After a top Dutch MEP resigned from his party last week, just how can people who work in or for the EU institutions lose their jobs?
It is often said that a job with the EU is a job for life or even that officials cannot be fired, because of the alleged cushy perks that come with the life of a eurocrat. This is of course not the fact of the matter.
Last week, Bas Eickhout, the co-chair of the European Greens resigned after breaking internal party rules on disclosing personal relationships. Not fired, but there was an element of ‘jump before you are pushed’.
Firing or forcing the resignation of a member of the European Parliament is a complex topic, as the rules differ slightly on which country the lawmaker in question is from and what political party they are a member of.
National rules dictate when a MEP must call time on their career. In some cases, this is when an MEP takes up a position in national government, in other cases it is when they have broken the law.
In the latter case, MEPs must go through the process of having their parliamentary immunity revoked, an often laborious and time-intensive procedure.
European Commissioners can resign or be compulsorily retired, another way to get them out of office is if they die of course.
A number of Commissioners have resigned in the past: Ireland’s Phil Hogan became embroiled in a Covid quarantine scandal, France’s Thierry Breton had a very public falling out with Ursula von der Leyen and Bulgaria’s Mariya Gabriel was offered a job back home.
If serious breaches of codes of conduct and other principles are proven though, the European Court of Justice can be asked to step in and issue an order to leave office, if the offending official does not heed calls to resign of their own volition.
Ex-Commissioners need to behave themselves as well.
Media reports recently suggested that the UK’s Peter Mandelson, who had links to disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, could be stripped of his EU pension if found guilty of any wrongdoing during his time as trade boss.
The European Parliament vets Commissioners before they are appointed and votes on the entire Commission once all the candidates are in place, they cannot reject individuals. It is the same for getting rid of Commissioners, it’s either all of them or none of them.
For the high-representative though, who deals with foreign policy, it is a different case. The European Council can vote to remove the holder of that office as it is the Council that appoints them.
In the late 1990s, the only example so far of a Commission being forced to walk occurred when a corruption scandal brought down the Santer Commission.
After investigations found evidence of wrongdoing, the Parliament made it clear that if Jacques Santer’s administration did not resign en masse, MEPs would vote them out. Santer’s team chose the slightly more dignified former option.
Lower ranking officials, like directors-general and advisors, can be removed more easily. Henrik Hololei, the former head of the transport department and an advisor in the international partnerships division, was sacked this year.
A probe launched in March 2025 into conflicts of interest, transparency, gift acceptance and document disclosure resulted in the Estonian official being relieved of his duties in January.
When it comes to the rank and file EU official, the ‘eurocrat’ as tabloid newspapers say, there are rules and procedures in place for dismissing recruits, as there are in any public institution.
There are, however, indications that officials are let off more lightly than they would be in private sector jobs.
Recent reports show that nearly 100 investigations into alleged offences, ranging from leaking sensitive documents and corruption to sexual harassment and social media abuse, resulted in a slap on the wrist or reprimand rather than dismissal.
