The sheer number of comments at the main post ‘So I Won’t Be A Commission Official‘ has been causing problems, so all the old comments are here instead, and hence searchable.
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frustrated, have you read that bloody Lisbon Treaty? There are no “grand imperial schemes,” but really just practical provisions for indeed trying to make EU work somewhat more efficiently. I would not say EU will stall without LT, but:
– the full-time president position is about giving some more continuity to the presidency programmes; the president is more of a chair and EU representative abroad on CFSP aspects; decisions will continue to be taken by the ministers in the Council, and the chairing and agenda setting will continue to pass from one country to another every 6 months;
– there is no talk of no EU military; some enhanced cooperation among countries that wish to (and by the way Ireland is a neutral country, so would never join anyway), and mainly for being better prepared for conflict prevention, resolution and post-conflict reconstruction, disarming etc which ESDP is mainly about. And even there NATO cooperation is an important pillar (heard of “Berlin Plus”?) – btw, all this i learned alongside the rest of EU “trivia” ;
– what geographic overstretching? we are living in an overstreched world. so one is better preparing to face it up, then being caught wrong footed
– the generalising of QMV in the Council and the extension of codecision is very little about “letting Brussels in on the back door”, as the No campaing in Ireland claim (btw, a bunch of “proud” nationalist ignorants alongside those who voted that way). Decision is not taken by “Brussels” by which everyone understands the non-accountable commission, but by the national representatives in the Council. And while QMV is the principle de jure, de facto they are still trying for as close to consensus as possible, and have the majority decision as a last resort in order to move forward if a significant majority wishes to do so. While the extension of codecision means more democracy no less, more control over decisions taken in Brussels than less
As for the more graduated entry of new MS, I agree with you on that, though I’m an EU2 citizen. But, as you rightly pointed out, it has been a political decision – and frankly, right from the start EU has been about political raprochement than about free market. Free market and economic cooperation has been and will remain the means, not the purpose. And, as far as I’m concerned, all for the better, since economics has been way to much reified, or even worse, attributed an agency of its own; or even worse, an agency of the all mighty “invisible hand.” There is a deeply rooted well directed politics in the idea of the “free” movement of the market… –well well, i got a bit off track, but the marxist in me could not help reacting to the “free market” reference as the main job of the EU construction.. 🙂
good day everyone! and, for the pro-europeans, i’d not be that sad, there is too much political will to have this institutional changes in place – they’ll work something out. if you ask me, i’d just offer the Irish the possibility of voting Lisbon or out of EU, on a different set of arrangements, like the EEA.
Well, Nova…
Slovenia, Czechia, the Baltics should have joined earlier. Countries like Romania and Bulgaria should have waited longer. Basically I feel countries should have joined separately in a more moderate pace, spread over a longer period as these are economically pretty diverse countries.
It’s the same with the euro-zone… they let Greece fiddle with the pre-entry figures, France, Germany and Portugal were allowed to run deficits beyond 3%, etc….
The strong points, ie coercion into economic cohesion, are perverted and instead we get these half-cooked grand imperial schemes: a full-time president, EU military, geographic overstretching… who asked for all this?
@frustrated
What do you mean by “letting every half-developed country in out of political reasons”?
I really don’t believe you’ll get the downright cynical types in if you slashed the pay in two… they’d just jump on another carcass (I would).
The EU needs to take care of its core-business, ie maintaining a free-market zone…instead of letting every half-developed country in out of political reasons.
“less EU knowledge”
You mean the trivial pursuit game candidates are supposed to engage in? People finding time to cram those trivia are when there at the start of their careers probably don’t have a high-flying career, ergo not in the top percentile.
That argument can be bent any way you like to.
“less IQ”
They seem to have a lot of leeway here as they have seperate “simplified” procedures for certain nationalities, let 60% go through for the various CASTS and push all sorts of interest groups,
Frustrated : if you halve the pay of fonctionnaires, you won’t get idealists, you’ll get lesser ranking people (less IQ, less EU knowledge and worst CV).
If you don’t pay the money, you give the monkey.
they will just keep asking, until they get a yes
afterwards they’ll never ask again
the whole asking procedure is paid for by those having to say yes
eu demockery in a nutshell
😉
Don’t worry about the Lisbon Treaty… I predict the same scenario as after the first failure of the Mastricht. Next year in July the Lisbon Treaty will wake up from the grave after 70:30 vote for YES in Ireland.
