People who have completed their training in EU affairs can turn to the Union’s institutions or apply to a number of bodies and companies that gravitate around these institutions. Whether it is in Brussels, Strasbourg, Luxembourg or elsewhere and outside Europe, there are a lot of employers who are interested in applicants who have begun to learn about EU affairs.

The number of jobs within the ‘European world’, outside institutions, is estimated at around 50,000. Outside this microcosm, other interested parties are international NGOs with EU relations sections, international or multinational companies with European interest or governments of third countries needing staff trained in European affairs to carry out bilateral political or economic negotiations.

Europoliticshas looked at these global opportunities and tried to put together a list by distinguishing between jobs from the public sector and those from the private sector.

PUBLIC SECTOR

There are around 45,000 civil servants within the EU institutions. More specifically, according to figures from the general budget for 2010 (see table), there are estimated to be 37,805 permanent officials and 2,215 temporary agents. The latter, who are employed for a set period, are selected after applying and after a holiday notification is filed with the permanent representations or EPSO (the European Personnel Selection Office). This statute should not therefore be confused with the contractual agent selected via a concours (see article on EPSO) and numbers for which are not envisaged in the annual budget.

There are 5,090 temporary jobs and 698 permanent posts for the bodies created by the Communities and given a legal personality set out in the 2010 budget.

However, it is worth knowing that there are other ways to join the institutions. One example is that of the national detached experts. These are national officials sent to the EU institutions by their central administration. They are meant to provide specific expertise for a period ranging from six months to four years. They continue to be paid by their employer. However, extra costs incurred from living and working abroad are covered by the Commission.

In addition, while training in EU affairs is one way that can lead to these kinds of posts, it is not the only one as the EU is also looking for specialists and experts in various areas. Engineers or researchers therefore have a chance of being recruited, under various statutes, by the Commission, which is interested in staff specialised in sciences and research. People with competences in the area of information technologies, economics, political sciences, audit and law are also sought after.

The role of MEP assistant in the European Parliament is generally carried out by people who have followed a course in EU affairs. Parliamentary assistants now belong to one of the different categories of staff from the EU institutions as they have recently begun to benefit from a real statute (regulation adopted by the Council on 23 February 2009). Benefiting from a European law contract with the Parliament, the costs that assistants entail (wage, social insurance contributions, etc) are not, however, covered by the EU’s budget but taken from a ‘parliamentary assistance expenditure’ budget given to each MEP.

Finally, a number of people trained in EU affairs are also to be found in national embassies to the European Union, in various representations of the regions and local authorities based in Brussels, in national administrations, in particular in key ministries, such as foreign affairs, agriculture, transport, etc, and, to a lesser extent, in the ‘European affairs’ departments of regional administrations.

PRIVATE SECTOR

Identifying the private sector jobs is an extremely delicate task since a multitude of activities gravitate around the EU institutions.

While the professions of lawyer or specialised legal expert in European affairs are self-explanatory, that is not the case for public affairs consultancy companies and lobbying activities at the EU institutions, two tasks generally taken on by the same organisation. Bringing together experts from very different educational backgrounds, specialists in Community decision making mechanisms, with inside knowledge in different European policies and introduced into different institutions, the employees of these companies generally act both as advisors for their clients, lobbyists for their clients and as an interface between their clients and the officials and other EU employees.

According to the Stubb report from the European Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional Affairs, there are said to be nearly 15,000 of them livening up European institutional life alongside the 1,960 interest representatives that are already in the register of lobbyists opened by the European Commission (and being revised). While groups defending the interests of big socio-professional categories in the farming, banking, insurance and other sectors appeared during the 1960s and remain big interest groups in Brussels, smaller pressure groups of private interests have been organising themselves in the last few years. There are a number of organisations or associations, such as NGOs, which defend public order interests, humanitarian causes, protection of the environment, human rights or consumers’ interests.

An integral part of the Brussels microcosm, European journalism should also be mentioned. This is a specialisation that is regarded as being difficult because the area of EU affairs is so complex and technical. Thus, while it is not compulsory to follow a course in the subject to find this type of work, experience in EU circles is a non-negligible advantage and may even be necessary.

In general, a journalist either carries out a role as a correspondent for national media or for specialised media in the area of EU affairs. In this context, journalists generally specialise in one, two or three areas of EU policies.

Some observers say that Brussels rivals Washington DC in terms of the number of journalists it has. Although there are around 1,200 journalists currently covering EU activities, this number is constantly falling due to the financial crisis of the press, probably exacerbated by the economic crisis, and, to a lesser extent, by a low level of interest in the European ‘thing’ as perceived or presumed in member states.

A separate category, research also attracts certain people who have followed courses in EU affairs and more specifically those leading to certificates. Holders of master’s certificates, these people have a PhD training too. Mostly attached to academic EU studies institutes, they carry out their professorship activity in parallel. Separately, research in think tanks – laboratories of private ideas – aims to formulate EU policy proposals.

There are around 45,000 civil servants within the EU institutions