RECRUITMENT of Cypriots within the EU institutions is going well, with the two senior management posts set for Cyprus already filled in. Twenty-four of the 44 lower-level posts have also been taken up, according to figures released in Brussels yesterday.
“When one considers the fact that not all of the new countries have managed to have senior management staff recruited, you can say Cyprus is doing well,” Commission sources told the Cyprus Mail. Four countries do not have a national of theirs recruited at Director-General and Deputy Director-General level, while two have no director or principal advisor.
The sources said Cyprus has reached the quota set, which does not mean it cannot have more people in high positions but that it is rather difficult. They added emphasis now had to be placed on the recruitment of junior officials.
Presenting recruitment figures one year after enlargement, Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas, appeared satisfied with the overall levels and said the main problem lay in middle management.
He admitted only two-thirds of the indicative target set has been met therefore the EU’s executive had decided to speed up the process. Kallas said there were problems as well as difficulties in inter-institutional co-operation.
The Commission had set an indicative recruitment target of 3,441 posts over a seven-year period. The competitions produced some 2,700 laureates who were made available to all institutions. At the beginning of April, the Commission recruited 1,081 officials and temporary staff from the 10 new states, out of the target 1,529 set for 2004 (814) and 2005 (715).
The figures released, a Commission source told the Cyprus Mail, were proof that complaints that Cypriots were being discriminated against were unfounded.
Kallas, who is responsible for recruitment, said the biggest problem was and would continue to be having a geographical balance, as people are chosen on merit.
“We are sensitive on the issue and believe all member states must have a good representation in staff,” he said, recalling this was a Commission commitment.
The Commissioner did not want to comment on which DG was slow in selecting staff, saying the numbers were too small to draw conclusions. He also said there were still shortages, for example in lawyers and auditors.
Kallas underlined it was too early to have a concrete picture, but his overall view was that newcomers were well prepared professionally, but weaker on European affairs. They have no history of dealing with EU problems and finding solutions, he said.
Top job for
LENIA Samouel, currently permanent secretary at the Cyprus Labour Ministry, has been appointed Deputy Director General at DG Employment and Social Affairs. Her appointment was approved by the Commission yesterday and she is the second Cypriot recruited in senior EU management. Last week, the Commission approved the appointment of Antonis Constantinou as Director at DG Agriculture.
Samouel, considered to have vast experience in her field, is expected to take up her new duties soon.