You know what Jon,
If the Commission wants to attract nothing but idealists full of evangelic zeal, let them split cut wages in half and their retirement benefits in three. Until then expect parasites like me to show up. Because what’s my choice right now: working 60h / week, facing all the vascilations of the economic cycle, knowing if I get some cancer I’ll end up at the back of the breadline… or sitting my lardy arse at some of the comfy seats at Berlaymont, thinking of new ways to tax the serfs outside, oggling the buttocks of the romanian stagiaire … aargh…
😉
😉
If I’m not mistaken one of the roles of the commission is to initiate/propose new legislation.
If I’m not mistaken the treaty also deals with commission procedures (electing president), commission’s scope and future commission’s size…
but I’ll gladly admit to not having a legal profile and having little interest in administrative hair-splitting, let the other hemisphere of the gaus-curve be occupied by that 😉
and my preparation( which already some time ago) consisted of 2,5 days…. what I did not prepare was V&N, knowing my average fellow-man is well, … a bit of a retard really.
So, what’s the link between the Commission and the Lisbon Treaty? Have you ever heard of “the Council”? The IGC?
People concentrate so much on V&N and end up forgetting what the bloody Europe is all about.
No wonder you’re frustrated,man!
I say hooray for the Irish. Only thing the commission is good at is arranging things behind closed doors. The completely arcane Lisbon treaty is just another example of this…. even the Irish politicians advocating it admit to not having read it… says it all.
Commission is good for getting cosy little jobs; nothing to do with lofty ideals. Even the way the publicly funded jobs are handed out is a shining example of their working practices: inefficient, intransparent and probably corrupt.
Cheerio
Yes, OK, life goes on. But sorry, but maybe the EU has a problem if people are motivated to work for it than think about what it’s for? I’m sat working every day in Brussels, not in an institution (thankfully) and it depresses me how inward looking and slow the administration is in the Commission. There is a disconnect between the population and the administration, the Commission too has to get its act together.
Jon, well, life still goes on, doesn’t it? Given the push it took to ratify the Treaty of Nice, the failure of the Draft Treaty for the Constitution… well, I’d hate to say it, but people should have seen this one coming, no? It’s dumb in a way, ’cause I’m sure the majority of the folks who voted ‘No’ voted so for reasons which for sure don’t have anything to do with what the Lisbon Treaty aims at. Still, democracy can be pretty depressive at times, and you either choose to listen (for real) and try to sell your point, or you sink in the dark seas of muffling vox populi by turning a deaf ear (read referendum rights). Anyhow, life goes on, and no matter how hard we’re being convinced that without this Treaty the EU will stop working, this hasn’t happened so far. The obvious disconnect between the EU and the public at large is far more worrisome if you ask me. Cheers.
Sorry, maybe a bit wide of the mark but how the hell, read HOW THE HELL, are you thinking about the concours on the day the EU was plunged into turmoil by Ireland? Spend some hours thinking about a way out of the impasse instead. It a better use of time this depressing Friday.
Hi guys, could someone send me the “Ultimate EU Test Book†pdf please. I am applying for RELEX CAST 28.
My email si pantter@email.si
Hi guys, could someone send me the “Ultimate EU Test Book” pdf please. I am applying for RELEX CAST 28.
Hi! I am taking the written test for (AD5) BUILDINGS SECTOR – Field 3 Env/ntal Tech. management. Does anybody have any related passed papers, or suggestions regarding what the format could be (ie case study?) and what to focus on? You can contact me at downunder3@lycos.co.uk. Thanks Jon for the useful blog and good luck to all.
Hey there!
The next 18th july 2008 I have my test in Berlin -RELEX CAST 28-. My field is Press / Comm. Advisor. Apart the verbal, numerical and EU knowledge, Can somebody tell me the themes should I study related with my Field of Interest?
Thanks Abel.
Back with my DG ADMIN ethnic quota monitoring report:
“Ethnic diversity
Racial discrimination of any kind is prohibited under the Staff Regulations and the mix of staff in the EU Institutions has to reflect racial and ethnic patterns of EU citizens. We are currently working on a policy document on the subject. This should be released by the end of 2007.
