Paris criticises Schengen staff recruitment drive

Date: 30/07/1998

By Myles Neligan

THE French government is protesting over unfair recruitment practices in the Brussels-based Schengen secretariat, the body set up in 1996 to oversee the day-to-day running of the Schengen free movement zone.

Paris claims that officials from the Benelux countries make up a disproportionate number of the secretariat staff, and is calling for the balance to be redressed before the end of the year, when all 70 Schengen officials are due to be incorporated into the secretariat of the EU's Council of Ministers. At present, the body does not have any French nationals as employees.

As the merger between the Schengen and Council secretariats is laid down in the Amsterdam Treaty, it cannot go ahead unless all EU governments ratify the treaty by the deadline of 31 December 1998.

Some observers fear that the recruitment issue may delay the French national assembly's ratification procedures which are due to begin in the autumn.

French officials have criticised, in particular, the appointment to the Schengen staff last August of 22 Belgian, Dutch and Spanish nationals, claiming that their recruitment was in breach of the procedures set out in the Amsterdam Treaty, which had at that point not been signed by all EU governments.

"This recruitment drive was contrary to the normal EU rules," said French Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Christian Sautter. Her staff are protesting that the 22 most recent Schengen recruits were opportunistically nominated by national governments before they formally signed up to the more stringent recruitment rules in the Amsterdam Treaty.

But EU diplomats and Schengen officials have been quick to deny allegations of opportunism or irregular recruitment practices, pointing out that last year two senior Schengen posts were allocated to French candidates who then turned down the job offers for personal reasons.

"The legal position is that only those who were on the payroll when the Amsterdam Treaty was signed are eligible to join the Council secretariat, so any future appointment of French officials will have to be carried out through normal Council recruitment procedures. But it is not the case that French candidates for Schengen were overlooked," said one Schengen official.

All Schengen staff will have to pass a recruitment examination before taking up their posts in the Council secretariat. The French government, together with the Council staff union, is insisting that this examination should be every bit as demanding as the normal selection tests.

Council officials are currently designing the recruitment competition, but strongly reject suggestions that the examination will be a 'rubber-stamping' exercise.

"Some allowances must be made for the Schengen officials' previous experience and status as international civil servants, but there is no truth in these rumours," said one. "The terms of the competition will be completely transparent and the staff unions will, of course, be consulted at every step."