Lost in translation II

A case of communication break-down at the European Commission, which has been trying to recruit communications specialists to persuade citizens that the European Union is wonderful. A recruitment competition for administrative and assistant posts was announced in February in French, English and German and attracted more than 16,000 applicants, who then sat tests in June and July. The tests were to be sat in French, German or English – but applicants were not allowed to take the tests in their native tongue. Perhaps that was what confused EPSO, the European Personnel Selection Office, which has admitted to “an administrative oversight”. The notice of the competition should have been published in the Official Journal in the other 19 languages (ie, all the others except Irish), which was supposed to give citizens a chance to read about the competition in their own language. Having spotted the mistake, EPSO reopened the competition application with a minimum of fanfare last month. The deadline for new applications was yesterday (18 July). So if you haven't read it by now, you're too late.