New steps towards ensuring job appeal and well-being for European Union staff

In January 2022, France is set to assume the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the thirteenth time. At present, EU institutions employ around 42,000 people (1) most of whom are governed by Staff Regulations, but there are also contract staff (23 %).

Although it draws strongly on the French model (career-based), the European Civil Service has undergone a number of reforms. The most-recent, dating back to 2014, was recently assessed by the Court of Auditors which concluded that – despite the budgetary savings made – the impact on HR management has been mixed.

The Commission has drawn up a new five-year Strategic Plan that sets out how it intends to attract, retain and contribute to the development of staff, and how it will strive to create the right conditions for enhancing career progression.

The major challenge to be met by the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is to substantially reduce the duration of competitions. This issue was highlighted in a report from the Court of Auditors and a special recruitment procedure will be rolled out to better target candidates with specialist profiles.

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Two units of the Directorate-General for Human Resources and Security (DG HR) are especially implicated in this modernisation project: Talent Management and Fit@Work. They are implementing a number of priority actions which should help achieve the targets that have been set:

• A (pilot) search tool called HR Search is scheduled to be introduced in order to quickly identify the best profiles for vacancies.

• To foster mobility, the Career Guidance service offering will be bolstered. A special platform was set up in 2020 and career guidance officers (CGOs) will be given further training to enable them to offer personalised support.

• For improved understanding of termination of employment, the known reasons will be analysed.

• In light of the huge recourse to hybrid work, the fit@home and fit2lead programmes have been launched. They help staff and managers to find their feet in these new organisational approaches.

• Combating isolation is also vital and a HR-Tele-Care helpline is available. The buddy programme offers contact with a volunteer colleague (or retired official) with an eye to forging ties and providing long-term follow-up.

¹ Commission (including agencies), Council and Parliament. Proportionally, France is in third place in the headcount trailing Belgium and Italy.