The Government is alarmed by the decision of the Parliament to postpone until the autumn the discussion of the legislative package submitted by the Council of Ministers, which will change the recruitment process for admission positions to the Public Sector and at the same time abolish the written government exams.
The Ministry of Finance has already officially announced that the government exams, which are usually held between October and November, will not be held for this year. The competent ministry is burning to approve the new legislative framework, as it believes that it will modernize the recruitment procedures, which are currently time-consuming, complicated and inefficient. As we were told, in some cases it may take two - and more - years to fill a position in the state machine.
Also, according to information from "F", some parties have told the Ministry of Finance that they are... It is difficult to approve the bills before the closing of the Parliament on July 15 for the summer holidays, as they will turn recruitment upside down and parties and unions disagree.
It is worth noting that the bills were submitted on April 16, a week before the self-dissolution of Parliament. Yesterday, the members of the parliamentary Finance Committee, in a closed meeting, decided not to bring the package of bills to the Plenary in July.
This in practice puts the Government's feet in one shoe, as it may be forced to proceed with the conduct of the written exams with the existing system in the fall. It is noted that, with the announcement of the abolition of the exams, the Ministry of Finance had stated that in case the bills are not approved, it will consider alternative arrangements.
According to the law, in September the Government will have to announce written exams for the positions to be filled in 2027. At the same time, the Council of Ministers will approve the lists of positions that will be opened, while the Ministry of Finance, four months before the end of the year, will have to submit them to Parliament for approval without changes, so that the recruitment procedures can be launched.
Therefore, after the decision of the Parliament not to proceed with the discussion and approval of the new bills, the recruitment next year will have to be implemented under the existing regime. A competent parliamentary source noted that, in the event that the competent ministry does not submit the lists within the timetables, this will entail a violation of the law. Party officials, speaking to "F", said that a detailed study of the bills is required, as the recruitment system is radically changing. For its part, the Government argues that there is time to intensively discuss the bills and make decisions during the summer, not necessarily until July 15...
Voices about a distorted system
However, the refusal so far of some parties to bring the government's proposals to the Plenary in July does not satisfy the executive power, which wants to get rid of the current distorted recruitment system as soon as possible. It should be noted that, with the current procedure, many ministries are understaffed, as civil servants sit written exams for higher salary scales in other ministries.
A government source, speaking to "F", expressed her dissatisfaction with the decision of the Finance Committee, stressing that the process is time-consuming and inefficient. As he said, the written exams are general for all candidates and do not specifically meet the needs of each department. As he said, it is inconceivable for a ministry to want, for example, economists or doctors or civil engineers and ultimately be forced to hire lawyers or environmentalists, simply because they passed the government exams.
At the same time, he noted that, with the existing system, the exams are valid for one year, while it takes up to two years until new positions are opened, with the result that candidates who passed the exams (with effort and financial cost) lose their turn and are forced to sit for exams again! With the new legislative framework, he said, ministries will have to declare their needs between January and February, while each ministry will conduct its own exams on specialized issues related to its positions and needs.
How will the recruitments take place if the Parliament consents?
In detail, the bills provide for the following:
-The general written examinations for filling admission positions will be held after the announcement of the vacancies and not beforehand, so that the process is targeted and aligned with the needs of the services.
-The issues examined will concern the positions that will be filled and the citizens will know if there are vacancies for which they hold the qualifications, in order to decide whether to sit the exams, for which preparation and payment of a fee are required.
-Vacancies will be published during the first two months of the year.
-The lists of positions for the conduct of a written or special written examination will not be submitted to the Parliament.
-The positions for which a special written examination by the relevant Advisory Committee is justified, for documented reasons related to peculiarities and difficulties in filling them, will be determined by a Decree of the Council of Ministers, which will be issued within December of the year preceding the announcement of the vacancies.
-The Special Committee that is currently responsible for conducting the general written examination is abolished.
-The EDY, after compiling a list of candidates for each filling process, which includes the successful candidates in the written examination who possess the required qualifications, will invite candidates who claim more than one position to declare a order of preference, with deletion from the other lists in case of appointment to the first selection.
-The scoring points for the evaluation of the relevant supervisor are increased from 0-5 to 0-15 during the oral examination before the EDY.
-The competent authorities will submit their proposals to the National Public Service for filling positions within two months of their creation or vacuum, while the publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic will take place during the first two months of each year.
-The general written examination for positions for admission to the public service will not be held in 2026, so that from 2027 onwards the new system will be applied.
-In 2026, the lists of positions will not be submitted to the Parliament for approval, on the basis of which the examination is being conducted.
