Dear Mr X,

You recently submitted a complaint to the European Ombudsman concerning the European Commission’s decision to reject your application for a traineeship.

In your complaint, you took issue with the Commission’s position that you did not meet the eligibility criteria to be pre-selected for the Blue Book traineeship. You claimed that you meet the eligibility criteria, but that the Commission failed to consult your previous application and the documents that you submitted after the deadline for applications.

After careful analysis of all the information you provided with your complaint, we have decided to close the inquiry with the following conclusion:

There was no maladministration by the European Commission[1].

According to the applicable rules[2], the Blue Book traineeship programme is open to candidates that “completed the first cycle of a higher education course (university education) and obtained a full degree or its equivalent by the closing date for applications”[3]. The Commission’s traineeship website[4] states that candidates should have “completed a standard 3-year higher education degree” (usually a bachelor’s degree) in order to eligible.

We find that the Commission reasonably explained to you that candidates were requested to indicate first the degree that makes them eligible to apply. We consider it reasonable that the Commission requires candidates to provide information relevant for the eligibility assessment in a specific section in the application form.

We further consider that the Commission’s rules on traineeships, as well as the information contained on the website and in the instructions of the application form, are sufficiently clear for candidates to understand the purpose of the education section in the application form and to enable them to correctly fill in that section.

As regards your argument that the Commission should have consulted your previous application and the documents that you submitted after the deadline for applications, we note that the Commission’s rules on traineeships set out that rejected candidates wishing to re-apply should “submit a fresh application, together with all supporting documents”[5]. Furthermore, the Commission’s rules on traineeships state that “applicants must provide all the justifications documents required together with their printed application. No additional documents or justifications will be accepted after reception of the application”[6]. We therefore consider it reasonable that the Commission was not in a position to take into account information that you submitted in the context of a previous application or documents that you submitted after the deadline for applications.

On the basis of the above, we find that it was reasonable for the Commission to consider your traineeship application to be ineligible.

While we understand your frustration, we trust that you will appreciate that, when assessing applications, the Commission must adhere to the rules it has established.

We have therefore closed the case.[7]

We appreciate this may not be your desired outcome but we hope you find these explanations useful. Thank you for having contacted the European Ombudsman.

Yours sincerely,

 

Tina Nilsson

Head of the Case-handling Unit

Strasbourg, 25/07/2023

 

[1] This complaint has been dealt with under delegated case handling, in accordance with the Decision of the European Ombudsman adopting Implementing Provisions.

[2] Commission Decision C(2005)458) - Rules governing the traineeships scheme of the European Commission: https://traineeships.ec.europa.eu/document/rules-governing-official-traineeships-scheme-european-commission?.

[3] See point 2.2.1 of Commission Decision C(2005)458)

[4] https://traineeships.ec.europa.eu/how-to-apply

[5] See point 3.5 of Commission Decision C(2005)458)

[6] See point 3.1 of Commission Decision C(2005)458)

[7] Full information on the procedure and rights pertaining to complaints can be found at  

  https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/document/70707