Dear Mr X,

You submitted a complaint to the European Ombudsman about how the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) assessed your educational background in a selection procedure for recruiting a ‘crypto custodian’ (EUSPA/2022/CA/002). We apologise for the time it has taken us to get back to you.

In your complaint, you argue that EUSPA was wrong to consider that the diploma awarded to you by the School of Permanent Non-Commissioned Officers in Greece did not meet the eligibility criterion set out in the vacancy notice, according to which applicants should “[h]ave a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least three years attested by a diploma”. You claim that your diploma is equivalent to a university degree as, according to the Greek law currently in place, it is a diploma awarded by a Higher Military School following three years of studies.

After careful analysis of all the information you provided with your complaint, and based on our detailed assessment of the matter, we have decided to close the inquiry with the following conclusion:

There was no maladministration by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA).[1]

University level studies in Greece are offered by the ‘Highest Education Institutions’. These include universities, polytechnic schools, the School of Fine Arts and the School of Pedagogy and Technological Education.[2] The Highest Military Education Institutions are also considered equivalent to universities and award equivalent degrees.[3] The Schools of Permanent Non-Commissioned Officers are not listed among the Highest Military Educational Institutions.[4] 

According to the Greek law to which you refer,[5] the Schools of Permanent Non-Commissioned Officers are part of the tertiary education system. However, they belong to its higher tier (and not to its highest tier). Those who have graduated from them are considered graduates of Higher Military Schools.

In addition, according to Greek law, undergraduate studies at Greek universities have a minimum duration of four years.[6] The same goes for the Highest Military Education Institutions, which, as mentioned above, are considered equivalent to universities.[7] As you point out, the duration of studies at the School of Permanent Non-Commissioned Officers from which you graduated is three years.

In light of the above, we find no indication of maladministration in EUSPA’s decision not to consider your diploma equivalent to a university degree.

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, 27/11/2023

 

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

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

[2] Art. 3(1) of Law 4957/2022.

[3] Art. 1(1) of Law 3187/2003.

[4] Art. 1(3) of Law 3187/2003.

[5] Art. 11(5) of Law 1911/1990, as lastly amended by Art. 24 of Law 4361/2016.

[6] With the exception of the curricula of applied science and technology which have a minimum duration of seven semesters. See Article 63 of Law 4957/2022.

[7] Art. 1(4) of Law 3187/2003, as amended by Art. 88(1) of Law 3883/2010.