European Commission Reviews in Brussels, Belgium Area

I worked at European Commission as an intern for less than a year

Pros – Great introduction to working for the EU institutions; trainees get a lot of insight; interesting and nice colleagues. Very helpful on your CV if you want to continue working in the EU Bubble.

Cons – Traineeship does not actually lead to anything; can be a bit boring at times

Advice to Senior Management – Only get a trainee when you really have tasks for him/her to do.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at European Commission full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Salary is OK, but not that high compared to the level of qualification and responsibilities.

Cons – No career development possibilities. No recognition of the work. Huge gap between fonctionnaire and contractual agent status, whereas the responsabilities are the same.

Advice to Senior Management – Better recognition of the contractual agent status

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at European Commission as a contractor for less than a year

Pros – Work-life balance
Salary
Number of holidays

Cons – Lack of career Opportunities
Non-negotiable salary
Non-negotiable length of contract

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at European Commission full-time for more than a year

Pros – Good working environment, working in confortable context. Colleagues selected from the best working resources in all the EU countries.

Cons – Sometime the institutional objectives are misunderstood because the implementation is not done in the most efficient way, but in the most cautelative.

Advice to Senior Management – The senior management is chosen among resources with a very long career in the government sector. No choice to select fresh minded professionals, possible rarely and in exceptional contexts.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at European Commission as an intern for less than a year

Pros – You get to really make a contribution if you put in the effort, and you experience first-hand what working in the European Commission is like.
Depending on units you're working in, the work is interesting and you do learn new things.
You meet lots of trainees and other staff, and the atmosphere in Brussels is great fun when you're there
It's paid! And well enough to survive for 5 months, which is a decent length for an internship.
The application process although long is straightforward, and administratively you are well looked after by the Traineeships Office.

Cons – There is no direct rule into employment after being a trainee: there is something called an interimaire contract, which is basically a 6 months extension. But although mentioned they are not offered that often.
Trainees in national representations are often left to their devices, and you tend to lose a lot of the most interesting activities.
You tend to be the only intern in an office of much older staff, and miss out on the social scene in Brussels, and you can't take part in the events and projects organised by the Comitè des Stagiaires.
If you are looking for networking and making contacts in Brussels, steer clear of national representations

Advice to Senior Management – Try to include trainees in national representations into social, educational and netwoking activities in Brussels.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at European Commission full-time for less than a year

Pros – Apparently it looks good on a CV. No idea why. There are some good people that work in the place at the higher levels, but most of their talents cannot be realized I should note.
Despite the EC taking a lot of criticisms, some rightly others not so, it's probably the most progressive place in Brussels or maybe the EU to work. This is not saying the EC is great, but mostly a testament to how pathetic Europe is as a whole, excluding a few great companies, which are few and far between.

Cons – Basically I was brought in to "shake things up". I thought the commission was sort of a joke prior and left thinking the same thing. It ended up being impossible to do anything that is up to a professional standard. There is no leadership. Decision are made with consensus, which bogs down issues and offers no clear vision. Bad for constituents and the 5% of personell trying to actually get things done. 95% of everyone us hesitant to take ownership of any idea and make it their own. There are no new ideas because of this. The only thing that will help upward mobility is aging..

Now everyone talks about the pay being so good..That is because these people have a diluted sense of what good pay is. Sure it might be good for doing nothing, which most people do, but I was able to make a lot more money (more than 110K) after leaving the EC because I have something called talent and drive - something that lacks in the EC. Mind you I'm also under 30. And really by the time you are making 100K at the EC, probably around 45 or so, you are basically ruined and not applicable for anything else in the private market. Mostly people seem to be completely content making their 4-5k bogging things down and complicating simple issues - who says they don't represent the EU??

Advice to Senior Management – Grow some balls and take ownership. It's called government. And people aren't supposed to like you, but by taking ownership some people might start respecting you.

I have been working at European Commission as a contractor

Pros – Flexibility, free choice of tax jurisdiction (in practice), per diems

Cons – Risks involved with contract positions

Advice to Senior Management – Database with consultant reviews

I have been working at European Commission full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – social benefits, salary, public policy field

Cons – administrative, hierarchical, sensitive, confidential, belgium:)

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at European Commission full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – The organisation is very functional professional organisation, which is highly specialized. The arrangement of services goes by horizontal policies or by economy sectors or by nature of services provided. As the areas to be covered are extremely large, the positions and work profiles provide rich variety of different jobs. The possibility to be able to help to build the structure of the future EU for all its citizens gives the work a special character.

Cons – The organisation of services is done by divisions and units, and the functional organisation makes it rather difficult to rapidly reallocate resources for new needs. The optimistic approach and limited amount of quantitative metrics and tools to check and measure concerning capabilities and resources versus political commitments made makes the completion and implementation of functions and policies sometimes very challenging.

Advice to Senior Management – The application of the quality metrics and standards would make the processes more transparent and measurable also with respect to allocating sufficient resources.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at European Commission full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Satisfaction in helping to build Europe, multinational work environment, opportunity to improve language skills, good leave entitlement, some people may enjoy Brussels (others not so much).

Cons – Weak corporate culture, in many areas lack of visible leadership, management tends to shirk responsibility and brush off criticism.

Limited training and mobility. No induction program for new staff.

Terrible career prospects, employees should have no expectation of middle management responsibility before late 40s/50s. Situation likely to get even worse with current negotiations on the Staff Regulations.

Deep cuts in 2004 means that salaries for new employees are not competitive with many of the richer member states (although old staff have kept their generous salaries). In the current fraught political environment, another severe drop in salaries (>20%) can be expected.

Work often subject to whim of member states.

Advice to Senior Management – The European public service is being steadily eroded, not by the drop in salaries per se, sharp though that is, but by the terrible career prospects for new employees. There really is no career path in the organisation, current cuts are likely to slow down promotions and make the situation worse, what ambitious person will want to join?

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company