EU’s selection agency faces fresh setback in recruiting Eurocrats

The EU’s main staff selection agency appears unable to run an online test without the platform malfunctioning, frustrating would-be Eurocrats and embarrassing Brussels.

The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), which finds candidates for EU institutions, is once again facing a wave of complaints over technical failures during online exams, exposing chronic IT flaws that Brussels has yet to address.

Last week, EPSO announced that a long-delayed general selection competition will finally take place at an unspecified date in “early 2026.” According to estimates, up to 50,000 people are waiting to take the exam, more than the total number of people working for the Commission.

On its website, the agency said the delay until early next year was “to allow for an efficient integration of the new test provider … and related IT tools.” The exam has been delayed since 2019.

EPSO introduced remote testing in 2021 as part of a digital overhaul accelerated by the COVID pandemic. Since then, however, the process has been marred by recurring glitches, prompting EPSO to cut ties with its previous IT provider, Prometric.

The agency is currently running its candidate tests on an interim platform, Test We, a third-party software provider that monitors remote-proctored tests.

Yet candidates told Euractiv that they experienced major technical difficulties last week while taking an exam to hire permanent staff. Some shared their complaints in a private Facebook group and on social media, while others filed official complaints through the Single Candidate Portal, an online platform where candidates manage their personal profiles.

In complaints on social media seen by Euractiv, would-be Eurocrats lost significant amounts of time dealing with technical problems such as frozen or crashed pages on TestWe. Some candidates attempted to contact the provider for assistance during the exam, but without success.

“Anyone had technical issues while saving or sending the exam? In my case, my last exam displayed as ‘not taken’ and now I cannot even access TestWe anymore,” one candidate posted on Facebook.

A spokesperson for the European Ombudsman – the independent body scrutinising maladministration by EU institutions – told Euractiv that no official complaint had yet been received regarding last week’s competition.

However, the spokesperson confirmed that there had been recent inquiries related to EPSO and remote testing, adding that “EPSO reacted constructively to our proposals.”

The EU watchdog closed an inquiry in 2024 into EPSO’s use of remote testing, recommending several fixes. Those included ensuring that technical requirements do not disadvantage candidates, that troubleshooting and complaint procedures are clearly communicated, and that EPSO reviews its internal complaint-handling guidelines, the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the European Parliament’s petitions committee, which enables citizens to submit petitions directly to the assembly, will vote today on a resolution on the “poor organisational management of EPSO competitions.”

The European Commission did not respond to Euractiv’s request for comment.

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