Civil service in the European Union

Ø 1) Read the text and draw the structure of the European civil service.

The European Civil Service is the civil service working in the institutions of the European Union. Most notably it serves the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union. It is the permanent bureaucracy that implements the decisions of the European Union’s government. These civil servants are known as “European Mandarins” (usually referring to high ranking members) or as “Eurocrats.”

Civil servants serve in the European Commission which is headed by a Secretary General. The Commission is divided into departments, known as Directorates-General (DGs), and various other services. Each DG is headed by a director-general. DGs cover a specific policy area or service such as External Relations or Taxation. They prepare proposals for their Commissioners which can then be put forward for voting in the college of Commissioners.

The Directorates-General are divided into four groups: Policy DGs (e.g. Environment), External relations DGs (e.g. Humanitarian Aid), General Service DGs (e.g. Eurostat) and Internal Service DGs (e.g. Translation).

Policy makers are divided into a set of grades: from AD 5, the most junior administrator grade, to AD 16, which is a director-general (AD = administrator). According to the Commission’s own internal statistics, it would take a person with eight years of experience over 40 years to climb from AD 5 to AD 16.

Below the AD category is AST (assistant) which includes secretarial employees, drivers, messengers, and others. It is possible for civil servants to be promoted from AST to AD grade.

The Commission employs officials and external staff - contractual agents, detached national experts, young experts, etc. There are servants from all member states with the largest group being Belgian (21.4%, no other nationality exceeds 10%).

EU civil servants work 37.5 hours a week, though they are theoretically available 24/7. They receive a minimum of 24 days of leave a year (maximum of 30), with additional leave on grounds of age, grade and distance from home country. The lowest grades receive between €2, 325.33 and €2, 630.96 each month, while the highest grade receives between €14, 822.86 and €16, 094.79 a month. This salary is taxed by the EU, rather than at the national level. Taxation varies between 8% and 45% depending on individual circumstances. This is paid into the Community budget.

Earnings are augmented by allowances, such as allowances for those living outside their own country, those who are the principal earner in their household, those who have children and are educating them, and those who are moving home.

There are other benefits, such as the pension scheme. Employees contribute about 8.25% of their basic salary, and the maximum retirement pension is 70% of their final basic salary for 35 years’ service. For a contribution of 2% basic salary, employees are provided with health insurance which covers a maximum of 85% of expenses (100% for serious injury).

Civil servants are recruited by competitions set by the official selection office. One of the entry qualifications for the civil service is that the candidate speaks at least two European languages, one of which must be English, French, or German. Prior to first promotion, officials must demonstrate competence in a third EU official language.

Ø 2) Answer the questions on the text:

a) What are “European Mandarins” or “Eurocrats”?

b) What do “European Mandarins” do?

c) What are the requirements for entering the European civil service?

d) Can European civil servants get promotion?

e) The career in the European Civil Service is profitable, isn’t it?

f) Which nationality is overrepresented in the European Civil Service?

g) What are the working conditions for European civil servants?

Ø 3) Note down useful words and phrases to talk about the profession of a civil servant in general.