”
Still no sign of any publication. It would seem deciding on whether skin colour, genealogic descendency, mother tongue, religion, sexual orientation, home-land recognition as a minority, family names, second passports…. as an excuse for arbitrary discrimination is less straightforward than the male appendage. I am sure they will either try to cover this up or make giant asses of themselves. Can hardly wait for the apprentice-magicians to screw up once more.
😉
I think I might have asked this question before, but does anybody know what’s the actual status of a Temporary Agent who’s on an indefinite contract? For all purposes, EPSO claim that the only way to become a permanent official is to win an open competition. Still, Temporary Agents enjoy the full rights of a competition laureate. Should their contract be extended twice, it becomes a contract of indefinite length (they still need to pass an EU exam, though I doubt that’s as hard an open competition exam). So isn’t this a sort of easier way in (provided you’re in a TA position that is, which is far more prone to nepotism for one). Thoughts and insights?
Margarita,
you’re completely right.
Anyway if one looks at the statistics things are even more ridiculous (and frustrating)!
In fact 607 candidates as Scientific Adviser succeeded in the first part of the exam. Considering that the Scientific Adviser profile is divided into more than 40 sub-areas, each reviewer (of each sub-area) is responsible for the marking of 15 exams as an average!! And it’s taking more than 6 months!!
Good luck for your job interview!
Paolo
@peppas
I have participated in a competition for translators. The texts to be translated were not only about one page long but also difficult. In the beginning I looked over the text and tried to grasp very quickly its topic and in the same time to identify any less familiar words/expressions.
I wrote the translation directly on the lined paper; writing it first on the scrap paper and then on the lined paper it means the risk of running out of time and since the scrap paper is not considered …
Of course, one may use the dictionary but not to often, because it costs a lot of time.
The style of the texts was somehow like an article in a newspaper. Nethertheless I had a look before at previous translation tests which are available on the EPSO-Site; during the preparation I have translated articles from different newspapers in my main language.
Good luck!
@ nova
You might be green flagged, i.e. available to ALL institutions.
AD
@paolo
I can understand your frustration! I have a translator profile. Hopefully, I’ll be fixed by tomorrow evening but I still think this is too much. I wonder how they select the correcting personnel. And why don’t they respect deadlines. Anyway… life goes on in the meantime 🙂 Don’t bet too much on this CAST thing. I’m sure there’s something fishy there!
Hi everyone,
I would like to ask you what you think about the following situation:
Being laureate of an open competition, I was interviewed recently and am now waiting for the outcome of the interview.
In the meantime, another instutution contacted me to know if I am still available (since the reserve list was published last year) and if I would accept an interview with them.
I am wondering how this could happen – whilst flagged by one institution, how can you receive an offer from another? And, in case I confirm my availability, wouldn’t a conflict of interests arise between them? Would this have a negative impact on my chances with the first institution?
Any advice you might provide me with is welcome, thanks!
Does anyone know the results of the inquiry of the European Ombudsman OI/4/2007/ID ?
Today I have received a letter from EPSO as follows:
Monsieur,
La correction des tests d’accès auxquels vous avez participé est à présent terminée.
J’ai le regret de vous informer que les notes que vous avez obtenues pour ces tests, bien que supérieures ou égales aux minima requis, sont insuffisantes pour figurer parmi les candidats ayant obtenu les 88 meilleures notes. Selon les modalités fixées au titre II de l’avis de concours, seuls les candidats ayant obtenu les meilleures notes pour l’ensemble des tests d’accès ainsi que le minimum requis à chacun des ces tests sont invités à remplir un acte de candidature en vue d’une possible admission au concours.
Pour information, vos notes pour les tests d’accès sont les suivantes :
Test a): 8,667/10 (minimum requis: 5)
Test b): 14,333/20 (minimum requis: 10)
Total: 23/ 30
A titre d’information les candidats ayant obtenu les 88 meilleures notes pour les tests d’accès ont obtenu au minimum 23,333 points.
