In 2004, the Council adopted a temporary rule that made it possible to give preference to candidates for the new member states in recruiting for EU posts, for a transitional period that ended on 31 December 2010. Staffing
The European Commission, in turn, set itself a target of recruiting around 3,500 officials from the new member states, representing close to 16% of the pre-enlargement staff. It reached that target two years ahead of schedule, in the autumn of 2008, and by the end of the transition period had filled just over 4,000 posts with candidates from the new member states. It should be noted, however, that a frequent complaint from officials from the 2004 countries is that they face worse employment conditions than staff hired before 2004.
The target for the deputy director-general/director-general level – ten recruitments – was likewise exceeded, with 13 posts filled by 2010.
The post-2004 recruitment also had a major impact on gender balance in the Commission. According to Commission figures, a full 67% of all recruits from the ten new member states during the 2004-10 transition period were women, pushing the share of female Commission staff for the first time above the parity threshold, from 46.6% on 1 April 2004 to 52.1% on 31 December 2010.
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However, disparities persist. Despite the targets being met, today – ten years after the ‘big bang’ enlargement – just three of the Commission’s 37 officials at AD16 level – the Commission’s highest, reserved for directors-general and similar functions – hail from one of the ten countries that joined in 2004. One Czech, one Hungarian and one Pole stand against four Spaniards and five Italians at this level. Even Portugal has two officials in the AD16 grade; tiny Luxembourg has one.
The picture is complicated, however, suggests the EU ambassador of one of the 2004 joiners. Given the demographic make-up of the EU’s post-enlargement civil service, there might be an overrepresentation of new member states in 15-20 years’ time as young entrants from ten years ago work their way up the career ladder. At the same time, in about a decade, when many of the most senior EU10 officials retire, the new member states will face the prospect of having to fill those posts, and not having the qualified personnel to do so.
