Government to Dončić: Admission to the civil service based on test results, not party affiliation

At no stage of the recruitment process for the civil service is party affiliation determined, and the ranking list of candidates is established solely based on their competencies, i.e., the results achieved in testing and interviews, the Government responded to the parliamentary question of SDP’s Siniša Hajdaš Dončić regarding whether the HDZ central office or the county party organizations on the ground decide who will be employed in the civil service.

The SDP representative raised this question at the last “current affairs” session of the Croatian Parliament, and dissatisfied with the verbal response from Prime Minister and HDZ President Andrej Plenković, he requested a written response from Banski dvori.

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In the response to Dončić, sent from the Government session on Thursday, it states that the verification of knowledge, abilities, and skills of candidates essential for performing the job duties, as well as results from previous work, is mandatory through testing and interviews conducted by a commission with the candidates.

Testing is conducted in two phases, and a candidate who does not meet the requirements in the first phase cannot proceed further in the process, and ten candidates who achieved the best results are invited to the interview.

After the interview is conducted, the Government states in its response, the commission establishes the ranking list of candidates based on the total number of points achieved in testing and interviews and submits a report on the conducted procedure to the head of the body.

Party affiliation of candidates is not determined

– Therefore, at no stage of the recruitment process is the party affiliation of candidates determined, while the ranking list is established solely based on their competencies, i.e., the results achieved in testing and interviews. The head of the body makes the decision on admission to the civil service exclusively based on the results thus established, states the response from Banski dvori.

In addition, all candidates who applied for the public competition have the right to access the documentation related to the public competition (documentation on meeting the formal requirements of all candidates, tests, interview minutes, ranking list of candidates), except for the results of psychological assessments related to other candidates.

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The Government reminds that for the past year, the employment of a total of 2026 civil servants on indefinite contracts was planned, of which 1300 civil servants with work experience and 726 trainees, which also includes positions in the system of control and use of European structural and investment funds (ESI).

Since 2009, there has been a continuous ban on the new employment of civil servants and employees in state administration bodies and professional services and offices of the Government, significantly reducing the influx of new civil servants compared to the number who have left (the 2-for-1 clause, i.e., the possibility of hiring one civil servant when two leave the civil service), adds the Government.

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Therefore, it is stated that for more efficient withdrawal of funds from EU funds, amendments to the Law on Civil Servants have prescribed a faster and simpler procedure for hiring civil servants for the management and control of the use of ESI funds.

The bodies to which the decision applies are tasked with employing 676 civil servants exclusively for jobs within the structure of ESI funds, with 85 percent of the funds for the salaries of these civil servants being provided from European Union resources.