How to start your EU career (and it’s not by the "Blue" Book)
/The main gate into a job within the EU is often assumed to be the magic key offered through an internship at the EU Commission. However, the European sphere provides interesting opportunities that can give a boost to build your career in (or with) Brussels.
Tamara Espiñeira has been working with local and regional authorities since 2004, both in EU and international affairs. She has held expert positions before the EU institutions and published research on European territorial cooperation and on urban planning. In her PhD thesis, written in French and submitted in December 2020, she coined the concept of "urban diplomacy", a new theory that recognises cities as strategic actors in the international realm.
I can describe a classical career path towards the EU bubble because that was where I was bound to. I studied Political Sciences in Spain, with a year in a selective regional Sciences Po in France (Rennes). Afterwards, I did my masters at the even more selective Institut d’études européennes in Brussels. So, I had one of the main three diplomas that are said to provide direct access to the European Institutions, together with the London School of Economics and the College of Europe. At the time I already spoke five languages and I was learning another two.
Mine is a mainstream profile of the people working for the European Institutions. Such profiles can be found working at the national and regional representations, lobbies and NGOs located in Brussels.
It should have been easy. All I had to do was to enter the European Commission shortlist for internships, also known as the Blue Book – which was almost guaranteed at my masters’ end. But I failed. Miserably. The rejection letter was harsh.
As I explain below, this setback taught me that typical mainstream profiles are not compulsory for an EU career and that EU affairs do not end in Brussels.
Unfolding the international Matryoshka
Many times, “working in international relations'' and “working in EU affairs” are used as synonyms. However, even if both fields are related at their most basic feature, they are distinctly different areas. Each of them has its own requirements and missions; so it is better to have these particularities in mind when building an international career.
To start, we can use a twofold categorisation where we can distinguish:
1. “International relations” as the most traditional path, related to diplomacy, and foreign policy. Here, most of the opportunities arise inside the Foreign Affairs’ Ministry of your own country, either at the capital or in embassies, or in trade bureaus. It may also include international organisations.
2. “European Union affairs” when it comes to EU policy or law. The European Union is a particular international organisation, because European policy is directly applied in EU member countries. Hence, the opportunities of working in the EU field are infinite. Once again, we can singularise two main domains: working in Brussels in (the famous EU bubble) and working “with” Brussels anywhere, (mostly in Europe).
How to develop an EU career outside Brussels
There are two rules of thumb that apply when wanting to enter the EU affairs’ world: Be yourself and Think out of the Bubble!
A year after I was rejected, I applied again for a Blue Book internship. This time the European Commission was interested in my experience… as a cultural junior assistant at the university. In fact, it didn’t matter if I had the “one out of three” key master degrees. My advantage was that I had first-hand experience in the field the Directorate General (Cultural Affairs) looks after.
Here you have a first clue: Be yourself. If you are an artist, cultivate it. Same if you are an ocean lover, a passionate chemist or a convincing speechwriter. Your quirkiness is your strength in the EU arena. Find the field that resonates within you and identify how you can transfer that knowledge to contribute to EU policy.
Secondly, be aware that working in EU affairs does not necessarily mean working IN Brussels within the EU institutions, lobbies and embassies. You do not even need to be European.
Here are some of the opportunities that can be found outside Brussels:
Free training in EU affairs coming from official providers. If you are in Europe, check out the Europe Direct network which organises trainings and conferences, provides general information and responds to questions. It can also be a good contact point for integrating an Erasmus programme (do not forget that it is also extended to third countries!). For shorter trainings, check the SALTO database, where you may find a one-week international workshop co-financed with EU funds in a variety of topics, many of them are also open to non-EU participants. Finally, if you are outside the EU, you may check the cultural programmes of the EU representation in your country or those of the embassies of the EU countries.
The European Union has thematic agencies located in the member countries. For instance, in Greece you may find the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. The Community Plant Variety Office is based in France while the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is located in Sweden. Most of them have their own rules and opportunities for internships and entry-level jobs, thus don’t hesitate to do some digging on the topics that interest you the most!
My favourite: you can search for opportunities in the field of European projects. European policy includes funding for public authorities, NGOs, universities and the private sector to encourage them to work together across countries to find solutions for a specific problem, such as youth entrepreneurship, smart cities, sea pollution, etc. Those projects are locally managed and coordinated internationally through meetings and other instruments; thus you’ll have to google the keywords to find opportunities. And through EuropeAid and other mechanisms there are also European projects in non-European territories.
Finally, Foreign Affairs Ministries (national or regional) play a key role in EU affairs. So it can also be a starting point for a first traineeship to discover EU policy in the making. Furthermore, many European cities and universities also have their EU department, so you can try there for opportunities.
Search your own way to Brussels (or not)!
Last but not least, don’t forget to burst the bubble and think inside out. As EU law is applied in the Member States, you can find the EU dimension of your current job or even create one. For instance, if you are working for a hospital, you can speak with your director to integrate it into an EU medical research network. If your summer job is in a natural park, you can explore if it deserves to be protected under a Natura 2000 label. And even if you just lay on the beach, you may verify if it deserves a Blue Flag!
These alternatives do not mean forgetting forever and ever the Brussels bubble. On the contrary, you’d have a more valuable profile to join an EU institution if you have some local experience!
Published 24th January 2022
Edited by Lauren Matthews