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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sebastian,
the 26/05 mcq are for which specialization? if EPA please send the english version
@sebastian. My German is a bit rusty, but I might be able to manag. It would at least give me an idea…so, do send them (solclaus at gmail.com) π Thanks !
Do you happen to have exemples of QCM in economics? I French or English?
I will pass the test for Romanian language economists in march 2007…
Thank you,
Olga
@ claudemurs/Isaac Asimov(lol)
I only have the AD25/05 MCQ (special, general, VNR) in German. If you still want to have it, let me know. The AD 26/05 MCQ I can send you in English plus the correct answers obtained from EPSO.
@ viking & sebastian. (only saw your posts now). Thanks for the tips1 My e-mail is solclaus on gmail.com I’d be very glad/grateful for any extra piece of information, obviously. tnx. c.
sebastian,
could you also please send to my e-mail some of your useful info … if you still have it. i would be grateful
krystiantonew@yahoo.com
Hi to all.
I have recently received notice that i have passed Admission tests on EPSO/AD/47/06 competition in the field of Economics. The problem is that i graduated with a diploma that allows me to work both in the Economics and IT field. I choosed to work in the IT field so I kind of lost touch of the Economic skills and knowledge (3 years since I graduated – and what you don’t practice you forget).
Now I am facing the Written tests and I have 3 months to prepare. Can anyone help me from his experience on what should I focus my attention when preparing for the Economics written tests? Or any links and info regarding required knowledge, tips and tricks, procedures and so on …
Thanks in advance.
Hello to all. Very useful blog, I am pleased i have found it on a bulgarian. By the way, congratulations to romanian guys writing above for passing the admission tests at EPA. I have just received the positive answer from EPSO too … (the bulgarian concours for EPA)…
Concerning the test A in the next round (with the special knowledge) i consider it could be passed if you are really prepared … loads of info has to be absorbed π But what do you think about the test B (case study) and test C (the memo in your own language) … would appreciate some advise.
In Europa Veritas π
HI. I am in for audit and I am wandering what and where to study for?
What will the test be?
Can someone help?
@ claudemurs & Suzana
Congratulations!
Based on my experience with the 25/05 I have the impression that a sound knowledge of the treaty (first of all the politics and the institutions) + reading about each of the institutions on their webpage is a good help to pass the test. I found the 250 MCQ-book less helpful on this stage.
Do you have Human Resources as well? There were some HR-questions as well in the 25/05 which you’ll soon receive from Sebastian.
Generally try to read the official notice about your competition. The expected work field is what you have to focus on.
Good luck to you!
@ sebastian
That will be very helpful Sebastian! Thank u!
I know u generally have a lot of past tests /or at least i have that impression/, so if u send me more which u find suitable that will be great!
my email is: suzana_sax@lycos.com
I think I have the AD25/05 somewhere stored as a pdf.
It is public administration plus humn resources. No answers though. Give me your email and I send it to you this weekend.
As to ‘specialised knowledge’, Public Administration, this is what I found on EPSO: http://europa.eu/epso/competitions/epso-a-1-10-test-epa_en.htm
Can someone pls tell me where can I find sample or past tests for specialised knowledge in public administration??
These could be in English, French, Italian and/or Spanish.
Many thanks in advance!
Hope u r all well. To those who are already on vacation- Happy Holidays!
I have passed too!:-)
My field is public administration as well and like claudemurs I’m worried just as much. I guess mainly because public adminstration is sooo broad, wheread audit and economics are so much more specific. Anyway, i can imagine the questions will be pretty hard, as they will rule out half the applicants sitting the written tests with the specialised knowledge test. I will be also very thankful to anyone who shares their experience with the specialised knowledge tests.
Many thanks, Sebastian! My field in Public Administration. I’ll have a look at Staff Regulations as you suggested. Thanks once again. It is a pleasure to post on this forum
@claudemurs: first of all congratulations. Specialist knowlegde obviuosly depends very much on your field. If it ii like in my case law, expect questions on the whole range of EU legal issues including questions concerning judgements of the ECJ. It might also be of help to take a good look at the Staff Regulations of Officials at the European Communities (http://ec.europa.eu/civil_service/docs/toc100_en.pdf)
Good luck for the written test
hello! they jus informed me that I passed the admission test for AD – RO. They say the written test will also have a multiple choice part, where they’d assess “specialist knowledge in the chosen field.” Do you have any idea what sort of questions these are? are they similar to the EU knowledge in the admission test? I’d very much appreciate any hint. I was using the Ultimate EU Testbook for the first part and got to be quite proficient in those. Do you think questions would go into more details than what this book contains? many thanks, c.
@viking
No idea yet, when the exam will be. Exams for AD 26/05 start January 23rd, but according to the German Foreign Office, they usually start with English/French since they do not need interpreters for that. Since my exam will be in German/English, I will probably have to wait a bit more. EPSO stated that the candidates of AD26/05 will be informed before the end of the year on the exact date.
