President and the
chairs of the political groups.
Its inter-parliamentary assemblies and delegations help maintain Parliaments presence on the international scene.
The Bureau, consisting of the President and Vice-Presidents, is in charge of Parliaments in-house
business.
Some 5 500 officials and other staff members from the 27 Member States enable Parliament and its
Members to fulfil their remit serving citizens - with maximum efficiency.
For further information please see our website: http://www.europarl.europa.eu
Where does Parliament work?
Parliament is based in Strasbourg, where its part-sessions, usually one week a month, are held. The
parliamentary committees and political groups hold most of their meetings in Brussels, where some
short part-sessions are also held.
Although Parliaments administration is officially based in Luxembourg, most of the staff is split more or
less equally between Luxembourg and Brussels.
Staff working in departments with direct links to Parliaments political activities are in principle based
in Brussels whilst those working in the translation departments, in facilities management or in human
resources are largely based in Luxembourg.
What skills does the Parliament need?
Parliament needs a broad range of skills and knowledge and offers a wide variety of different careers:
lawyers and lawyer-linguists, IT specialists, technicians, translators and interpreters, economists and
political scientists, buildings experts, communication specialists, financial specialists etc.

Information pack for laureates

In each of these roles, knowledge of languages is, of course, both required and valued.
In a rapidly changing world needs evolve. Adaptability in staff members, in the context of a multilingual, multi-cultural environment, is valued, as is keenness to bring added value to the challenges of
European politics.
Exciting careers
Parliament employs people in management roles, as administrators to carry out drafting work and
conduct studies, and as assistants to carry out technical and operational tasks.
Officials employed by Parliament are offered development opportunities throughout their career and
the chance to work in a variety of departments and to take on different roles in line with their interests
and the needs of the institution.
It is important to highlight that gender equality is a priority for Parliament in its recruitment policy,
career development opportunities and day-to-day business. In 2010 there were more women than
men in administrator positions.
Contact details
For further information please contact us at the following address:
PARLEMENT EUROPEEN
Plateau du Kirchberg
2929 Luxembourg
Tel. + 352 4300 23944
Email: reservelists@europarl.europa.eu

Council of the European Union

General Secretariat of the Council
The role of the General Secretariat of the Council (GSC) is to provide intellectual and practical support
for the Council of the European Union and to the European Council. It assists both the European Council
and its President, and the Council and its presidencies.
The Council is the EU institution where the Member States government representatives sit. The Unions
legislative body, it adopts acts which are directly relevant to the lives of citizens, usually in conjunction
with the European Parliament. Work is organised on three levels: working party, Permanent Representatives Committee and Council of Ministers.
The European Council is the driving force behind the European Union. It meets at least four times a year,
bringing together Europes top political leaders, i.e. the Heads of State or government of the Member
States, the President of the European Council and the President of the Commission. On 1 December
2009, with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Council has become a fully fledged
institution.
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Organisation and staff

The General Secretariat carries out the practical preparation for meetings and drafts reports, notes,
minutes and records and prepares draft agendas. It supports the Presidency in its tasks of finding compromise solutions and coordinating work. It provides the continuity in Council proceedings and has
custody of Council archives and acts. Its Legal Service is available to give opinions to the Council and its
committees. The General Secretariat is located in the Schuman area in Brussels and has a staff of about
3,100.
Profiles
Much of the GSCs work is centred around the legislative process, and it usually seeks administrators
with a broad, general background in public administration who can bring the decision-making work
forward, and assistants who can help with this task. An important part of the work is the organisation
of meetings and high-level events, tasks which have considerably developed in recent years with the
European Council and summits with third countries.
Press and communication are also priorities and staff with relevant media and web experience are
needed. A large number of officials in our institution also work in translation and the circulation and
handling of documents. Our Directorate-General for Administration mainly seeks profiles in the areas of
ICT, security, finance, accounting, human resources, law, and audit.
Recruitment
The external recruitment procedure in the GSC is organised centrally by the Recruitment Service. When
a vacant post needs to be filled by external recruitment, the relevant department and the Recruitment
Service identify relevant profiles on EPSO reserve lists via the eRL tool.
The Recruitment Service then reserves and contacts candidates with a view to setting up an interview
with one or more departments
Contact
Council of the European Union
Rue de la Loi 175, B-1048 Brussels
Main switchboard: (32-2) 281 61 11 Fax (32-2) 281 69 34

European Commission
The European Commission is the European Unions executive body. It proposes and enforces legislation
and represents and upholds the interests of Europe as a whole.
The Commission drafts proposals for new European laws and manages the day-to-day business of implementing EU policies and allocating EU funds. It also makes sure that everyone abides by the European treaties and laws.
The President and the College of Commissioners
The President of the Commission is appointed by the governments of the Member States, and then approved by the European Parliament, to serve a five-year term. This dual legitimacy gives the President
political authority, which he exercises in a variety of ways.

