Article 22b
1. An official who further discloses information as defined in Article 22a to the President of the Commission or of the Court of Auditors or of the Council or of the European Parliament, or to the European Ombudsman, shall not suffer any prejudicial effects on the part of the institution to which he belongs provided that both of the following conditions are met: (a) the official honestly and reasonably believes that the information disclosed, and any allegation contained in it, are substantially true; and (b) the official has previously disclosed the same information to OLAF or to his own institution and has allowed OLAF or that institution the period of time set by the Office or the institution, given the complexity of the case, to take appropriate action. The official shall be duly informed of that period of time within 60 days. 2. The period referred to in paragraph 1 shall not apply where the official can demonstrate that it is unreasonable having regard to all the circumstances of the case. 3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to documents, deeds, reports, notes or information in any form whatsoever held for the purposes of, or created or disclosed to the official in the course of, proceedings in legal cases, whether pending or closed."; 26) in Article 23, the words "grade A 1 to A 4" are replaced by "grade AD 12 to AD 16"; 27) Articles 24 and 24a are amended as follows: (a) in Article 24 the third and fourth paragraphs become new Article 24a; (b) in new Article 24a, in the new first paragraph the word "It" is replaced by "The Communities"; 28) the existing Article 24a becomes Article 24b; 29) Article 25 is amended as follows: (a) the first paragraph is replaced by the following:"Officials may submit requests concerning issues covered by these Staff Regulations to the Appointing Authority of their institution."; (b) the third paragraph shall be replaced by the following:"Specific decisions regarding appointment, establishment, promotion, transfer, determination of administrative status and termination of service of an official shall be published in the institution to which the official belongs. The publication shall be accessible to all staff for an appropriate period of time."; 30) Article 26 is amended as follows: (a) in the third paragraph, the following is added after the word "letter": "to the last address communicated by the official."; (b) the fourth paragraph is replaced by the following:"An official's personal file shall contain no reference to his political, trade union, philosophical or religious activities and views, or to his racial or ethnic origin or sexual orientation. The preceding paragraph shall not however prohibit the insertion in the file of administrative acts and documents known to the official which are necessary for the application of these Staff Regulations."; (c) in the existing sixth paragraph the words "and to take copies of them" are inserted after "in his file"; (d) in the existing seventh paragraph, first sentence, the words "or on a secure electronic medium" are inserted after "administration"; (e) at the end of the existing seventh paragraph, the words "before the Court" are deleted; 31) the following Article is added to Title II: "Article 26a Officials shall have the right to acquaint themselves with their medical files, in accordance with arrangements to be laid down by the institutions."; 32) the second paragraph of Article 27 is deleted; 33) Article 29 is replaced by the following: "Article 29 1. Before filling a vacant post in an institution, the Appointing Authority shall first consider: (a) whether the post can be filled by: (i) transfer, or (ii) appointment in accordance with Article 45a, or (iii) promotion within the institution; (b) whether requests for transfer have been received from officials of the same grade in other institutions, and/or whether to hold a competition internal to the institution, which shall be open only to officials and temporary staff as defined in Article 2 of the Conditions of Employment of other servants of the European Communities; and then follow the procedure for competitions on the basis either of qualifications or of tests, or of both qualifications and tests. Annex III lays down the competition procedure. The procedure may likewise be followed for the purpose of constituting a reserve for future recruitment. 2. A procedure other than the competition procedure may be adopted by the Appointing Authority for the recruitment of senior officials (Directors-General or their equivalent in grade AD 16 or AD 15 and Directors or their equivalent in grade AD 15 or AD 14) and, in exceptional cases, also for recruitment to posts which require special qualifications. 3. The institutions may organise internal competitions for each function group on the basis of qualifications and tests for the institution concerned which shall be at grade AST 6-level or higher and at grade AD 9-level or higher. These competitions will be open only to members of the temporary staff of that institution engaged in accordance with Article 2(c) of the Conditions of Employment of other Servants of the European Communities. The institutions shall require as minimum qualifications for these competitions at least ten years of service as a temporary servant and having been recruited as a temporary servant on the basis of a selection procedure which ensured the application of the same standards as for the selection of officials in conformity with Article 12(4) of the Conditions of Employment of other servants. By derogation from paragraph (1)(a) of this Article, the Appointing Authority of the institution that engaged the temporary servant shall, before filling a vacant post in that institution, consider transfers of officials within the institution in parallel with successful candidates from these internal competitions. 4. Once every five years the European Parliament shall organise an internal competition on the basis of qualifications and tests for each function group which shall be at grade AST 6-level or higher and at grade AD 9-level or higher, in accordance with the conditions set out in the second subparagraph of paragraph 3."; 34) Article 31 is replaced by the following: "Article 31 1. Candidates selected shall be appointed to the grade of the function group set out in the notice of the competition they have passed. 