When will your exam be?
if you wanna get in touch: steep4vr@gmail.com
Hi,
Many of us are going to have the same exam (ad 25 + 26/05). Could you give some more specific examples of the asked questions?
Congratulations! I am glad you’ve made it to the oral exam. Do you know when they want to see you in Bxl?
Hi Ugo,
What competition did you do asistent or administrator?
What kind of question do they ask at the interviews?
is it a lot about your motivation etc or not
I did my tests on the computer two weeks ago and I’m pretty hopeful for the future π
hi jon,
i just had my oral exam…. I have to say half of it is personnel department selection crap, like how do you react if your boss…. what if your collegues… i have no idea how to reply to this questions. next time i’ll try to prepare them too. the specialistic questions were not so difficult.
could you unsuscribe me? I get tons of mails i have to erase each time, I prefer to read the blog from time to time.
thanks a lot! bye ugo
Hi!
Has any of you sat the AST competition already? If yes, can you please provide us with some questions?
Thank you!
Just having learned that I have been admitted to the oral exam in the AD competition – I have to let go of that (sorry) -, I would like to add that spending less time on the internet and studying more helps. Forget to memorize every detail, your brain is no hard drive, but try to analyze the type of always recurring questions. I am getting drunk now π
well, “qualified” questions were those up for the mobile phones and the sharks. But u cant be serious for stuff like : which are the 4 structural funds and who appoints the ombudsman..u can read that EVERYWHERE DURING UR PREPARATION.
For Viking:
I am sure that nobody is thinking to pass an epso exam without studying, it would be absurd; but sometimes sharing your doubts can hel you in clarifying your ideas.
Honestly I don’t know what do you mean for “qualified questions”. For whom they are qualified??For you?
Hi everybody! I’ve come across this blog by chance. I took my admission test for AST yesterday. Someone was asking about exercises to practice numerical reasoning. I ‘ve found this one http://students.efinancialcareers.co.uk/numerical_test.htm which contains quite difficult tests and there’s a timer. If you’re able to pass them dont’t be afraid of epso.
@ Sebastian
If you haven’t seen it yet:
http://www.es-ue.org/Default.asp?section=1371&lg=2
by the way: sorry for not having been polite previously. However, what I wrote was meant constructively (giving a rough outline of sources and methodology).
I still mean that you cannot pass the exam by asking people on the internet the questions you don’t know the answer to. In my opinion if you want to pass the exam you have to change your working methods.
Hi,
There are blogs which are designed for exchanging basic information about eu-knowledge and numerical and verbal tests. Try http://epsoforum.com/ for example.
I agree of course that Jon should decide how this blog should be used how not, but, honestly, we should also be able to sort it out ourselves without dragging “daddy” into it (sorry, Jon, for calling you “daddy”). I just think that if it will be used as a basic eu-knowledge exchange forum then the other people will disappear.
I think that this is Jon’s blog. So he has the last word, and maybe he is the only one who can say what to post. I also think that everyone is free to post his doubts, you have the option to ignore them, but sending away people and judging their knowledge is not very polite. Unless, as I said, Jon express his wish.
So Jon, I think you are very busy to deal with this “querelles”, but what do you think???
Ciao!
agree with dizzy. if you want to take an epso-exam you have to develop other information gathering techniques then asking people in a blog. read some books, read the treaty, read relevant politics on scad plus and if you still have any questions then come here and ask – then you can ask qualified questions.
seems that this turned into a Q&A show.
C’mon guys, Structural funds and institutions appointments are v.easy and basic things taht u should NOT ask for if u intend of taking any EPSO competition!
@ Eelman:
An Ombudsman is appointed by the EP.
ECJ can dismiss him at the request of the EP if
he no longer fulfils the conditions required for the performance of his duties or if he is guilty of serious
misconduct.
(art. 195 ECT)
The Ombudsman is appointed by the European Parliament and may be dismissed by the Court of Justice at the request of the European Parliament.
http://curia.europa.eu/en/actu/communiques/cp04/aff/cp040023en.htm
——————————————————————-
Article 6
1. The Ombudsman shall be appointed by the European Parliament after each election to the European Parliament for the duration of its mandate. He shall be eligible for reappointment.
http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/lbasis/en/statute.htm
Who appoints and dismisses the Ombudsman?
The fourth option was probably European Regional Development Fund.
I thought it was B.
Can anyone give a second/third opinion?
Hi Eelman,
the answer is a)
“2.2. Initial financial programming and updating
The initial financial programming stems from the financing plans in the programming
documents initially adopted for the CSFs and the CIs (the initial programming dates from
2000 for EU-15 and 2004 for EU-10). This programming may then be adapted at the request
of Member States, under certain conditions.
(i) Breakdown of funds by objective, by CSF and CI and by Member State
The funds were first divided between objectives. In accordance with the conclusions
reached at Berlin concerning the EU-15 allocation, objective 1 receives 69.7% of the 2000-
2006 overall envelope, objective 2 11.5%, objective 3 12.3% and structural measures in
the fisheries sector outside objective 1 areas 0.5%. 5.35% of total appropriations are
earmarked for the CIs.
