*Update 19.02.2025: ‘By default, all [internal] competitions will be cross-category.’ (Stay tuned: A new approach for internal competitions) This is excellent news and should now put the Commission on an even footing with the Parliament and other EU institutions. We hope that this inclusion is genuine and that the competitions are not otherwise skewed to reduce participation.*
Original article: Against all the odds, the internal competitions are moving forward, which is a very pleasant surprise.
The organisers recently published an update of the indicative calendar for AD5, as well as some additional information (addendum/addenda) on the other competitions.
What do we know and what to expect?
As we speak, the indicative planning is published for the AD/03/22 (AD5) competition only. As for the other internal competitions, let’s make a split between AD7, AD9 and AD12 on the one hand, and AST/SC2, AST2 and AD6 on the other.
| Competition | Our best estimate for tests (13.02.2023) |
| AD5 | First half of March |
| AD12 | After mid-April? |
| AD9 | After mid-April? |
| AD7 | After mid-April? |
| AD6 | Second half of March |
| AST2 | Second half of March |
| AST-SC2 | Second half of March |
As regards AD7, AD9 and AD12, we don’t know much and we can only wait. Applications were submitted before Christmas and now the eligibility check and talent screener review are going on. Will the board let us know if we just passed the eligibility? Yes!
As set out in the point 4.2.1. Disclosure of information of your notices, the eligibility checks are ongoing as we speak and HR will then evaluate the talent screeners of those who fulfil the eligibility requirements (several hundreds of colleagues). Most probably, the oral interview for these competitions won’t happen mid April in these competitions; if we follow the latest announcement.
For AST/SC2, AST2, AD6 we just saw the addenda published Friday 03.02.2023 where the organisers decided to change the order of the phases. Now, the eligibility checks will take place before the tests (computer-based multiple-choice question (MCQ) and written). In practical terms, this reduces the amount of candidates in the competition! Bear in mind that for the AD6 competition alone there were more than 1700 applications submitted and there are only 100 laureates sought. The MCQ and the written test were announced for March.
Dates set for each phase
We have done our best to map what we can expect in the competitions AD5, AST/SC2, AST2, AD6.
Further below you can find some details on each competition.
COM/AD/03/22(AD5) is a month ahead of the others in the eligibility checks. The results have been announced for February (more than two months after the submission of the applications) and the exam is scheduled for March, most probably the first half, which leaves you 4-5 weeks to get ready for it. Don’t panic! It is still feasible! Remember you just need 30 out of 50 points to pass the MCQ and you can still practice with 1 or 2 written tests per week.
For AD6, AST2 and AST/SC2, if we consider a similar period for their eligibility checks as for AD5 (a bit optimistic due to the higher number of candidates), exams should not come sooner than second half of March. As Easter time is early April, probably the organisers will want to organize the exam prior to it. Although you have more time to prepare, the difficulty is higher!!! You need to get 35 out of 50 points in the MCQ! Therefore, you need to do an exhaustive work studying policies and institutions. For the written test we estimate that you can practice with 1 or 2 tests per week.
For AD7, AD9,AD12 we can only wait to have the outcome of the eligibility and talent, whether they will assess the talents profile by profile of each level, so they can move faster to the oral test on that profile or they will release the results all at the same time, is not clear. Considering the total amount of candidates in the 3 profiles (641, 898 and 515 respectively) it seems unlikely the will have finalised the talent screener of all the candidates by mid-April. Let’s wait.
How can I prepare?
For the MCQ, the resources are publicly accessible.
First thing, you have The Treaties, and the ABC-EU law, which contain the basics of the institutions and our policies.
Afterwards, to go deeper in policies, our suggestion is to check the European Parliament factsheets and the different materials developed by our Communication colleagues to explain the Commission’s policies and actions, such as the summaries of legislation, while always following the 6 priorities of the current Commission. Altogether, this is a lot of material and should be more than enough to pass the test, but don’t forget to make your own notes and mind maps to memorize it.
For the written test, it’s important to underline what is said in the notice of your competitions:
A written assignment (e.g. a briefing, letter or note) based on various documents on EU policies and institutions. This written test will assess the competencies required to perform the duties of an administrator in the Commission in your field of the competition.
Therefore, this is not like the MCQ. The written tests does not test knowledge, but competencies (or skills if you want). Besides, as most of you are familiar with the EPSO materials, our first advice is to take the EPSO case studies (here is an EPSO one) for practice, which will give you a fair idea on how to handle an assignment under a strict time constraint. Complementarily, you could do some of your briefings and work-related tasks against the clock, setting the time every time you had to deliver a briefing or contribution and then checking afterwards before sending it .
Regarding the oral interviews of any competition: the number of candidates is huge and the invitations to the interviews few. There will inevitably be some unhappy surprises: at this moment, using whole numbers of candidates and the total spots offered for a rough estimate, the chances of being invited to the interview are of 1 in 3 for AD12, 1 in 8 AD9 and 1 in 4 for AD7.
We don’t advise to prepare the oral interview at such an early stage. Wait until you have confirmation of passing the eligibility checks at least.
What can Generation 2004 do for you?
We will do our best to help you pass the test.
Based on our previous collaboration with YSE in previous internal competitions (the last AD5 had a 90% success rate in the MCQ and the written test), we would like to recommend to you an online training created by YSE – training that allows you to advance at your own peace. Yse can offer you:
- A set of 650 original questions for the MCQ with a collection of supporting materials
- 6 written tests that will guarantee you get the practice you need.
Each MCQ and written test contain a video-feedback highlighting the most relevant aspects of the test.
To join this training or get additional details on it, here you can find the form.
Also, all YSE latest news is available on Telegram channel @yasemoseuropeos.
Generation 2004 at the same time is aiming at providing another free session offered as well by our partners YSE for our colleagues who enrolled in the internal competitions last year. We will let you know as soon as we will have clear dates.
If you appreciate our work, please consider becoming a member of Generation 2004.
Older updates
*Update 07.03.2023, the internal competition FAQs [*] are not explicit on whether it’s possible to modify the date/time of MCQ/written tests. We have asked for the page to be updated with this information but do note that the answer is unlikely to be a positive one. If you have more information, please send it to us! Future internal competitions will be listed here.* Here is our Article 90 template (version 2) for anyone who was unable to change the order of their languages in sysper.
This new version of the complaint template references the 16.02.2023 outcome of the EPSO case: The Court of Justice confirms the unlawfulness of two EPSO notices of competition restricting the choice of the second language to English, French or German. This is done for completeness only, version 1 of the complaint template is still good for anyone who used it.
Please note that EPSO is not the authority in internal competitions. The reference to EPSO in our template is to explain why colleagues might have a different language order in the EPSO application form and in the application form on entering the Commission.
