Valstybės tarnautojų karjeros galimybės ES institucijose: Europolas

Abstract

After Lithuania became the EU Member State, employment at the EU institutions has become more possible. The employment of the Lithuanians at those institutions guarantees representation of Lithuania in the EU, which is extremely important seeking to assure the participation of all the Member States in the EU governance and the creation process of common policy. European Police Office (Europol) is the decentralized EU institution, which seeks to combat international organized crime. The main task of Europol is to render assistance to the institutions of the EU Member States, which investigate and control criminality in order to fight with international criminal structures. Europol is different from the other EU institutions, because it is a specialized agency, created by the EU Member States, and it separately organizes personnel selection. There is the Division of Personnel at Europol, which belongs to Corporate Governance Department and it follows the Staff Regulations (hereinafter referred to as Staff Regulations). Staff Regulations apply to all the employees, working in Europol on a contract basis, and thoroughly regulate all the work process at Europol ranging from the employment to retirement. Employment and career seeking at Europol is a long and complicated process. This paper greatly focuses on the civil servants, applying for the positions of statutory civil servants at Europol. Seeking for employment, statutory civil servants, namely police officers, firstly have to pass the selection at the national competent institution, which is subsequently followed by the selection procedure at Europol. Successful candidates are offered to sign the First contract for the term from one to four years. Upon the termination of the initial contract, Europol carries out a detailed assessment of an officer, after which he/she may be offered to sign the Second contract. Nevertheless, the term of the two contracts shall not exceed the period of six years. Upon the completion of the service at Europol, officer shall return to work to the national institution, from where he/she has been called from. In Lithuania the career of statutory civil servants is regulated by the Statute of the Internal Service and by the Law on Public Service, where career in international institutions and agencies, also in Europol, is poorly regulated and does not conform to the agreements concluded with the international institutions. This hinders employment opportunities and career seeking for the civil servants and impedes the representation of Lithuania at international institutions and agencies.