The Commission then set the allocation for each objective ΓΒ’Γ’βˆ βobjective/CSFΓΒ’Γ’βΒ¬? and ΓΒ’Γ’βˆ βobjective/CIΓΒ’Γ’βΒ¬? by Member State, taking into account the criteria laid down in the
regulations for each objective.”
page 61
“2.3. The budget
The annual budget allocation for the Structural Funds corresponds to the ceiling of the
financial perspective resulting from the annual technical adjustment and other decided
adjustments of the financial perspective.”
page 62
Link
For B)
“The Member States will now have the authority to choose
the projects for Cohesion Fund support under their national
programmes while respecting the sectoral objectives of the
Cohesion Fund and more limited rules on expenditure eligibility.
Th is will reduce significantly the number of projects
requiring Commission approval. Only in the case of major
projects will the Member States be required to seek the
approval of the Commission for the grant rates. Also, the
application of common simplifi ed programming rules will
automatically lead to a simplified management of ERDF and
Cohesion Fund activities.”
Link
C)….
The development aid provided by the EDF forms part of a broader European framework. Within the European Union, the funds of the Community’s general budget may be used for certain types of aid. Moreover, in addition to managing part of the EDF’s resources (loans and risk capital), the European Investment Bank (EIB) will contribute a total of 1.7 billion from own resources for the period covered by the ninth EDF.
——————————————————
The Community Strategic Guidelines on Cohesion 2007-2013
“According to the guidelines and in line with the renewed Lisbon strategy, programmes co-financed through the cohesion policy should seek to target resources on the following three priorities:”
Link
“COUNCIL
COUNCIL DECISION
of 6 October 2006
on Community strategic guidelines on cohesion
(2006/702/EC)……….
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
The Community strategic guidelines on economic, social and
territorial cohesion (hereinafter ΓΒ’Γ’βΒ¬ΓΕthe strategic guidelinesΓΒ’Γ’β¬ÒβΒ’) as set
out in the Annex are hereby adopted as an indicative
framework for the Member States for the preparation of the
national strategic reference frameworks and operational
programmes for the period 2007 to 2013.
Article 2
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Luxembourg, 6 October 2006.
For the Council
The President
K. RAJAMΓΖΓ’β¬ΕΎKI”
Marcela
Can anyone answer this please:
Which is financed only by Community resources:
a. European Social Fund
b. Cohesion Fund
c. European Development Fund
d. (don’t know what the 4th option was)
Thanx Marina! Yeah, I’ve seen it above and used it. But there are not so many numerical questions.. and I was wondering whether any site has the ticking time (would be good to practice psychologically as well).
You can check a free web site
http://www.quizzeuro.com
(Sorry Jon, I don’t know if I can post web sites, even if free.., but I think it could be useful)
Can anyone suggest a website where it is poissible to practice numerical reasoning questions?.. or at least which contains some examples of them? Thanks!!
Hi all,
I took the 2nd part of the contractual agent test on 17.11.06. My specialty was Biotechnology and I think that the questions were the same as in the Biology test (also 34 questions, 7 of them on Staff Regulation : what is endosperm ? what is ARNi ? etc.). The questions were indeed not really related to biotechs, but where rather more general ones on biology.
I wonder what kind of jobs will be filled in the institutions in my specialty…
Ok..thank you to both..yes, the question was related to mibile phones (don’t know if private or business)
Now i am ready to be an official…..!
Hi Sebastian,
I think it’s a mistake in the publication ( Europeans = EU25), take a look at the Map Legend: EUROPEAN UNION (25)–>79%.
“In each Member State,
an absolute majority of the people interviewed has a mobile phone –
Questionnaire source: QB2a
The map below shows the percentages of citizens having either a private or business
mobile phone. Almost eight out of ten Europeans (79%) have a mobile phone.
For the vast majority it is a private mobile phone (76%). Only 8% of European
citizens have a business mobile phone.”
Marcela
ΓΒ’Γ’βˆ βAlmost eight out of ten Europeans (79%) have a mobile phone.ΓΒ’Γ’βΒ¬?
EU 25 or even EU 27?
π
“Maybe the question relates to the number of mobile phones in the EU?”
There is the answer:
“Almost eight out of ten Europeans (79%) have a mobile phone.”
Link
… An intelligent question if you want to become a Commission official!
π
Marcela
For this question – According to EU legislation, for which of the following fish species is there a total ban on fishing?
Options:
wild Atlantic salmon,
swordfish,
whale,
shark
I found the following material:
“Measures need to be taken urgently therefore to ban or prevent the expansion of the practice. This Regulation, which prohibits the removal and retention on board vessels of shark fins and their transshipment and landing is a measure aimed at lowering the excessive mortality of these vulnerable species.”
http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l66023.htm
Council Regulation (EC) No 1185/2003 of 26 June 2003 on the removal of fins of sharks on board vessels
See this link
Marcela