Recruitment Process

Our staff are mainly officials recruited via the reserve lists from general competitions organised by the European Personnel Selection Office. In certain circumstances, however, the European Committee of the Regions may also engage temporary or contract staff. The application process for a position at the CoR depends on the contract type.

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Permanent staff

In order to be recruited as an official by an EU institution, you need to be a laureate of an open competition organised at the inter-institutional level by the European Personnel Selection Office.

Vacancies published by the European Committee of the Regions are solely intended for officials who are already working at the European Committee of the Regions or in the other EU institutions. Successful laureates of EPSO competitions may also apply if they meet the eligibility requirements set out in the vacancy notices.

You are NOT an EU official or a laureate of an EPSO competition (yet)? Start creating your EPSO Account and check if there is a competition open for your profile. If you try to apply for a vacancy published by the European Committee of the Regions without having met these primary requirements, your application will automatically be disregarded. Please be also aware that if your reserve list has been issued recently, quotas might be applied. EU institutions without an available quota cannot recruit staff until a new quota is assigned.

Begin the process on EPSO
Consult our current vacancies

Temporary staff

The European Committee of the Regions employs three categories of temporary staff: temporary staff occupying temporary posts (2a), including the secretary-general, temporary staff in the political groups and the president's private office (2c) and temporary staff on permanent posts (2b) recruited when the publication of a vacancy notice was unsuccessful and/or the recruitment of a permanent staff member was not possible.

The majority of temporary agent contracts at the European Committee of the Regions are 2b) contracts of between 6 months and a maximum of 4 years, renewable once for a maximum of 2 years. Temporary staff contracts 2c) are open-ended in the political groups, while those in the President's Private Office are linked to the President's term of office.

Important Update: Changes to the Temporary Staff Selection Process

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has updated its selection process for temporary staff. Please take note of the following changes:

Discontinuation of the Candidate Database

  • The CoR will no longer maintain a general candidate database.
  • All non-permanent positions will now be systematically published on our Jobs page.
  • Positions may also be advertised on the CoR LinkedIn account.

Streamlined Application Process

  • All vacancy notices and calls for interest will be managed exclusively through HR eForms, ensuring an efficient and user-friendly process.

To stay informed about new opportunities, we encourage you to regularly check our Jobs page and follow us on LinkedIn.

Contract staff

It is possible to work for the European Committee of the Regions as a contract staff member. Contract staff (known as CAST) covers both permanent needs (category 3a, function group I – ushers, drivers, manual workers, etc. on open-ended contracts after two initial fixed-term contracts) and temporary needs in order to deliver specific projects and/or provide support over a limited period of time in the event of absence, high workload, etc. (category 3b, function groups II, III and IV) on fixed term contract (minimum 3 months and renewable for up to 6 years in total).

Contract staff positions are available for a wide range of jobs, requiring different levels of qualifications.

The most frequently requested profiles at the European Committee of the Regions are Political affairs / EU policies, Communication, Information and communication technology, Translators and linguistic staff, Project/programme management, Secretaries/Clerks, Administration / Human resources, Finance, Law, Manual and administrative support workers.

A successful EPSO CAST test in the appropriate function group is a requirement for most of our contract staff position, unless otherwise mentioned in the call for interest. Please carefully read the selection and eligibility requirements before applying.

Visit EPSO website  for more information and to submit an application for the EPSO CAST Permanent.

How to apply for a contract staff position in the CoR? 

If you are already registered or intend to register in the CAST database and would like to be considered for a contract staff job in the European Committee of the Regions, please take note of the following changes:

Updates to the selection process

Discontinuation of the Candidate Database

  • The CoR will no longer maintain a database of spontaneous applications for contract staff.
  • Instead, all contract staff positions will now be systematically published on our Jobs page.
  • Positions may also be advertised on the CoR LinkedIn account.

Streamlined Application Process

  • Vacancy notices and calls for interest will be fully managed through HR eForms for a more streamlined and efficient process.

To stay informed about new opportunities, we encourage you to regularly check our Jobs page and follow us on LinkedIn.

Seconded national experts

Employees of local, regional and national public bodies or intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) may also apply for positions as seconded national experts. Several conditions must however be met.

​Applicants must:

  • be employed by a national, regional or local public authority or IGO
  • have worked for at least three years, full-time, in an administrative, scientific, technical, advisory or supervisory post
  • have been in the service of their current employer for at least twelve months
  • have thorough knowledge of one official language of the European Union and a satisfactory knowledge of another language of the European Union
  • be under the age limit of 66 for the duration of the secondment
  • be able to prove that their employer will continue to pay their salary, maintain their established or contractual employment status and guarantee their social rights and benefits, particularly as regards social security and pension rights, throughout the period of secondment

The European Committee of the Regions offers three types of secondment (foreign national experts, national experts coming from a distance <150 km or >150 km from Brussels and cost-free secondment).

The possibilities for secondments involving the payment of daily allowances being limited, we also encourage local, regional and national governments to consider cost-free secondments (without payment, by the European Committee of the Regions, of any additional allowance to the national expert). Even during a cost-free secondment, the European Committee of the Regions will provide you with an office space, a working station / appropriate working tools, as well as dedicated mentor to make this stay a fruitful and useful experience for you and your region/administration.

Secondments are limited in time (minimum 6 months and maximum 2 years, renewable up to 4 years in total) and formalised by exchange of letters with the Permanent Representation of the country of citizenship of the national expert.

Rules applicable to seconded national experts

Interim

If you are interested in short-term work, contact our temping agencies to find out more about short-term opportunities.

Interim staff in the CoR are often needed in secretarial and usher roles.

Traineeships

As a CoR trainee, you will be witnessing first-hand the dynamics of a multilingual and multinational institution. Within a small group of trainees, you will not only be able to work across a wide range of EU policy aspects, but you will also have the unique possibility to create an event by yourself!

More info

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