Admission in European institutions - 2009

Training sessions for the preparation of admission exams in European institutions - 2009

The partnership of the European Institute of Romania with the Centre for European Studies in Strasbourg (CEES) began in the year 2005. So far, through this collaboration ten sessions of preparation for the admission exams in European institutions were organized. All trainings were sustained in French. The success of the entire program was confirmed by previous sessions, three of them taking place in 2009. These seminaries are part of the Training plan of European public servants proposed and financed by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).

Beneficiaries

The three programs organized in 2009 were dedicated, first of all, to public servants and secondly to students interested in a serious preparation for acquiring a future position in European institutions. The total number of participants in the three sessions was 79.

Among the participants at the three seminaries there were representatives of central administration such as: the Ministry of Administration and Interior, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; representatives of the local administration such as: City hall of Bucharest, City hall of Măgura village for the Bacău County; judicial institutions such as: Bucharest County Court; but also representatives of the academic world: the National School of Political and Administrative Studies in Bucharest, University of Bucharest - Faculty of Political Science, the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies. From the point of view of the position occupied by participants in their organizations, most of them were: counselors, judicial counselors and experts.

Objectives

This program was organized with the purpose of enhancing the chances of French-speaking Romanian candidates for open positions in European institutions, especially those for which Romanian citizenship was/is a selection criterion. The training sessions organized by the EIR in collaboration with the CEES offers participants the main instruments in order to become familiar with the different contests and know the most important phases in the European recruitment process.

Timetable

The training sessions for the preparation of admission exams in European institutions were organized at the EIR headquarters as follows: the first session was in May 4th-6th, the second session took place between June 9th-11th, while the third session was in November 2nd-4th.

Details about the content of the program

The training sessions were made up by different modules during which the main sections of the exams for employment in the European institutions were presented. The modules of the training sessions were:

-   contest rules and procedures

-   review of notions about the European Union for the multiple questions test on the EU, its institutions and policies

-   training on the multiple questions test on the EU

-   presentation of the multiple questions test on verbal and numeral reasoning

-   training on the multiple questions test on verbal and numeral reasoning

-  presentation of the written text

-  presentation of the oral examination

The trainers for the three sessions were Julie Leprêtre and Eric Germain, CEES trainers with experience at European level in the preparation of exams of admission in European institutions. All training sessions were characterized by a balance between lectures and exercises. The lectures of the trainers about the essential elements of the exams and the advice offered to participants were combined with training sessions for the different tests – the multiple questions on the EU, verbal and numerical reasoning, but also the interviews.

Feedback of participants

The assessment of the training program by the participants was conducted through the administration of an opinion poll by filling in anonymously a form containing questions in which marks were awarded pertaining to the general level of the program, as well as that of the different modules, but also containing open questions about the most useful or redundant knowledge accumulated during the four days of training. Also there were open spaces for further comments and suggestions.

The success of the training sessions for the preparation of admission exams in European institutions is confirmed by the general evaluation of the program evaluated as excellent and very good in 90% percentages. The beneficiaries of these sessions have appreciated especially the usefulness of this preparation, as well as the entire organization effort.

Organizers       

he training sessions for the preparation of admission exams in European institutions have been organized by the European Institute of Romania in partnership with the Centre for European Studies in Strasbourg (CEES) – National School of Administration in Paris and with the support of Embassy of France in Bucharest. The program was financed by the International Organization of La Francophonie. The sessions took place at EIR’s headquarters in Bucharest, 7-9 Regina Elisabeta bldv in the conference hall at 4-th floor.

The project coordinator was Laurenţia Mariana Mereuţă, laurentia.mereuta @ier.ro