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The Presidents role is to provide forward movement for the European Union and to give a sense of
direction both to his fellow Commissioners and, more broadly, to the Commission as a whole.
The President appoints his fellow Commissioners in agreement with the governments of the Member
States. Since the enlargement of the European Union on 1 January 2007, the College of Commissioners
counts 27 Commissioners, each in charge of particular policy areas.
You can find out more about the role and political priorities of the President of the Commission, as well
as read speeches, interviews and press releases at:
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/president/index_en.htm
Find out more about the 27 members of the current Barroso Commission at:
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/index_en.htm
Structure of the European Commission
The Commission is divided into several departments, which are known as Directorate-Generals (DGs),
and services, which deal with more general administrative issues or have a specific mandate, for example fighting fraud or creating statistics.
You can read about each DG, classified according to the policy it deals with, at:
http://ec.europa.eu/about/ds_en.htm
You can also read about the Commission office in your home country at:
http://ec.europa.eu/represent_en.htm
Recruitment by the Commission
Commission officials do a wide range of tasks.
As an administrator you can find yourself playing a key role in the EUs legislative and budgetary processes, from coordinating the broad economic policies of the Member States, taking part in negotiations with non-EU countries, helping run the common agricultural policy, or ensuring that Community
law is uniformly interpreted and effectively applied. Whatever you do, the broad range of the EUs activities means that you can expect a high degree of responsibility from an early stage in your career.
As an assistant, you may play an important role in the internal management of the Commission, notably
in budgetary and financial affairs, personnel work, computing or librarianship. You may also assist in
implementing policies in various areas of EU activities or be responsible for secretarial and clerical work
and ensuring the efficient operation of an administrative unit.
The majority of the Commissions over 32,000 employees are based in Brussels or Luxembourg, though
positions are also available in other EU and non-EU locations.
Please note that it is not necessary to send your CV to HR units in the European Commission. Your name
is already available in the electronic reserve list and it is therefore not necessary to send additional
CVs.
For more information see: http://ec.europa.eu/civil_service/job/official/index_en.htm
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Court of Justice of the European Union

The remit of the Court of Justice of the European Union is to ensure that the law is observed in the
interpretation and application of the Treaties.
As part of that remit, the Court of Justice reviews the legality of the legal provisions adopted by the institutions of the European Union, ensures that the Member States comply with their obligations under
the Treaties, and interprets European Union law at the request of national courts and tribunals.
It thus constitutes the judicial authority of the European Union and, in cooperation with the courts and
tribunals of the Member States, ensures the uniform application and interpretation of European Union
law.
The Court of Justice, which has its seat in Luxembourg, consists of three courts: the Court of Justice, the
General Court (set up in 1988) and the Civil Service Tribunal (set up in 2004). Since the establishment of
the three courts, they have handed down some 15 000 judgments.
The Courts departments support the work of the three courts, each of which also has its own registry.
The registries are responsible for the efficient handling of cases and the receipt, notification and retention of all procedural documents. The Registrar of the Court of Justice, under the authority of the President of the Court, is responsible for all the Courts departments.
Profiles
Approximately 2000 officials and temporary agents work at the Court. The Court mainly recruits lawyers,
including lawyer-linguists and lawyers specialised in national law, language editors and secretaries, at a
rate of around 200 people per year.
Contact details
For more information, please visit the Courts website: http://curia.europa.eu/
Postal address:
Cour de justice de lUnion europenne
L - 2925 Luxembourg
Tel: (352) 4303.1
Fax: (352) 4303.2600

European Court of Auditors

The European Court of Auditors is the institution established by the Treaty to audit European Union (EU)
finances. As the EUs external auditor it helps improve EU financial management and acts as the independent guardian of Union citizens financial interests, and has been doing so since 1977.

