Justice by formula: how the European Commission is fighting the underrepresentation of 15 of the EU's 27 countries

A formula instead of equality

Within the European Commission's staff, 'fair' representation does not mean an equal distribution of posts among countries. Each nationality is measured against a 'guiding rate', which is 80% based on the country's share of seats in the European Parliament and 20% on its share of the EU population; this formula gives smaller countries greater weight. A country is considered underrepresented if its actual share falls below 80% of that rate. According to figures from the Commission itself, cited by Euronews, at administrative grades AD5–AD8 — the usual entry levels for administrators — 15 of the 27 nationalities are underrepresented.

Where candidates are lost

The problem begins even before hiring. In EPSO competitions for administrative posts between 2015 and 2021, Swedes made up 0.8% of participants while accounting for 2.3% of the EU population, yet their share of successful candidates (1.6%) was slightly above the EU average (1.5%). Among the reasons, the outlet cites complex selection procedures, the availability of good jobs at home, reluctance to relocate and low awareness of careers in EU institutions.

What the new rules change

Since 2023, Joint Action Plans have been in force: they provide for outreach, assistance with applications and test preparation, but not quotas. EPSO merely builds pools of qualified candidates — the hiring decision is made by the Commission itself. The rules adopted in November last year make it possible to interview at least one suitable candidate from an underrepresented country for each vacancy and to set nationality targets. At the same time, posts cannot be reserved for specific countries, nor can selection standards be lowered. Whether results have improved since these measures remains unclear.