The complaint to the European Union Intellectual Property Office

1. In November 2016, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) published a call for expression of interest[1] for the selection of staff to be recruited as contract agents[2]. The deadline for expressing interest to participate was in December 2016.

2. The complainant contacted EUIPO in February 2018. He complained about the fact that the procedure had been closed since December 2016. In the complainant´s view, this was a breach of the principle of equal opportunities, given that those EU citizens who did not to apply in 2016 are now prevented from being recruited by EUIPO. All EU citizens should have equal access to public employment. In the complainant’s view, EUIPO should follow the example of the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), which manages several calls for expression of interest for the recruitment of contract agents that are open on a permanent basis[3].

The European Union Intellectual Property Office’s response to the complainant

3. EUIPO replied to the complainant in July 2018. It argued that there had been no breach of the principle of equal opportunities because all EU citizens who met the eligibility requirements were invited to participate in the call for expression of interest in November 2016. The fact that someone chose not to participate when the call was published but later changed his or her mind is not the responsibility of EUIPO.

4. EUIPO also informed the complainant that it intends to start making use of the permanent calls for expression of interest for the recruitment of contract agents organised by EPSO.

5. Not satisfied with EUIPO´s response, the complainant turned to the Ombudsman in October 2018.

The European Ombudsman's findings

6. The EU civil service enjoys a wide margin of discretion when choosing how to organise the procedures for recruiting contract staff[4]. This has been confirmed by the EU Courts[5]. It is fully within EUIPO´s discretion to decide how and when to publish a call for expression of interest for the selection of contract staff, depending on its recruitment needs.

7. According to EUIPO, it will soon start making use of EPSO’s permanent calls for expression of interest for the recruitment of contract agents. The complainant will have the possibility to participate in one of those permanent calls.

8. Based on the information provided by the complainant, the Ombudsman finds no maladministration in this case.[6]

 

Tina Nilsson

Head of Inquiries - Unit 4

Strasbourg, 15/11/2018

 

[1] EUIPO/CAST/1/2016, see: https://epso.europa.eu/apply/job-offers/cast/2012/description_en

[2] Contract staff are recruited by the EU civil service to do manual or administrative support–service tasks or to provide additional capacity in specialized fields where insufficient permanent staff with the required skills are available. Contract staff are often employed for a fixed maximum period, usually with a shorter initial contract of 6-12 months, depending on the type of the job. See: https://epso.europa.eu/help/faq/2038_en?category=385

[3] See: https://epso.europa.eu/apply/job-offers/ongoing_en

[4] See Regulation No 31 (EEC), 11 (EAEC), laying down the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community, available here:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1433861011292&uri=CELEX:01962R0031-20140701

Article 82(6) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants establishes that “The authority referred to in the first paragraph of Article 6 [appointing authority] shall adopt general provisions on the procedures for engagement of contract staff in accordance with Article 110 of the Staff Regulations, as necessary”.   

[5] Judgement of the Civil Service Tribunal of 29 September 2009, Aparicio and Others v Commission of the European Communities, F-20/08 ECLI:EU:F:2009:132

[6] This complaint has been dealt with under delegated case handling, in accordance with Article 11 of the Decision of the European Ombudsman adopting Implementing Provisions