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As the external auditor of the EU, the European Court of Auditors checks that EU funds are correctly
accounted for and spent in compliance with the rules and legislation. It carries out three different types
of audit: financial, compliance and performance audits.
The results of these audits are published in different types of report.
Structure
The Court of Auditors operates as a collegiate body of 27 Members, one from each Member State, appointed by the Council after consultation with the European Parliament for a renewable six-year term.
It comprises five Chambers, to which Members are assigned. There are four specialised Chambers with
responsibility for specific areas of expenditure and for revenue, and one cross cutting Chamber which is
responsible for assisting the Court and the other Chambers with the coordination, evaluation, conduct
and development of audits. The Members of each Chamber elect a Dean for a renewable term of two
years.
For further information please visit our website: http://eca.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/
Staff
The staff of the European Court of Auditors is approximately 1000 strong, consisting of auditors, translators and administrative support staff. The Courts audit staff has a broad range of professional backgrounds and experience from both the public and private sectors, including accountancy, financial
management, internal and external audit, law and economics. Like all other EU institutions the Court
employs nationals from all Member States.
Working for the European Court of Auditors
The European Court of Auditors recruits staff through open competitions, which are organised by the
EPSO (European Personnel Selection Office) for all the institutions of the European Union.
It can also employ temporary or contract agents. In such cases a screening is published on the Courts
website. All such staff are employed on fixed-term contracts.
The Court also organises traineeship periods in areas relating to its work.
For further details, see: recrutement@eca.europa.eu
Address
COUR DES COMPTES EUROPENNE
12, rue Alcide De Gasperi
1615 Luxembourg | LUXEMBOURG
Tel. +352 4398-1 Fax +352 439342
Contact point: recrutement@eca.europa.eu
Further information: euraud@eca.europa.eu
www.eca.europa.eu

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European Ombudsman
The European Ombudsman investigates complaints about maladministration in EU institutions, bodies, offices, and agencies, such as the European Commission, the European Parliament or the Council.
Maladministration encompasses all kinds of poor or failed administration, from late payment for EU
projects to refusal to give access to a document, problems with calls for tender, procedural errors or
discrimination. Most of the Ombudsmans inquiries concern lack of transparency, including the refusal
to release documents or information.
Every year, the Ombudsman receives around 3000 complaints from EU citizens, NGOs, companies, law
firms, associations, and interest groups. On average, the Ombudsman closes more than 300 inquiries
per year. Around two-thirds of inquiries each year concern the Commission, simply because it is the
main EU administration.
The Ombudsman aims to achieve friendly solutions, in order to ensure a win-win outcome, satisfying
both the complainant and the institution involved. He issues recommendations where maladministration can still be rectified or, at times, closes cases with critical remarks. When an institution does not
comply with his recommendations in cases which raise fundamental questions of principle, he can issue
a special report to the European Parliament.
The Ombudsman is usually able to help complainants - in almost 80% of all cases - by opening an
inquiry into the case, transferring it to a competent body, or giving advice on where to turn.
The European Ombudsmans main task is to promote transparency and to foster a service culture in
the European institutions. A service-minded and open European administration is key to improving
relations between citizens, companies and organisations, on the one hand, and EU institutions, on the
other.
Offices and staff
The Ombudsmans main offices are located in Strasbourg. From an overall number of 70 staff members,
however, approximately 15 are based in Brussels.
Profiles
The European Ombudsman primarily recruits legal officers who are entrusted with the investigation of
complaints, as well assistants who are crucial in assisting the legal department and the administrative
and communication services.
Contact
European Ombudsman
Administration and Personnel Unit
1 avenue du Prsident Robert Schuman
CS 30403
F - 67001 Strasbourg Cedex
T. + 33 (0)3 88 17 23 94
career@ombudsman.europa.eu
www.ombudsman.europa.eu
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European Data Protection Supervisor

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) is an independent supervisory authority whose
primary objective is to ensure that European institutions and bodies respect the right to privacy and
data protection when they process personal data and develop new policies.
Peter Hustinx and Giovanni Buttarelli have been appointed European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)
and Assistant Supervisor respectively by a joint decision of the European Parliament and the Council.
Assigned for a five-year term, they took office in January 2009.
The duties and powers of the EDPS and the Assistant Supervisor, as well as the institutional independence of the supervisory authority, are set out in the Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EC) No
45/2001, OJ L 8, 12.1.2001).
Profiles recruited
The main activities of the EDPS are supervision and consultation. Therefore, half of EDPS staff is
omposed by legal and policy administrators and assistants specialised in data protection.
The EDPS also has 3 small support units/sectors: Operations, Planning and Support, Information and
Communication and Human Resource, Budget and Administration.
Offices and staff
The EDPS is located in rue Montoyer 63 in Brussels on the 5th, 6th and 7th floor. EDPS staff is composed
of around 50 EU officials, contract agents, Seconded National Experts and trainees.
Contact details
For more information, please consult our recruitment page:
http://www.edps.europa.eu/EDPSWEB/edps/cache/off/EDPS/HR/recruitment
For any questions or to submit an application, please send an email to recruitment@edps.europa.eu
Additional information
Please be aware that EDPS recruitments are subject to the publication of a specific vacancy notice.
When there is a vacancy, a notice is published according to the following procedure:
1) Internal publication: this is the first phase of the selection process. The notice is published within
the institution and only staff members may apply at this stage.
2) Inter-institutional publication: if the position is not filled internally, the vacancy notice is sent to the
other European institutions, who publish it internally. Applications are then open to officials of those
institutions. If candidates fulfil all the required qualifications, an inter-institutional transfer is made. Only
those positions that are not filled at this step can be filled in the manner described below.
3) Reserve list of competitions graduates: If the vacancy is not filled with an internal or an interinstitutional candidate, the EDPS consults reserve lists of competition graduates.
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4) External applications: At this stage, the EDPS publishes a vacancy notice on the website. The external applications are then examined and the most qualified applicant is recruited.

