The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union rely too heavily on temporary staff and need to step up their efforts to meet the need for an increasingly diversified workforce, according to a new audit report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA).
Despite a flexible employment framework and recent improvements, the European civil service still struggles to attract staff for certain specific profiles. An ageing workforce, geographical imbalances, and a performance framework that is too rigid are other issues.
There are over 50.000 people working for the EU on different types of contracts: permanent officials, temporary staff, and contract staff. The European Commission is the largest institutional employer with around 30.000 staff, followed by the Parliament and the Council (around 7.000 and 3.000 staff, respectively).
“Our recommendations are meant to help the EU institutions to manage their workforce better, become more attractive employers, and improve their staff’s career prospects,” said Jorg Kristijan Petrovič, the Slovenian ECA Member responsible for the audit.
Over the years, the number of tasks performed by the EU institutions has increased, but the number of posts has not. The EU institutions have dealt with emerging priorities by reallocating staff where they are most needed and by diversifying recruitment channels. As a result, they are increasingly reliant on staff on fixed-term contracts despite the risk of disruptions to service when such contracts expire.
In 2019, staff on fixed-term contract represented 28% of the workforce. This increased to 30% in 2021 and 34% in 2023. A minority of these staff can obtain an open-ended contract, depending on the characteristics of their job and their function group. Temporary staff is also used to fill permanent posts.
In some of the Commission’s policy Directorates – General, such as DG COMP (competition), DG ECFIN (economic and financial affairs), DG HOME and DG JUST (justice and consumers), temporary staff represent more than 15 % of the staff occupying permanent posts, with the highest share being in DG COMP (20 % of the occupied permanent posts in 2023).
A special category of temporary staff is seconded national experts from the Member States and they are relatively common (ca 10 %) in sensitive areas in Directorates-General ((DG HOME, DG FISMA and DG TAXUD). While providing technical knowledge at short notices and fostering cooperation with member states, they can also put business continuity at risk.
An explanation for the overreliance on temporary staff is the lengthy time of open competitions for permanent posts. In a previous audit in 2020 of the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), ECA assessed the effectiveness of the recruitment procedures. However, the aim of reducing the duration of the competitions from 15 months to 6 months has not yet been achieved.
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The EU allows staff to continue to work after the standard retirement age of 66. With the agreement of their management, and if it is in the interest of the service, staff can work until 67, and exceptionally until 70. The institutions do not publish any statistics about how many applications are approved but they are believed to be few.
Written exam in competition for posts at the EU, credit: EPSO
Imbalances by nationality
EU institutions are expected to recruit staff on the broadest possible geographical basis among the EU Member States, but they cannot reserve posts for any specific nationality. In a 2018 report, the Commission indicated that there were geographical imbalances in the EU civil service and that has not been rectified since then.
The report highlights that Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, and Sweden are significantly underrepresented in terms of their share of the EU population. The most represented country is Belgium, with a representation above the guiding rate by 550 %.
As regards new recruits in the starting administrator grades the most significant imbalances are observed for Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland and the Czech Republic. The situation in the highest grades is particularly imbalanced for nationals of those Member States that have joined the EU since 2004.
According to the report, the EU institutions offer working conditions that are in line with the expectations of a modern expatriate workforce, and salaries remain on a par with those offered by other international organisations. Entrance gross salaries vary widely, for contract staff (€2,400 - €4,100) and temporary staff and officials (€3,000 – €5,700]. Allowances can be added to these salaries.
Are there any major differences in workforce management by institution?
“Each institution is different because they don’t have the same size and don’t have the same mandate,” the audit team told The Brussels Times. “However, we found that faced with the same structural challenges the institutions reacted in broadly similar ways. The increase in temporary staff was something observed in all institutions.”
The auditors issued three similar recommendations to the three institutions. They should put in place a risk-based policy for the employment of temporary staff, design targeted job attractiveness action plans and further develop career and performance frameworks. In its reply, the Commission agreed in full to all recommendations and so did also the Parliament and the Council.
Will the new Commission, with new tasks and reorganisation of Directorates-General, have to recruit new staff and/or move staff between DGs?
“It remains to be seen what the new Commission will look like and how services are organised. A reorganisation of services is likely to be an opportunity to reassess staffing needs and move posts and staff according to priorities.”
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
