*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. Participation in these competitions can be done in parallel to the certification: use all your options!*

Original article: The deadline for making a decision on which exams to resit (or not) is Friday 26.01.2024. As ever, we’re all about making informed decisions. Several of you have got in touch to say that the answers you have received do not match the information in our article Certification resit options: energy efficiency? It is not clear to us whether there is a DG-specific reason for this or whether the answer itself has changed, leaving recipients to try to find whose information is most recent.

Unfortunately, the European School of Administration (EUSA) website is silent on most of the questions raised and there is no stated intention to provide more up-to-date information there. Please check the information we present below and share with us your answers: for the points with no consensus we will put them all together and ask for clarification on your behalf.

Here’s the info we have. We’d like to see anything you may have on these topics, particularly those in bold.

Exams

1. You can choose to do any or all of the outstanding exams at the next opportunity (at the time of writing, this would be 2024).
2. You can choose to miss a year and then do the exams the following year (i.e. 2025 or later, as you wish). There is no obligation to participate in the next available exams.
3. *Update 26.03.2024: 2024 exam dates are now published: we’ve added them below.*
4. You are signing up for exams without knowing when they will take place.
5. Exam dates for 2024 (published 19.03.2024)

1. If you state your intention now to resit an exam and then change your mind (e.g. when the dates are published) you can withdraw at any time without using up one of your resit options.
2. There is no deadline to withdrawing, but you must follow process (point 5 below). Some colleagues have March as a deadline: does anyone else have this?
3. If you withdraw, you do not use up one of your resits, but you must follow process in 5 below.
4. In theory you could withdraw post-refresher training, but you must follow process in 5 below: please share your related info and sources if you can!
5. You withdraw by asking your DG’s permission* and then contacting EPSO EUSA CERTIFICATION.
6. If you state your intention NOT to resit an exam now in 2024 and then change your mind (e.g. when the dates are published) you CANNOT then sign up to sit it in 2024.
7. We can find no evidence for any type of exam completion deadline (which would make 12.1 below true by default) nevertheless 12.2 and 12.3 are ever-present and often repeated: please share your related info and sources if you can!
   1. There is no deadline for finishing the certification exams: you can take as long as you like.
   2. You must resit all outstanding exams the following year (if this were true, why send a statement of intentions survey?)
   3. There is a 3-year limit for finishing the certification.

Refresher training

1. There are no fixed dates yet for the refresher training: there is nothing published as yet.
2. You are signing up for refresher training without knowing when it will take place.
3. The refresher training may or may not take place on similar dates to 2023. They may well move back to their previous distribution e.g. E1 exam at the end of block 1 (June).
4. There is no stated limit to the number of times you can sign up for refresher courses: please share your related info and sources if you can!

Generation 2004 is aware of the growing numbers of resitters and of the exceptionally poor Certification exam results in 2024.  We are awaiting the publication of the corresponding report to make comparisons with the previous 17 certification exercises.

We would like to see more transparency in the whole process from initial application to AD posts available for all participating institutions and an overall evaluation of all 18 editions: is the Certification achieving it stated aims?

As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us, we’ve been through many of these processes.

If you appreciate our work, please consider becoming a member of Generation 2004

*It’s not clear who this would be, but we suggest you start with those who interviewed you at the DG level for participation in the certification exercise. It’s not clear whether this permission relies on some sort of justification or it’s enough to say that you expressed an interest without the full information available (i.e. the dates).

Additional resources: European Ombudsman

The European Commission’s failure to reply to a request for feedback concerning a certification procedure 281/2022/NH

Certification procedure – Handling of appeal under Article 90(2) of the staff regulations against the conduct and results of certification tests 862/2011/AN

Draft recommendations of the European Ombudsman in his inquiry into complaint 862/2011/AN against the European Personnel Selection Office

Decision in case 1310/2016/BKB on the European Commission’s decision not to allow the complainant to participate in the certification procedure for EU officials to be able to apply for posts in a higher function group  1310/2016/BKB

Decision in case 426/2017/NF on the European Commission’s handling of an application to participate in the training programme allowing for certain selected assistant staff members to become administrators

Decision of the European Ombudsman concerning his inquiry into complaint 2273/2008/MF against the European Commission

Draft recommendation of the European Ombudsman concerning his inquiry into complaint 2273/2008/MF against the European Commission

Obsolete: 

The exams may or may not take place on similar dates to 2023 (below). They may well move back to their previous distribution e.g. E1 exam at the end of block 1 (June).

2023 exam dates

Update 21.02.2024 EPSO have confirmed that the EUsurvey declaration is non-binding in response to our note for clarification. This information comes AFTER the stated deadline.