Mediatore Europeo
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1. In the course of the Ombudsman's inquiry into complaint 1498/2011/CK, which concerned ENISA's failure to inform the complainant about the outcome of a selection procedure, the agency's opinion raised some questions regarding its policy not to reply to candidates' requests for information on the outcome of selection procedures.
2. In particular, in its reply, ENISA stated that, due to the number of applications received in response to vacancy notices and the limited availability of resources, its practice was not to provide an answer to candidates who were not invited to an interview. It pointed out that the vacancy notices included a specific provision drawing the potential candidates' attention to that fact. The provision usually read as follows: "Due to the large volume of applications, only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted. They will be requested to submit original or certified copies of all relevant documents supporting the information provided in the application when they are invited to the interview. No document will be sent back to candidates." ENISA regretted that in the complainant's case, such a provision was omitted due to an administrative oversight and it reassured the Ombudsman that all measures would be taken to ensure that all future notices would include the above-mentioned provision.
3. Considering that ENISA's policy not to reply to candidates' requests for information on the outcome of selection procedures may reveal a possible systemic problem, the Ombudsman decided to investigate the matter in the framework of an own-initiative inquiry.
4. In his letter of 2 February 2012 opening his own-initiative inquiry, the Ombudsman invited ENISA to clarify:
(a) its policy regarding the manner in which it generally communicates with candidates in selection procedures;
(b) its policy regarding its handling of requests for information submitted by candidates, in particular those concerning the status of their applications and/or the outcome of a selection procedure.
5. On 30 April 2012, ENISA submitted an opinion in response to the Ombudsman's inquiry.
6. In its opinion, ENISA informed the Ombudsman about its new policy regarding selection procedures and provided him with a copy of the revised version of its recruitment guidelines, which was adopted on 2 March 2012.
7. According to ENISA, candidates are now informed of each step of the procedure by e-mail. Candidates initially receive an automatically sent acknowledgement of receipt of their application. They are also informed of the result of the screening of their application. In particular, unsuccessful candidates at this stage of the procedure are informed by e-mail of the marks obtained for each selection criterion. ENISA explained that the technical difficulties it had experienced in the past difficulties have recently been overcome in this respect and had made it possible for the online application system to generate such e-mails which, however, still require human intervention. Candidates who are successful at this stage of the procedure receive an invitation for an interview. Unsuccessful candidates in the interview, as well as candidates whose name is included in the reserve list but who are not offered the position, receive a fully detailed report on the marks awarded following the written test and the interview.
8. ENISA noted that these procedures have been applied to selection procedures in 2012 and are included in the revised recruitment guidelines. These recruitment guidelines comprise templates of e-mails to be sent to unsuccessful candidates and incorporate other recommendations emanating from the Court of Auditors, concerning recruitment matters.
9. As the Ombudsman has already underlined, it is both courteous and service-minded to acknowledge receipt of applications and to inform candidates of the significant steps, such as their exclusion from a recruitment procedure, affecting their progress in a recruitment procedure[1]. In the Ombudsman's view, the absence of any information could generate significant anxiety for candidates who might worry about whether or not they have been successful in the competition, even long after the selection process has actually ended. At the same time, the effort required to send a letter informing a candidate of his/her exclusion from a competition is minimal, especially since such letters can be standardised for the purposes of contacting all relevant candidates[2].
10. The Ombudsman welcomes ENISA's new policy and its efforts to improve communication with candidates. He considers that, by providing adequate and sufficient information to candidates throughout the different stages of selection procedures, ENISA helps to build and maintain trust between citizens and the European public administration. The Ombudsman concludes, therefore, that no further inquiries are justified into the matter.
11. With a view to assisting ENISA in further improving its practices, the Ombudsman considers it useful to note that the Agency has not yet updated the "FAQs on recruitment" section of its website. As a result, potential candidates who would like to know more about the flow of information regarding the status of their applications, receive misleading information that reflects ENISA's previous policy, namely, that only candidates selected for interviews are contacted[3]. The Ombudsman also points out that the document containing ENISA's Recruitment Guidelines does not appear to be available on its website. In addition, the vacancy notices that have already been issued in line with the revised guidelines do not include information regarding communication with candidates. It appears, therefore, that the only source of information available to candidates regarding the issue is the "FAQs on recruitment" section of its website. Since it constitutes good administrative practice to provide citizens with correct and accurate information, the Ombudsman encourages ENISA to update the relevant section of its website. In this respect, he will make a further remark below.
On the basis of his inquiry into the present own-initiative inquiry, the Ombudsman closes it with the following conclusion:
No further inquiries are justified.
ENISA will be informed of this decision.
The Ombudsman encourages ENISA to update the "FAQs on recruitment" section of its website with a view to providing citizens with correct and accurate information on this matter.
P. Nikiforos Diamandouros
Done in Strasbourg on 11 June 2012
[1] Decision closing the Ombudsman's inquiry into complaint 923/2009/(BB)FOR against FRONTEX.
[2] Idem.
[3] The relevant question and answer read as follows:
"11. Will I receive an acknowledgement receipt of my application to fill a vacancy?
The Agency is NOT able to acknowledge receipt of any applications, due to the high numbers of responses to the posts published.
Please note that due to the large volume of applications only candidates selected for interviews will be notified. If you are not invited to interview, there was simply many more qualified candidates. Instead, to ensure reception of your application, we strongly recommend you, to send your application by registered post. Only applicants invited for an interview will be informed by an e-mail or phone and e-mail, as applicable.
The time taken to invite applicants for an interview depends on the number of applications received for each Vacancy Notice."