2. Without prejudice to Article 29(2), officials shall be recruited only at grades AST 1 to AST 4 or AD 5 to AD 8. The grade of the competition notice shall be determined by the institution in accordance with the following criteria: (a) the objective of recruiting officials of the highest standard as defined in Article 27; (b) the quality of the professional experience required. To address specific needs of the institutions, labour market conditions prevailing in the Community may also be taken into account when recruiting officials. 3. Not withstanding paragraph (2), the institution may, where appropriate, authorise the organisation of a competition at grade AD 9, AD 10, AD 11 or, on an exceptional basis, at grade AD 12. The total number of candidates appointed to vacant posts at these grades shall not exceed 20 % of the total number of appointments to the function group AD made per year in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 30."; 35) in Article 32, the second paragraph is replaced by:"The Appointing Authority may allow additional seniority up to a maximum of 24 months to take account of his professional experience. General implementing provisions shall be adopted to give effect to this Article."; 36) the first subparagraph of Article 34(1) is replaced by the following:"Officials shall serve a nine-month probationary period before they can be established."; 37) in Article 35 the following point (f) is added: "(f) parental leave or family leave"; 38) Article 37 is amended as follows: (a) in the first paragraph, point (a) the second indent is replaced by the following: "- to assist temporarily a person holding an office provided for in the Treaties or the elected President of one of the institutions or organs of the Communities, or one of the political groups in the European Parliament or the Committee of the Regions, or a group in the European Economic and Social Committee."; (b) the following paragraph is added after the final paragraph:"Any official in active employment or on leave on personal grounds may apply for, or be offered, secondment in the interests of the service. Once the official is seconded, the leave on personal grounds shall be terminated."; 39) Article 39 is amended as follows: (a) in point (d), second subparagraph, the words "the invalidity or the survivor's pension" are replaced by "the invalidity allowance or survivor's pension"; (b) point (e) becomes point (f) and the words "category or service" are replaced by "function group"; (c) the following new point is inserted: "(e) during the period of secondment, the official shall retain his right to advancement to a higher step;"; 40) Article 40 is amended as follows: (a) Paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: "2. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 15, the duration of such leave shall not exceed one year. Leave may be extended for further periods. Extensions may be for periods not exceeding one year. The total length of leave on personal grounds may not exceed 15 years in the course of the official's entire career. If, however, an official applies for such leave in order to be able: (i) to bring up a child considered as a dependant of the official within the meaning of Article 2(2) of Annex VII and who suffers from a serious mental or physical handicap recognised by the medical officer of the institution and who requires constant care or supervision; or (ii) to follow his spouse, the latter also being an official or other servant of the Communities required in the course of his duties to establish his habitual residence at such a distance from the place of employment of the applicant official that the establishment of their conjugal home in such a place would inconvenience the applicant official in the performance of his duties, the leave may be extended without limits, provided that, at the time of each extension, the conditions which warranted the grant of the leave continue to be fulfilled."; (b) in paragraph 3, second subparagraph, the first sentence is replaced by the following:"However, an official who is not engaged in a gainful activity may, not later than one month following that in which the leave on personal grounds begins, apply to continue to be covered in accordance with those articles, provided that he bears half the cost of the contributions required to cover the risks referred to in Articles 72(1) and 73(1) for the first year of the leave on personal grounds and the full cost during the remainder of such leave. Cover in accordance with Article 73 shall be available only if cover has been obtained in accordance with Article 72. The contributions shall be calculated by reference to the official's last basic salary."; (c) in paragraph 4, point (d), where they occur, the words "category or service" are replaced by "function group" and the words "or placed on secondment" are inserted after "effectively reinstated"; 41) Article 41(3) is amended as follows: (a) in the second subparagraph, the words "category or service" are replaced by "function group"; (b) the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth subparagraphs are replaced by the following subparagraphs:"No correction coefficient shall be applicable to the allowance. However, the allowance and the total remuneration last received, as referred to in the fourth subparagraph of this Article, shall be subject to the weighting referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 3(5) of Annex XI, at the rate fixed for the Member State where the recipient proves he has his residence, provided that Member State was the recipient's last place of employment. In such cases, if the currency of the Member State is not the euro, this allowance is calculated on the basis of the exchange rates provided for in Article 63 of these Staff Regulations."; 42) a new Section and Articles are inserted in Chapter 2 of Title III as follows: "Section 6 Parental or family leave