Traineeship scheme of the European Commission
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The official traineeship scheme of the European Commission is a traineeship programme providing official in-service training with the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
. Aimed at young
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
graduates, it has been running since 1960 and is the biggest traineeship programme in the world. Traineeships, which start in October or March and last five months, are carried out in a
Directorate-General Within the European Union, Directorates-General are departments with specific zones of responsibility, the equivalent of ministries at a national level. Most are headed by a European Commissioner, responsible for the general direction of the Dir ...
or a service of the Commission, in a Commissioner's
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, or in some of
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
's executive bodies and agencies. The programme is managed by a dedicated Traineeships Office within DG EAC, with an annual budget of €7 million, that runs a selection procedure to recruit approximately 600 trainees (also called ''Blue book stagiaires'') for each traineeship period.


Selection procedure

''Administrative traineeships'' (i.e. all traineeships except those with Directorate-General for Translation) consist of the following steps: * Application (deadline at end of January/August) * Eligibility (decision made before end of April/October) * Preselection (decision made in June/November) * Selection (decision made in July/January) * Traineeship (start in October/March) Applicants who advance into the ''Selection'' phase are listed in a database called the ''(Virtual) Blue Book'' from which European Commission officers entitled to having a trainee are free to choose their candidates. On contacting them, the details of the traineeship are agreed upon. Approximately 2,500 candidates get into the ''Blue Book'' for every traineeship period, of whom around 650 are recruited as trainees. As an exception, Directorate-General for Translation applies its own eligibility criteria to what are called ''translation traineeships'', and there is no preselection. The rest of the procedure, however, is the same as for administrative traineeship.


Working conditions

Each trainee is assigned to an adviser who acts as a mentor. Trainees work
full-time Full-time or Full Time may refer to: * Full-time job, employment in which a person works a minimum number of hours defined as such by their employer * Full-time mother, a woman whose work is running or managing her family's home * Full-time fat ...
, according to same rules as
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(although unlike them, they are considered "external staff") and are paid a monthly living allowance equal to 25% of the basic remuneration for an official at grade AD 5/1. Their travel costs to the place of appointment and back home are reimbursed during the last month of the traineeship. It is up to the trainee to find accommodation near the place of appointment. Most trainees are based in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, a large group is situated in
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
, and a few work in
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(
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, DG ECFIN),
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(
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), as well as in European Union representations in
member states A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation. Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign states ...
and delegations abroad.


Statistics

Starting with 3 trainees in 1960, by 1983 their number had reached 500, and in 2010 about 1,200 trainees were recruited (the two traineeship periods counted together). During the first 50 years of its history (1960–2010), more than 40,000 trainees have participated in the programme. The highest number of trainees has come from
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
(almost 4,500), the lowest number from
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
(around 50). Almost 3,500 trainees came from non-EU countries. Approximately 70% of trainees are
female Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gamet ...
. The average trainee (in 2009) was 26 years old, spoke four
language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
s and had two
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...
s. The October 2011 traineeship has seen a total of 10,424 applicants, out of which 9,349 were nationals of
EU member states The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. From them, 652 were recruited as trainees. Most trainees come from
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
(73), and 44 recruits are non-EU citizens. Compared to this, two years later, in October 2013, the number of applicants had increased to a total of 14,028, with an average success rate of just under 5%. October 2015 has been the most competitive session yet, with 24,690 applicants. For the period between 2016 and 2020, 111,964 applications for trainee positions in the Administration sector were received. Of these, 6,486 were successful, a rate of 5.79%. For the Translation sector the success rate was 4.76% (515 out of 10,824 applications).


List of notable trainees

Many ex-trainees have gone on to become people of note, such as: *
Dacian Cioloş Dacian, Geto-Dacian, Daco-Getic or Daco-Getian () often refers to something of or relating to: * Dacia (disambiguation) * Dacians * Dacian language Dacian may also refer to: * Dacian archaeology * Dacian art * Dacia in art * Dacian culture * Da ...
, European Commissioner and former Prime-Minister of Romania *
King Felipe VI of Spain Felipe VI (;, * eu, Felipe VI.a, * ca, Felip VI, * gl, Filipe VI, . Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. He is the son of former King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía, and ...
*
Michael Froman Michael Braverman Goodman Froman (born August 20, 1962) is an American lawyer who served as the Office of the United States Trade Representative, U.S. Trade Representative from 2013 to 2017. He was Assistant to the President of the United States a ...
, U.S. presidential assistant and deputy national security adviser *
Prince Hassan Prince Hassan bin Talal ( ar, الحسن بن طلال, born 20 March 1947) is a member of the Jordanian royal family who was previously Crown Prince from 1965 to 1999, being removed just three weeks before Hussein of Jordan, King Hussein's death ...
of Jordan *
Silvana Koch-Mehrin Esther Silvana Koch-Mehrin (born 17 November 1970, in Wuppertal) is a former German politician of the Free Democratic Party of Germany who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2014. Early career In 1998, Koch-Mehrin founded ...
, former German Member of the European Parliament *
Lousewies van der Laan Louse Wies Sija Anne Lilly Berthe "Lousewies" van der Laan (born 18 February 1966) is a retired Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) party and jurist. Life before politics In her youth, Van der Laan lived in Belgium, Germany, and the Uni ...
, former Dutch Member of the European Parliament *
Prince Laurent of Belgium nl, Laurens Benedikt Boudewijn Maria ger, Laurentius Benedikt Balduin Maria , image = Prince Laurent of Belgium (2015 F).jpg , caption = Prince Laurent in 2015 , birth_date = , birth_place = Belvédère Castle, Laeken, Brussel ...
*
Manuel Marín Manuel Marín González (21 October 1949 – 4 December 2017) was a politics of Spain, Spanish politician, former President of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, Congress of Deputies of Spain. He was a long-time member of the European Commission ...
, former European Commissioner *
King Mohammed VI Mohammed VI ( ar, محمد السادس; born 21 August 1963) is the King of Morocco. He belongs to the 'Alawi dynasty and acceded to the throne on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hassan II. Upon ascending to the throne, Moha ...
of Morocco *
Mario Monti Mario Monti, (born 19 March 1943) is an Italian economist and academic who served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a technocratic government in the wake of the Italian debt crisis. Monti served as a European Commiss ...
, former European Commissioner, Prime Minister of Italy *
Christine Ockrent Christine Ockrent (born 24 April 1944) is a Belgian journalist whose career has principally centered on French television. She interviewed Amir Abbas Hoveyda, the former Iranian prime minister, in Evin prison after the Islamic revolution in 197 ...
, Belgian journalist and TV presenter * Odile Quintin, former Director General of European Commission's Directorate-General for Education and Culture *
Viviane Reding Viviane Adélaïde Reding (born 27 April 1951) is a Luxembourgish politician and a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Luxembourg. She is a member of the Christian Social People's Party, part of the European People's Party. She p ...
, European Commissioner *
Beppe Severgnini Giuseppe "Beppe" Severgnini (; born 26 December 1956) is an Italian journalist, essayist and columnist. Biography Born in Crema, Severgnini graduated in law at the University of Pavia. His father was a public notary. His career in journal ...
, Italian columnist * Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna, Spanish politician


References


External links


Traineeships Office Home Page
{{in lang, de, en, fr
Rules governing the official traineeships scheme of the European Commission

Stage Committee
(official website)
Traineeships in the EC
(unofficial discussion forum for candidates)
Traineeship at the European Commission
(unofficial blog and discussion forum) Civil Service of the European Union
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
Organisations associated with the European Commission