European Economic and Social Committee

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is a consultative body that gives representatives
of Europes socio-occupational interest groups, and others, a formal platform to express their points of
views on EU issues. Its opinions are forwarded to the larger institutions - the Council, the Commission
and the European Parliament. It thus has a key role to play in the Unions decision-making process.
EESC mission statement
Committed to European integration, the EESC contributes to strengthening the democratic legitimacy
and effectiveness of the European Union by enabling civil society organisations from the Member States
to express their views at a European level. This Committee fulfils three key missions:
helping to ensure that European policies and legislation tie in better with economic, social and civic
circumstances on the ground, by assisting the European Parliament, Council and European Commission, making use of EESC members experience and representativeness, dialogue and efforts to
secure consensus serving the general interest
promoting the development of a more participatory European Union which is more in touch with
popular opinion, by acting as an institutional forum representing, informing, expressing the views
of and securing dialogue with organised civil society;
promoting the values on which European integration is founded and advancing, in Europe and
across the world, the cause of democracy and participatory democracy, as well as the role of civil
society organisations.
General information and policy areas
You can find out more about the kind of work that you could get involved in as an employee of the EESC
using the following resources:
Website: http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en.about-the-committee
Presentation: http://www.eesc.europa.eu/resources/docs/eesc_presentation_2010_web_en.pdf
Discover the European Economic and Social Committee brochure:
http://www.eesc.europa.eu/resources/docs/eesc-2009-16-en.pdf
The EESC: a bridge between Europe and organised civil society brochure:
http://www.eesc.europa.eu/resources/docs/eesc-2009-01-en.pdf
Offices and staff
On 1 September 2011 the EESC employed nearly 800 people (officials, temporary agents, contractual
agents and special advisers), out of whom 670 were officials.
Contact
European Economic and Social Committee
99 Rue Belliard, 1040 Bruxelles
info.vacances.emploi@eesc.europa.eu
www.eesc.europa.eu
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Committee of the Regions

The Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the political assembly that gives regional and local authorities
a voice in EU policy development and EU legislation. A consultative body, it was set up in 1994. Its
consultative role enables its 344 members, and through them the regional and local authorities they
represent, to participate in the EU decision-making process.
Six distinctive Commissions are responsible for drawing up opinions based on proposals put forward
by the European Commission:
Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy (COTER)
Commission for Economic and Social Policy (ECOS)
Commission for Education, Youth and Research (EDUC)
Commission for Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE)
Commission for citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX)
Commission for Natural Resources (NAT)
The membership of each Commission reflects the composition of the Committee of the Regions in
terms of political affiliations and nationalities. The draft opinions and resolutions drawn up by the
Commissions are adopted in the plenary sessions.
Recruitment
The Committee of the Regions employs over 500 officials and other staff members. Vacancies published by the Committee are open to officials who are already working at the Committee or in one of
the other institutions. Successful competition candidates may also apply if they meet the eligibility
requirements set out in the notice of vacancy. To do this please see the Committee of the Regions website under Presentation, then Recruitment (http://www.cor.europa.eu/pages/PresentationTemplate.
aspx?view=folder&id=b3c0a1ba-c996-4236-b480-bcb4a8c17277&sm=b3c0a1ba-c996-4236-b480bcb4a8c17277).
Should you require any further information on the recruitment of officials at the Committee of the Regions, you can email: recruitment-official@cor.europa.eu (successful competition candidates should
note that this address is not the appropriate address for submitting applications either spontaneously
or in response to a notice of vacancy).

