§ Sir Thomas ArnoldTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made towards increasing the number of Britons employed by the EC; and if he will make a statement on the European fast-stream project.
§ Mr. Robert JacksonI have been asked to reply.
Following representations from the British Government, the Commission has now started to hold regular recruitment competitions for graduates from all academic disciplines—"generalist" competitions. When the first of these competitions was introduced last year there was an enthusiastic response from United Kingdom candidates. In time we hope that a much greater number of Britons will be able to gain employment in the European Community via this route.
Meanwhile, the European staffing unit in my Department is tackling the problem of British under-representation in other ways. A main task has been to set up and run the "European fast-stream" scheme. Up to 30 administrators, economists and lawyers are recruited to the British civil service each year and helped to prepare for the European Community competitions through a combination of relevant postings and training. Currently, there are 59 European fast-streamers in post, and we plan to build up to a maximum of 120 by the end of 1994. Although the scheme is still in its infancy, the initial results have been encouraging: over 50 per cent. of those who took last year's generalist competition have been invited to the final interview stage.