Les questions auxquelles vous avez répondu lors de vos tests d’accès proviennent d’une base de données développée par EPSO. Puisque cette base de données – qui contient un grand nombre de questions groupées par thème et par niveau de difficulté – sera aussi utilisée dans le cadre d’autres concours, EPSO ne communiquera pas les questions. Néanmoins, en cliquant ici, vous pourrez voir vos réponses ainsi que les réponses correctes aux questions que vous avez reçues lors de ces tests d’accès.
Je précise que la décision prise dans le cadre de ce concours ne préjuge en aucun cas d’une candidature éventuelle aux futurs concours organisés par l’Office européen de sélection du personnel.
Je vous prie de croire, Monsieur, à l’assurance de ma considération distinguée.
…
…I know that the decisions of the EO on CBT, like for exemple:
http://ombudsman.europa.eu/decision/en/071312.htm
stated that it should be possible to receive a copy of the text of the questions and not only the answers…
Hi! to everyone,
This is the first blog I see with so interesting and useful comments on the EU competions.
Myself, I will have in a few days my written exams for the following competitions: EPSO/AD/100/07-OP 2 Linguistic Administrators (AD5) having EN as main language. Basically we will be asked to translate two different texts the one in French and the other in Greek to English and we will be graded on the translation.
Has anyone passed a similar concour so as to tell me what to expect and how to proceed with the translation of the texts? Any tips on translation methodology, or books about translation that can be helpful?
I am also taking the EPSO/CAST/RELEX/4/08 CAST RELEX 2008 – FGIV competition for political advisers(or sth like that). If anyone had taken the same profile exams for the CAST 27-2007 I would appreciate if he/she could help me by providing me the questions.
I would be more than happy to share my experience and knowledge from previous concours that I have participated and successfully passed AST-1 and CAST27 (RELEX) – FGIV, with anyone willing to help me.
e-mail me at: mchamnta@socadm.duth.gr
Good luck to everyone taking the EPSO exams.
@ Teagan
As far as I know, yes, you can be invited for more interviews in the meantime. If you’re flagged for a certain institution, for example – the Commission, you can be sought after by any DG.
I wouldn’t reject the job if you’re offered it. If you’re succesful in the AD competition and you’re offered interviews and subsequently a job, no one has the right to hinder you. On the other hand, if you reject the AST job and the same HR people who know that you’ve rejected might count that as a minus when they’re looking at you for an AD position. Having been an AST would strike me as an advantage in interviewing for AD jobs, as you’ve been on the inside, and thus have EU experience.
My two cents…
AD
Hello,
I am on a AST reserve list and have just received an offer for an interview. This is great, of course, but I have a few questions :
– Can I still be asked for other interviews in the meantime? Does this “flagged” apply immediately or only if the Institution declares it chose you?
– If I refuse this job, does it have a negative impact on my chances to get another offer? Do I need to give a reason?
– I am also taking part in other competition (AD). If all goes well for this one, and I refused an AST job in a particular Institution, will that blow my chances to be asked for an AD job in the same Institution?
Many thanks for your help!
Hello,
Thanks a lot for your comments Luis. I think I will sign in in that website you mention on your post.
Please Penko, EV or Sorina: I mistyped my email adress on my previous post: the correct one is slrlopez@yahoo.es. Could you plz send the pdf file to this other address instead? thanks 🙂
BR
Penko, EV, Sorina…or anyone that has the test pdf, could you please e-mail me copy at jtrapl@web.de. Thanks a lot.
Hello everybody!
Sergio, the CAST concours and also the open competitions in general are so wide in the areas covered, that sincerely I find it really difficult to prepare in depth.
On the other side, I think they are not so difficult to pass if you prepare the EU and V&N part, since the specific one is based in general questios in your area.
In my case, It did not take more than 1 month to prepare for the CAST27, ICT Adviser that I suppose is quite close to yours… I did pass the UE and V&N using the tests in http://www.eutest.eu which was a good decission taken.
Good Luck!
Hello everybody,
I´m totally new in this kind of EU competitions. I have applied for Operations Advisor – Infrastructures in Cast Relex 2008 thinking that my telecom-engineering profile could be suitable for such a category…
Do you know how I should prepare for the specific domain tests? do any of you have experience on this category?
and about the other tests? N&V reasoning and EU knowledge ? is there any good matterial online somewhere?
