The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) located in Brussels, Belgium, invites EPSO/CAST FGIV laureates to express their interest to participate in the selection procedure for the establishment of a reserve list for the post of Legal adviser in the legal sector of the R2 Unit: "finances, accounting, programming". Deadline: 24 March 2014 at midday (GMT Brussels time).

The agency

The EACEA (“the Agency”) is a European Commission Executive Agency established by the Commission's Implementing Decision 2013/776/EU. It operates by delegation of powers from the Commission  and its statute is governed by Regulation (EC) No. 58/2003 . The Agency's parent Directorates-General within the Commission are DG for Education and Culture, DG for Communication and DG for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO).

• The Agency is responsible for the implementation of certain EU programmes in the fields of education, audiovisual and culture, such as Erasmus+, The Creative Europe Programme, Europe for Citizens, EU Aid Volunteers and their predecessors. The Agency's current mandate runs until 31 December 2024 .
• The Agency was established to enhance programme management and provide beneficiaries with a better service, in line with the principles of administrative governance adopted by the Commission.
• As a legal entity, the Agency establishes an annual work plan and an annual activity report and has an operational budget of more than 600 Mio EUR per year.
• In order to attain its objectives, the Agency has an internal structure consisting of 13 Units with a total of 458 staff members in 2014 (108 seconded officials/temporary agents and 350 contract agents).
• The Agency working languages are English and French.
• For further information on the Agency, please refer this page

Job description

Within the Finances, Accounting and Programming Unit, the selected candidate, under the supervision of the Head of the legal sector, will provide legal counsel and advice to the management and the operational Units of the Agency in the framework of their activities. In particular, the Legal Adviser will:

1. Contribute to the drafting and review the legality of the acts of the Agency (decisions, contracts, guidelines, etc.);
2. Provide legal support to the Agency's Units and Management in their areas of activity, including in pre-litigation cases;
3. Provide advice on the legality of the Agency's procedures (award of grants, procurement, OLAF, terminations of grant agreements and recovery orders);
4. Contribute to the development of internal procedures and standard documents;
5. Assist in representing the Agency before European and national courts as well as before national administrative authorities.

Qualifications and experience required

A. Eligibility criteria

Candidates will be considered eligible for selection on the basis of the following formal criteria which must be fulfilled by the deadline for applications:

A.1 General conditions:

• Be a national of a member state of the European Union;
• Enjoy full rights as citizen;  
• Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the applicable laws on military service;
• Meet the character requirements for the duties involved ;
• Be on an EPSO/CAST FG IV lawyer reserve list;
• Be physically fit to perform the duties linked to the post;
• Have a thorough knowledge of one of the languages of the European Union and a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the European Union to the extent necessary for the performance of his/her duties.

A.2 Specific conditions:

A.2.1. Qualifications

• a) Have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma when the normal period of university education is four years or more;
  OR
• b) Have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of three years attested by a diploma and appropriate professional experience of at least 1 year.

A.2.2. Professional experience

Have at least 2 years of proven fulltime relevant legal professional experience;

B. Selection criteria

Candidates who comply with the above eligibility criteria will then be evaluated according to the following selection criteria:

Essential:

• Excellent knowledge of European Union law, in particular regarding EU institutional law, financial matters, civil service law, litigation and access to documents;
• Excellent command of English and French both written and oral;

Advantageous:

• Post-graduate diploma in European Law;
• Experience as lawyer or in the legal service of a EU Institution, Agency or Body;
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain legal issues to non-legal staff of the Agency in a clear and service oriented manner.
• Excellent drafting skills and ability to deal with complex legal issues;
• Be a team player, have the ability to work under pressure and to meet deadlines;
• Good command of other European Union languages.

Equal opportunities

The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency applies a policy of equal opportunities and takes care to avoid any form of discrimination in its recruitment procedures.

Selection procedure

The selection will be organised as following:

1. The selection committee will select the applications which comply with the eligibility criteria and then it will evaluate them against the selection criteria, establishing a shortlist. Supporting documents showing evidence of the information given in the application will be requested at a later stage. No documents will be sent back to candidates. If, at any stage in the procedure, it is established that information provided by a candidate is incorrect, this candidate will be disqualified.
2. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview. The interview will aim to assess the candidate suitability to perform the duties, his/her legal knowledge and background as well as his/her motivation. The interview will be marked out of 100; pass mark: 70). The selection committee will hold interviews in English and/or French.
3. Following the interview, the selection committee will place on the reserve list candidates who obtained a total mark of 70 or more. The Agency's appointing authority may then proceed to recruit the most suitable candidate. Inclusion of candidates on the reserve list does not guarantee recruitment.

Please note that the Selection Committee's works and deliberations are strictly confidential and that any contact with its members is strictly forbidden.

The reserve list will be valid until 31/12/2015 (the Executive Agency appointing authority can decide to extend the validity of the list).

Appointment and conditions of employment

The Agency's appointing authority will appoint the successful candidate  as a Contract Staff member pursuant to Article 3(a) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities, offering him/her a contract for a determined duration of 2 years. This contract may be renewed for another year. Any subsequent renewal will be for an indefinite period.

The successful candidate will be recruited as a Contract Agent, Function Group IV. The basic recruitment grade for Function Group IV contract agents is grade 13. The actual recruitment grade will depend on the candidate's professional experience. The basic monthly salary for FG IV (grade 13 step 1) is 3.145,45€. In addition to the basic salary, staff members may be entitled to various allowances, in particular household allowance, expatriation allowance (16% of the basic salary), dependent child allowance and education allowance. The salary is subject to a Community tax deducted at source and staff members are exempt of national taxation.

The place of employment will be Brussels, Belgium where the Agency has its seat.

For further information please consult:
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/personnel_administration/publications_en.htm

Application procedure

Applications, consisting of an updated CV and a motivation letter shall be submitted exclusively in English or French to the following email address EACEA-SPONTANEOUS-APPLICATIONS@ec.europa.eu by and not later than 24 March 2014 at midday (GMT Brussels time).

Applicants are strongly advised not to wait until the last minute to submit their application since heavy internet traffic or other dysfunction could lead to difficulties in submission. The Agency shall not be held responsible for said difficulties and it will disregard applications submitted after the deadline or which are not complete.

Given the high number of individuals expected to express their interest, only candidates shortlisted to sit the interview will be contacted by the Agency.

Data protection

The Agency will ensure that candidates' personal data are processed as required by Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data . This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.