the dissidents

We have previously seen how two of the institutions of the EU, namely the Commission and the Parliament, seem to disregard good administration in their recruitment policies. Both institutions have failed to safeguard fair and just procedures for all candidates, with staff already employed by an institution given precedence. As things stand now, the Ombudsman will again have to investigate maladministration by those 2 institutions, namely the lack of transparency of the European Parliament (the non-publication of staff lists) and the recruitment of temporary agents by the European Commission after the publication of a reserve list. During the past months, it was revealed that institutions of the EU are unwilling to disclose information which isn't sensitive at all. "Personal data can only be transferred under very strict conditions" was a phrase very often used. The investigation into the recruitment of officials and temporary agents wasn't restricted to the Commis

Following the latest revelations regarding the European Commission in Part 3 , Business Correspondence once again communicated: Every person whose name was included on a reserve list (be it following an EPSO competition, Temporary Agent selection or Contract Agent selection) had the qualifications required in the announcement of the competition or selection concerned, otherwise they would not have been eligible.   L et me also rectify a misunderstanding: a temporary agent is not promoted to probationary official. Probationary officials are selected from an EPSO competition reserve list. From the reserve lists it has at its disposal, the Maltese department fills the recruitment possibilities it has been allocated with the people whose profile best fits the needs of the department. If there has been any misunderstanding, this can be attributed to the lack of precise and exact communication from Business Correspondence. When questioned earlier regarding the sudden drop

It has now been 8 months since the brutal assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia (DCG). Civil societies, rightly so, are still demanding that the persons who commissioned the killing are brought to justice. They also demand the resignation of several people who hold office or who passed insensitive comments in the months that followed, but since when is resignation part of Maltese culture? According to Wikipedia, Daphne “was a Maltese journalist, writer, and anti-corruption activist, who reported on political events in Malta. In particular, she focused on investigative reporting into government corruption, nepotism, patronage, allegations of money laundering” . “ Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist and anti-corruption activist who was investigating Maltese government links to money laundering and tax evasion. ” (Euronews) What people seem to forget in 2018, or simply do not know (especially if foreign news agencies, although that would indica

In the previous part we have seen how the European Parliament lacks transparency regarding its staff and how it doesn’t wish to reveal who it employs. Now we shall see how the European Commission has in the past made some dubious decisions regarding its staffing policy. As was already described in Part 1 , nearly every Maltese-speaking person could join the Commission as a translator in 2004, because there was a shortage of staff. The situation changed in 2017, when suddenly more translators were placed on the reserve list than were actually needed. Reserve lists are a highly debated issue. Being successful in an EPSO competition doesn’t guarantee a legal right to employment. Some people spend years on a reserve list and are never recruited. Legally, a European institution may recruit anyone it likes and isn’t obliged to revert to successful candidates on a reserve list. One of the many blogs criticising EPSO can be found here https://www.facebook.com/EU.careers#!/EU.careers/

As we have already seen in Part 1 , after Malta's accession to the EU the institutions weren't able to recruit the necessary number of translators. This issue had also received extensive media coverage . Following the conclusion of two EPSO competitions in 2017 questions were sent to the respective institutions regarding the recruitment of successful candidates placed on the reserve list. This edition will deal with the European Parliament. Firstly, questions were sent to the Veronique Rosenkranz (in her capacity as acting director of the directorate) regarding the non-publication of the full staff lists of its departments. After failing to receive a reply, questions were sent regarding 3 individuals how worked or are working with the Maltese-language unit. This was her scolding reply: It is not the first time you have requested information concerning DG TRAD staff and in particular the MT translation unit. Now you ask questions about specific persons. You certainly know th