@Penko –> Could you please send me a copy of your PDF book to slrlopez@yahoo.com ? Thanks a lot in advance 🙂
Hope you can advice and guide me a little with all these 🙂
Best Regards and good luck to everybody 🙂
Hi guys, I am a (exasperate) Scientific Adviser candidate.
You’ve probably already seen the new (funny) epso announcement:
The marking of the competency tests for the profiles “Scientific adviser” (FG IV) and “Graduate engineer” (FG IV) is taking longer than expected due to the complexity of the marking process (80 different subprofiles in 3 different languages requiring two independent corrections).
We apologise for the additional delay in communicating the results of these remaining profiles. Further information regarding the results will be announced via our Latest News by the end of June 2008.
It will take more than 6 months to mark less than 900 exams. That’s really pathetic!!
Don’t you think we should made a class complaint to the Ombudsman??
Does anyone have any experience with EASA?
Teddy: not all units are handling the feedback as it should be. If there is some kind of standard or guidelines, they are clearly not universally applied.
Best is to ring up one of the panel members (maybe the one who you think liked you most) and ask for the results. If it is negative, ask why you were not chosen (probably related to expertise or a specific skill) and also ask if he/she would be willing to give a bit more feedback on your conduct/performance during the interview (i.e. universally applicable comments), so you can do better in later interviews. I think most laureates would go through a number of interviews before finding a job and it is really something one gets better at while doing it.
@ Teddy
I waited 1 month and 6 days for the (positive) results of the interview.
They placed me on a reserve list, so I’m still waiting for an offer now.
@Teddy
I am also waiting for an answer…and I already sent emails, but I did not get any response.
If what people wrote is true, then I guess I did not get the job….which sucks..
Back to sending email to HoU and waiting for a new interview
Is it not a practice of the institutions to inform you for the resaults even if you have not been choosen for a position?
@Teddy
Teddy, I don’t want to disappoint you, but unfortunately long waiting without news means most often they you haven’t been selected for the position. You can either ask them by email, or refrain from asking if you don’t want to hear bad news.
Teddy, just send an e-mail or give them a call. No need to think much…
Btw, it seems that a lot of people (including HoU) are on holidays in the last 2 weeks. I just sent another round of mails to HoU and about 1/3 came back immediately with an Automatic out-of-office reply (“I will be back in the office on…”).
Thank you Chandra.
I have already been waiting for 4 weeks. I haven’t received any information from them-either positive nor negative.
I don’t know what to think.
Teddy: i guess it is different from case to case.
You can get an offer immediately at the interview (if it is a one-on-one with the decision maker).
If it is a panel interview, you should count on at least 2 weeks.
The one-on-one can follow as a second stage after a panel interview.
Hi! How long does it take to receive the results from the interview?
@All
Anyone has been already called for a job interview from ITER (fusion for energy agency in Barcelona) ?
Could anyone who took part in CAST27
FG III Assistant Information Specialist (Library/Documentation)
FG IV Information Specialist (Library/Documentation)
send me a copy of the MCQ (in any language).
Would be much appreciated!
Mail: olivia.ganz@hotmail.com
Thanks!
Regarding claim of professional experience in an EPSO open competition for permanent officials, do you know if statutory maternity leave counts (it does in my country, so it is formally included in any employer’s certificate, but what does EPSO think)?
@Mike
If am not mistaken the Ombudsman already conducted an inquiry about this issue, but I don’t remember either the case number nor if in the era of CBT.
Dear all,
I was just thinking about a rule about the CBT selections: sometimes in the same OJ are published two competitions for the same field. Or for the same level, but for different fields (e.g. The last competition in the field of Law, Audit, Finance, etc.). Let’s take the example of the AST – AD.
There is usually a rule that does not allow you to register for the AST position and for the AD position, as they tell that it is possible that the exams will take place at the same time. It is reasonable for the paper MCQ tests, that take place the same day and hour.
As you know, for the CBT you can choose the day and the hour of the test, so, technically speaking, you could sit both the tests if you have the diplomas and experience required.
After the results, if you succeed the CBT, you could choose, without that rule, to proceed with one position, AST or AD.
Why should I register for one position only, when I could do it for more positions?
What do you think about it? Maybe we could send a letter to the Ombudsman about the possibility to change that rule on the competitions with CBT…