Publications Office of the European Union

Are you just to name a few of the possible careers a publishing specialist, editor, proofreader,
graphic designer, IT expert, librarian or generalist? Then look at the Publications Office for job opportunities that will turn an exciting new page in your career.
Who are we?
With a staff of up to 700, and located in Luxembourg, the Publications Office of the European Union
(Publications Office) is the publishing house of the EU institutions, agencies and other bodies of the
European Union. Our main task is to ensure easy access to law and publications to citizens.
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We produce and disseminate all EU publications on all types of media. These include the Official Journal
of the European Union in 22 languages (23 when Irish is required) as well as a whole range of publications on EU initiatives and activities, in addition to promotional material.
We manage several online services giving free access to information on European law (EUR-Lex), publications of the European Union (EU Bookshop), public procurement notices (TED) and information on
EU research and development activities (CORDIS).
Other services include: the management of the Interinstitutional style guide; a service dedicated to
copyright issues; the Who-is-who interinstitutional directory; the multilingual thesauraus EuroVoc. Our
large distribution centre handles the storage, packing and dispatch of publications.
The Publications Office is unique in the publishing world by the large volume of publications it produces and disseminates, by the multilingual texts it handles with full regard to the EUs cultural diversity,
and by the intensive use of multimedia technologies.
To provide all of this, our team is made up of proofreaders, publications coordinators, IT experts (architecture, maintenance, database managers), information and communication officers, lawyers, librarians, archivists, administrative and financial officers, assistants and secretaries.
A time of change
The Publications Office is itself turning a new page. Faithful to its goal to be at the forefront of the publishing profession, it is in the middle of a transformation programme which is streamlining, harmonising and better integrating its IT applications and systems. It is also embracing new technologies in the
production of publications and in their dissemination, such as the e-book.
Agencies and decentralised bodies
A policy agency is a body governed by European public law; it is distinct from the Community Institutions (Council, Parliament, Commission, etc.) and has its own legal personality. It is set up by an act of
secondary legislation in order to accomplish a very specific technical, scientific or managerial task.
To consult a list of the current policy agencies, please visit:
http://europa.eu/agencies/regulatory_agencies_bodies/index_en.htm
The objectives of the individual agencies are many and varied. Each agency is indeed unique and fulfils
an individual function defined at the time of its creation. This function might be modified in the future
but, nevertheless, there are a number of general aims underlying an agencys operation as a whole:
1. they introduce a degree of decentralisation and dispersal to the Communitys activities;
2. they give a higher profile to the tasks that are assigned to them by identifying them with the agencies themselves;
3. some answer the need to develop scientific or technical know-how in certain well-defined fields;
4. others have the role to integrate different interest groups and thus to facilitate the dialogue at a
European (between the social partners, for example) or international level.
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Although the agencies are very different, both in terms of size and purpose, as a general rule, they have
a common basic structure and similar ways of operating.
1. Indeed, each agency functions under the authority of an administrative / management board which
lays down the general guidelines and adopts the work programmes of the particular agency, according to its basic mission, available resources and political priorities. The executive director, nominated by the administrative / management board or by the Council of Ministers, is responsible for all
activities of the agency and the proper implementation of its work programmes.
2. Agencies normally function thanks to one or more network(s) of partners located throughout the
territory of the Union.
Further information and current vacancies
http://europa.eu/agencies/recruitment/index_en.htm

Questions
Frequently asked questions
When and where is the list of successful candidates going to be published?
At the end of each competition, EPSO provides the European Union institutions with the list of successful candidates and makes their CVs available.
These lists are usually published on the EPSO website at http://europa.eu/epso/success/list/admin/index_en.htm within six weeks of publication of results in your EPSO account and subsequently in the
Official Journal of the European Union (CA series): http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOIndex.do?ihmlang=en
Any delay in the publication of the list in the Official Journal has no impact on the recruitment process
itself.
For how long will the list of Successful Candidates be valid?
The expiry date will be published together with the list itself on the EPSO website http://europa.eu/
epso/success/index_en.htm and in the Official Journal of the European Union, and may be extended.
The decision to extend the validity of a list will usually be taken shortly (3 months) before it expires. This
decision will also be published on the EPSO site.
In general, reserve lists are valid for 1 year following completion of the competition or until the next
reserve list of a competition for a similar profile becomes available.
Is there a quota system for recruiting candidates of each Member State?
No. There is no national quota system for the selection or recruitment of EU officials.
The selection is based only on merit.

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What happens if I refuse a job offer?

You have the right to refuse an offer that you consider unsuitable, but there is no guarantee that a new
offer will be made. Please be aware that if the refusal is found to be unjustified, a comment may be added
to your file.
Contact EPSO
If you have further questions on the recruitment process or what to expect next, you can get in touch with
our Contact Service directly:
https://europa.eu/epso/application/passport/webform.cfm?usertype=3&lang=en

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