Committee of Regions chief rejects fast-track internal hiring procedure

Date: 26/09/02

By David Cronin

SENIOR figures at the EU's Committee of the Regions have been discussing the possibility of using a fast-track procedure for appointing officials in recent months, even though the institution's recruitment methods have been criticised in the past.

In the 1990s, the European Court of Justice twice upheld complaints against the CoR, the institution formed in 1994 to give local authorities a role in shaping EU policies, for bypassing standard procedures for hiring officials. In some cases staff were appointed to senior posts without having to sit the EU concours entrance examination.

A memo, obtained by European Voice, shows that leaders of the assembly's political groups have discussed the possibility of recruiting through 'competitions internal to the institution'.

But Vicenzo Falcone, the CoR's secretary-general and the memo's author, told them such a course of action could be attacked by the European Parliament and lead to media attention casting the institution in an unfavourable light.

The Italian acknowledged there was a case for restricting applications for vacancies in the CoR to staff already working in its Brussels headquarters. Of the 231 permanent posts in the CoR, 61 are occupied by officials on temporary contracts.

Noting that many of these contracts are due to expire early next year, Falcone admitted 'it is difficult for the CoR to recruit officials within a short space of time', especially because of limited resources.

But he also noted that all the smaller [EU] institutions - the Court of Justice, Court of Auditors and Economic and Social Committee - have similar resource constraints but none of these operate internal competitions.

'On the basis of past experience, as well as an evaluation of the current political and inter-institutional climate, I estimate that any decision to proceed with the organisation of internal competitions at the present time would most probably result in severe negative consequences for the Committee of the Regions,' he warned.

He predicted that such a move could spark a dispute with the unions representing CoR staff; the biggest of these, Union Syndicale, has already written to him with a warning to that effect.

'The union has made it clear that they regard internal competitions as a bogus form of recruitment that would provoke and damage relations with their union,' he added.

Falcone's own appointment is among several at the CoR which have proved controversial.

Last year a legal challenge was mounted by a Greek who had applied unsuccessfully for the secretary-general's job.

The candidate accused Falcone of having a conflict of interest because he had worked as the CoR's secretary-general in an acting capacity for several months before securing the full post and, therefore, had an administrative role in the selection process.

The case, which is backed by Union Syndicale, is to be heard by the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice.

Senior figures at the EU's Committee of the Regions have been discussing the possibility of using a fast-track procedure for appointing officials in recent months, even though the institution's recruitment methods have been criticised in the past. But Vicenzo Falcone, the CoR's secretary-general, told them such a course of action could be attacked by the European Parliament and lead to media attention casting the institution in an unfavourable light.