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Ireland’s EU jobs: Cliff-edge demographics
Strategy published to avoid Irish EU jobs cliff-edge
The Government has launched its strategy to increase the number of Irish graduates being hired for EU jobs as a number of impending retirements have brought about fears of a waning of influence in Brussels.
Fearing the approach of a “huge demographic cliff-edge” with many senior Irish officials in Brussels due to retire soon, the Government has drawn up a strategy, A Career for EU, in order to increase the Irish presence in the halls of European institutions. As things currently stand, just ‘one or two’ Irish graduates are being hired into the European system per year, at a time when post-Brexit realities mean that Ireland will need to bolster its influence at the European level.
Attempts to recruit more Irish graduates have been said to have been previously hampered by a lack of qualifications or competency in major European languages other than English, and by the lengthy recruitment process involved. The strategy will expand the existing EU Jobs campaign, with increased promotion and outreach to second- and third-level students in order to increase the rate of hires at the European level to five per year, meaning a total of 50 new hires would be in place by 2030. Main aims within the strategy also include the provision of tailored support and training to all Irish candidates applying for posts in the EU institutions, as well as additional resources dedicated to supporting the use of Irish as an official EU language, including by making training material available in Irish.
The funding for the Centrally Funded Scheme for Seconded National Experts, which seconds Irish civil servants to roles in Brussels will also be increased, meaning that the total number of Irish civil servants provided to EU institutions per year will be more than doubled, from 24 to 50. The current scholarship programme will also be expanded, enabling at least 10 Irish post graduate students to study at the College of Europe in Bruges and Natolin. A stream within the Irish Civil Service for EU specialists, who will receive help in applying for roles within EU institutions, will also be created.
Speaking upon the launch of the strategy, Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne TD said: “A Career for EU sets out the measures we will take to make sure Ireland maintains its influence within the EU’s institutions for years to come. Some of the jobs available include lawyer linguists, pharmacists in the EMA and animal welfare officers to name but a few. We want to ensure Irish citizens continue to serve in the EU institutions. By doing so, we will remain at the heart of Europe, shaping the future of our shared union.”
A Career for EU has been strategised and published at a time when Ireland is facing a ‘demographic cliff’ with regard to its representation among the staff of the EU’s institutions. At present, Ireland is “adequately represented” in staffing levels across the EU institutions, but it has fewer officials at the entry and midmanagement levels than “should otherwise be the case”.
The European Commission is the EU institutions’ biggest employer, with 30,000 staff working in Brussels, Luxembourg, other EU member states, and around the
30,000 staff working in for EU institutions in Brussels, Luxembourg, other EU member states, and around the world in EU Delegations.
69 Irish people needed to be working at AD5–AD8 grade to have geographical balance.
50 Irish people currently working in AD5-AD8 policy posts in the Commission.
world in EU delegations. 227 Irish people currently work in the Commission as administrators, including managers and linguists, but 78 of these are forecast to depart between 2021 and 2025, greatly affecting Ireland’s representation at the Commission. 50 Irish people currently work between the entry level generalist grade of AD5 and the more mid-level AD8, but the strategy states that Ireland should have 69 people at these levels in order to achieve national representative balance. This desired balance is calculated by comparing each country’s share of the total EU population; following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, the Irish State’s share of that total now stands at 1.1 per cent. “The number of Irish people securing permanent jobs in the EU in recent years has fluctuated and in general is below the EU average,” the strategy states.
The strategy has three key areas of focus:
• promoting of careers in the EU institutions in Ireland, in particular within the education system, to encourage more Irish applicants for EU posts;
• greater support and training for Irish people interested in careers in the
EU’s institutions; and • promoting the reform of the EU’s recruitment process to ensure more
Irish people get posts in the institutions.
For the promotion of careers in the EU institutions, the Government has pledged to: improve outreach to secondary schools on EU jobs; create information packs and host tailormade online and inperson events with secondary school students in Ireland and Northern Ireland; promote awareness of career opportunities in the institutions that are available to those with a high level of Irish and to students who speak another EU language in the home; engage with guidance counsellors through the Institute of Guidance Counsellors on careers in the EU Institutions; improve outreach to second-level students in Ireland through PPLI to promote the importance of language-learning and EU careers; intensify engagement with careers offices in third-level institutes in Ireland; and engage with careers offices in third-level institutions in Northern Ireland.
In terms of equipping Irish people with the skills to succeed at the European level, the Government pledges to provide candidates with guidance on how they should prepare for interviews and assessments in their second language, promote the learning of European languages at second- and third-level in conjunction with the Department of Education’s existing Languages Connect Strategy, create and provide practice material and training to candidates in the Irish language, in addition to the material made available in English, provide at least 10 scholarships per year to Irish students studying at the College of Europe, and promote post graduate courses in European Affairs in the College of Europe and in other similar institutions to Irish students through the EU Jobs campaign.
Finally, to fulfil its pledge to encourage the reform of the EU recruitment process, the Government will: engage with the European Institutions and the European Personnel Selection Office on any future reform of the EU’s recruitment process; and work with “like-minded member states” to ensure that the structural problems leading to geographical imbalances in the staffing of the EU Institutions are addressed.
“Ireland’s membership of the European Union has helped to transform the country,” the strategy concludes. “We are committed to keeping our place at the heart of Europe for years to come, and to Irish officials continuing to play a central role in the work of the institutions and agencies across the continent. This strategy will help to make sure that this happens.”
