Dear Mr K.,
On 21 February 1998, you made a complaint to the European Ombudsman against the European Parliament. You alleged that the Parliament should not have rejected your application for a Parliament competition on the grounds that you failed to provide a higher education diploma in Information Technology as you hold an equivalent degree from a higher technical college (Fachhochschule).
On 14 December 1998, I forwarded the complaint to the President of the European Parliament. The Parliament sent its opinion on 25 March 1999. I forwarded the opinion to you with an invitation to make observations, if you so wished. I did not receive any observations from you.
I am writing now to let you know the results of the inquiries that have been made.

THE COMPLAINT

The complainant applied for competition EUR/A/127(1) of the European Parliament for civil servants of grade A7 and A6 in the field of Information Technology and Telecommunication. He was then informed by the chairman of the selection board that his application was rejected because he lacked the appropriate third level degree, in this case a higher education diploma in the field of Informatics and/or Electronics and/or Information Technology as stated under Title III.B.2.1 of the notice of competition.
The complainant contested this decision. He put forward that in accordance with a German Higher Education law, his degree from the Higher Technical College was considered equivalent to a higher education diploma in Germany, and that therefore his application should not have been rejected.
In his reply, the chairman of the selection board stated that for the competition EUR/A/127 a degree from the Higher Technical College was not be considered equivalent to a higher education diploma, which was necessary for the admission to A-grade posts at the European Institutions.
The complainant thereafter lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman. He stated that his application should not have been rejected, that the reasoning remained unclear and that the Parliament's behaviour was discriminatory.

THE INQUIRY

The Parliament's opinion
The Parliament stated that the complainant was not admitted to the written tests because he did not fulfil a particular requirement, namely that he did not hold a university degree in Information Technology.
Furthermore, it stated that the selection board of the competition unanimously decided that the degree from the Higher Technical College would not be accepted as equivalent to the university degree in Information Technology called for under Title III.B.2.1 of the notice of competition. This decision was taken in advance and applied equally to all candidates presenting this qualification and it was therefore in no way discriminatory.

THE DECISION

1 Rejection of complainant's degree
1.1 The complainant alleged that the diploma he had obtained from the Higher Technical College was considered equivalent to a higher education diploma under a German Higher Education law. He put forward that his application to take part in a competition should therefore not have been rejected by the Parliament and that this act was discriminatory.
1.2 The Parliament stated that the notice of competition clearly demanded a higher education diploma (abgeschlossenes Hochschulstudium). It further stated that the selection board unanimously decided not to consider a degree from a Higher Technical College to be equivalent. It put forward that this decision was applied equally to all candidates presenting this qualification and that it followed from this that this decision was in no way discriminatory.
1.3 The notice of competition EUR/A/127 requests under Title III.B.2.1 that the qualification required is a higher education diploma . The appointing authority decided not to accept a degree from the Higher Technical College as equivalent degree. The appointing authority could have applied a more general approach, but it is the appointing authority which chooses the criteria of admissibility for a particular competition. The decision in question was taken in advance and applied to all participants. It appears therefore, that the Parliament was entitled to adopt the criterion in question.
2 The wording of the notice of competition
2.1 The notice of competition EUR/A/127, in the German version, requests under Title III.B.2.1 that the qualification required is a higher education diploma (abgeschlossenes Hochschulstudium). The German version of the notice is naturally addressed to German speakers, most of which would have completed a third level education in Germany. In accordance with Article 1 of the German Hochschulrahmengesetz (University framework law) of 26 January 1976, Universities, Colleges of Education (Pädagogische Hochschulen) and Higher Technical Colleges (Fachhochschulen) are considered "Hochschulen" in the framework of this law. It follows from this, that a German applicant reading the notice for the Parliament competition cannot automatically assume that his Higher Technical College diploma is not considered equivalent to a "Hochschul"- degree by the appointing authority.
2.2 It is a matter of good administration to ensure that applicants in a competition procedure are correctly informed about the conditions they need to fulfil. It was not clear from the German version of the notice of competition, that a Higher Technical College diploma was not considered sufficient for this particular competition. The Parliament should have been aware of the existence of German Higher Technical College diplomas and their standing in Germany. It should therefore have taken steps to assure that the German version of the notice of competition provided clear indications as regards the necessary third level diploma.
3 Conclusion
On the basis of the European Ombudsman's inquiries into this complaint, it appears necessary to make the following critical remark:

It is a matter of good administration to ensure that applicants in a competition procedure are correctly informed about the conditions they need to fulfil. It was not clear from the German version of the notice of competition, that a Higher Technical College diploma was not considered sufficient for this particular competition. The Parliament should have been aware of the existence of German Higher Technical College diplomas and their standing in Germany. It should therefore have taken steps to assure that the German version of the notice of competition provided clear indications as regards the necessary third level diploma.

Given that this aspect of the case concerns procedures relating to specific events in the past, it is not appropriate to pursue a friendly settlement of the matter. The Ombudsman has therefore decided to close the case.
The President of the European Commission will also be informed of this decision.
Yours sincerely,
Jacob SÖDERMAN

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(1) OJ 1998 C 125 A/10