Dear Ms X,

You submitted a complaint to the European Ombudsman against the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO). In your complaint, you took issue with the fact that EPSO allowed certain candidates who had experienced technical issues to re-sit remote tests in selection procedure EUIPO/AD/01/23. You argued that this undermined the equal treatment of candidates, as those re-sitting would have already seen the multiple choice questions (MCQ) and case study material.

We opened an inquiry and asked EPSO for clarifications on the issues that you raised in your complaint.  In its reply, EPSO informed us that it was considering further actions regarding the selection procedure in question.

During the course of our inquiry, it emerged that EPSO and the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) are considering the possibility of organising a third test session[1]. In addition, EPSO has now announced it is working with a different contractor to develop a new approach to remote testing.

Although the concrete implications of the above for the selection procedure in question are not yet known, it is clear that the circumstances will significantly change. In this context, we find that it would serve no useful purpose, at this point in time, to continue looking into the issues raised in your complaint. We have therefore decided to close the inquiry with the conclusion that no further inquiries are justified.

Should you take issue with how EPSO proceeds further with this selection procedure, you may submit a new complaint.

Yours sincerely, 

 

Tina Nilsson 

Head of the Case-handling Unit

Strasbourg, 17/07/2024

 

[1] https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/news/competition-euipo-ad-01-23-administrators-ad-6-in-the-field-of-intellectual-property-2nd-update