Chilli monster, you said that so long as the grass is near civilisation, then it's OK. Well I've been to Maastricht twice (Scrummer: more on this later) and can assure you that Maastricht is about 2.5 hours away from the civilisation that is Amsterdam.
OK Scrummer, this is probably too late but hopefully this will get confined to the archives for future reference.
Eurocontrol invite most of their applicants to aptitude testing. Unlike NATS, where you pass/fail individual tests (and there are lots of those tests), with EC's tests, you score points. You must get 547 to pass, but to get invited to Phase 2 you must be in the top 12 (out of about 40-60 people) in that month. The lowest score therefore of all the people invited back has been 610.
If you are invited back, then you have another 3 nights at the Hotel Postiljon to look forward to. Indeed this place is the Back of Beyond and undoubtedly the antithesis to civilisation. A veritable black hole in the universe that is Airport Hotels (although a big hello to Kathryn who works behind the bar... we will go to Amsterdam clubbing next time I'm there).
Anyway, back to the selection... you are in a group of 4 people, and the first task on day 1 is a group discussion about an emergency flight planning situation. You have to land 3 aircraft and decide the priority based on the information you are given.
The second task is a flight planning exercise that you do individually. You must then present your flight plan to three assessors.
The third task is to discuss the flight plan with the other 3 people in your group, arriving at a group decision for the flight plan (there does not appear to be a time limit on this phase).
You are also required to do a psych profile thing. 100 groups of 4 statements, where you must say, for each group, which is most like you and which is least like you. There is no time limit here.
You also have to do a communication skills exercise, where you are given a drawing, and whilst with your back to your partner, must describe the drawing while he or she draws it from your instructions. Then you swap roles. This is quite good fun and provides for some light hearted relief from the seriousness of the occasion!
Also on day 1 you get a visit to the Ops Room. Pay attention! They ask you questions about it in the interview on the next day.
That's pretty much it for day 1. Day 2 is just medicals and interviews. You are divided into pairs, and whilst one pair does the medical in the morning, the other pair have interviews (and vice versa in the afternoon). And then that's it!
My selection finished on a Thursday, and I telephoned on Monday to ask if they wanted me to fax through my degree certificate (as I had not presented it originally because it hadn't been sent to me by the university). I was told then that I had been successful!
Best of luck to you matey... And medical and security clearance all being well, I hope to see you at IANS in Luxembourg! (Look for the guy in the clapped out old Volvo with the Judge Jules-esque shirts speaking very bad French and even worse Dutch: that's me).