EPS: popping the Eurobubble and beyond..

University of Milan – DEMM25th November 2013

Paolo Bonardi

The EurobubbleDefinition

“Set of people, rules and institutions accidentally gathered in Brussels, since the approval of Maastricht treaty to now, to enhance European Integration and to foster European Policies; surviving, directly or indirectly, thanks to the Budget of the European Union. “

Paolo Bonardi, 2013

The money at stake in the Eurobubblehttp://ec.europa.eu/budget/mff/index_en.cfm

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/index_en.cfm

Common injurious fakes on EU budget (if you are Eurosceptic)

Policies• Think tanks• EP assistant • Lobbying

Grants• Public administration• Associations• NGOs

Tenders• Private sector• Consultancies

The three macro job-areas in the Eurobubble

Enter the Bubble - Determine your career goals

• Contact EU networks (Europe direct, Enterprise Europe Network, etc)

• Industry associations• Regional/Local authorities• Political jobs (i.e. MEP assistant, EP political groups, etc)• Lobbying jobs• NGOs• Law firms

Enter the Bubble - Determine your career goals

• EU/International institutions• Consultancies• Platforms and networks (Errin, Eurocities, etc.)• Universities, Research Centers, Think Tanks,• Foundations, etc• Media• Private sector

Representation of Public Administration

• Perm Reps and Embassies• Fundacion Comunidad Valenciana• Association des grandes villes de France• Swedish association of local authorities and regions• Romanian municipalities association• BSSSC – Baltic sea states sub-regional cooperation• European north – Lapland Oulu (Finland)• Association of the provinces of the Netherlands (IPO)• Brussels office of region of east Macedonia• Eurocities• AER (Assembly of European Regions)• Veneto region

http://cor.europa.eu/en/regions/Documents/regional-offices.xls

Industry & Unions

• Eurochambres• Union of Chambers (UCL, CCPIF, BritCham, CCI Alp-Med…)• Belgian - Chinese Chamber of Commerce• EUROPIA (Petroleum)• Tipik (Communication)• Business Europe (Industry)• COPA-COGECA (Agriculture)• Alstom (Transport & Energy)• CIAA - The Confederation of the Food and Drink Industry of the EU• CEFIC – European Chemical Industry Council• COWI (Engineering)• Confidustria (Industry general Union)• …

Consultancies (employees + LT/ST experts)• Ernst&Young• Transtec• ARS Progetti• Agriconsulting• PNO• Europe for business• Athenora• ECO 3• Integration• Euronet consultants• …..

http://www.euractiv.com/consultancies

Associations and NGOs:• CONCORD• EWEA (Wind & Energy)• Actionaid• Amnesty international• Eurodad• Oxfam• Terre des hommes• Solidar• World vision• European Youth Forum• JEUNE (European young entrepreneurs)• …

Think-tanks & research centers:

• APRE (research & development)• CEPS (Center of European Policy Studies)• EPC (European Policy Center)• Friends of Europe• TEPSA• ECIPE• Heinrich B. Stiftung• Notre Europe• ….

http://www.eu.thinktankdirectory.org/

LobbiesTo have a complete overview of Brussels Lobbies visit the Transparency Register:

http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyregister/info/homePage.do?locale=en#en

Strengths

Small or non-existent competitive pressure (from the market)

Usually involved in lobbying activities

Good networking opportunities (members – institutional contacts)

Usually characterized by a friendly working environment (rather small offices)

Weaknesses

Usually limited career opportunities in the long term

Type and number of EU projects to be drafted / managed can be limited

Politically driven

Public & Private Representations /Unions

Strengths

Prestige

Terms of contract (salarybenefits)

General environment

Career opportunities

Access to information

Weaknesses

Burocracy

Limited space for creativity

Monotony of tasks

EU institutions as Civil Servant

Strengths

Prestige

Terms of contract (salary-benefits)

General environment

Institutional contacts

Tasks

Access to information

Weaknesses

Tasks

Dependency from MEP/employer

Working hours

Strasbourg

Politics-oriented job – Assistant to MEPs

Strengths

Prestige

Terms of contract (salary-benefits)

General environment

Institutional contacts

Tasks

Access to information

Weaknesses

Tasks

Dependency from MEP/employer

Working hours

Strasbourg

Small consultancies

Strengths

Excellent career opportunities

High number of projects to be drafted / managed

Usually excellent work contracts (with benefits and training opportunities)

Weaknesses

High competitive pressure, both external (market) and internal

(colleagues)

Big consultancies

Apply for all kind of positionsSome web directories...

• www.eurobrussels.com

• jobs.euractiv.com

• www.europeanvoice.com

• www.euro-jobbing.com

• www.jobs-brussels.com

• www.xpats.com (the Bulletin)

• www.career.be

• www.unique.be – Interim (FR – NL)

• www.tempo-team.be – Interim (FR – NL)

• http://europa.eu/epso/index_it.htm

Apply for EU institutions See: http://europa.eu/epso/index_en.htm

Applying for EU institutions – Permanent Officials

• 2 categories: Administrators (AD) and Assistants (AST)• AD: e.g. policy officers, lawyers, auditors, scientific officers,

translators, interpreters, communication & press officers…• AST: e.g. secretaries, HR assistants, financial assistants,• conference technicians…• EU-28• Bachelor• Knowledge of 2 languages (incl. EN, FR, or DE)• Specific skills

Applying for EU institutions: permanent Officials

Applying for EU institutions – Contract Agents (CAST)

• Fixed-term contract (initial 6-12 months)

Functions:

1. manual and administrative tasks2. clerical or secretarial tasks/office management3. executive tasks, drafting, accountancy, etc.4. administrative, advisory, linguistic

EU-28 (eventually IPA)

Applying for EU institutions – Trainees• About 1 200 per year• 3-5 months• About 1 000 €/month• Blue-book & lobby• EU-28 (possibility for third countries nationals)

Institution Deadline

Commission September & January http://ec.europa.eu/stages/

Parliament 15/10 & 15/05 Europarl Traineeships

Council 31 August EU Council Traineeship

EESC 1 October & 1 April EESC Traineeship

CoR September & March CoR Traineeship

My job experience in the Bubble

Project assistant Project Manager Policy Officer

1. Monitoring EU policies and Funding Programme;2. Drafting and management of EU Projects;3. Stakeholders management, development and management of the international consortia;4. Delivering trainings on EU Funds;5. Organizing events;6. Developping common strategies and actions with other regional offices in the framework of

Errin Network;7. Day to day advisory on EU funds and policies.

Hope to see you soon in the Bubble and

thank you very much for the attention!