The key facts

  • The 2026 EPSO AD5 competition received 174,727 applications, including 79,343 from Italy and 11,699 from Germany
  • Among the roughly 33,000 administrators of the European Commission, there are only 1,370 Germans, 380 Dutch, 264 Swedes, and fewer than 200 Danes and Finns each
  • MEP Monika Hohlmeier proposes separate competitions for underrepresented countries

Imbalance in EU Institutions' Staffing

The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) received 174,727 applications for the general AD5 competition for administrators in 2026. Nearly half of the candidates — 79,343 people — are from Italy. Germany, the EU's most populous country, submitted 11,699 applications, Sweden 1,804, and Denmark fewer than 1,000. The imbalance is also visible among current staff: of the roughly 33,000 administrators at the European Commission, only 1,370 are German citizens, 380 are Dutch, 264 are Swedish, while Denmark and Finland each have fewer than 200 staff members. As serving officials retire, their numbers will decline, and no generational change is in sight in the near future.

Why Northerners Don't Need Brussels

According to Eurostat, in 2025, 90.6% of recent graduates in Germany and 90.1% in the Netherlands were employed, compared with an EU average of 83%; graduate employment in Sweden also exceeded 90%. The German private sector offers engineers, finance professionals, lawyers and economists starting salaries of €55,000–70,000 per year before taxes, while the civil service offers the A13 pay scale with a base salary of €4,500–5,300 per month. A newcomer to the EU institutions at AD5 level receives about €4,749 net per month, or about €5,734 including the expatriation allowance. CDU Member of the European Parliament Monika Hohlmeier noted that in many sectors, EU salaries are 'effectively lower,' and that the EPSO selection process takes so long that some graduates find other jobs before hearing back. Additional barriers include relocation, working in a second or third language, housing costs and the loss of professional networks; even making it onto the EPSO reserve list does not guarantee employment.

The South Sees Brussels as an Opportunity

For Southern European graduates, an EU career looks like a significant improvement. According to Eurostat, in 2025 only 71.8% of recent graduates in Italy and 62.4% in Greece were employed. According to the OECD, in the first quarter of 2026 Italian salaries remained 6.1% below their level at the beginning of 2021 — the largest decline among major OECD economies. In Spain, unemployment in 2025 stood at 10.5% — the highest rate in the EU — while salaries remained 2% below their level at the beginning of 2021. In Greece, unemployment reached 8.9%, and 26.4% of the population spent at least 40% of their disposable income on housing, compared with an EU average of 7.7%. A junior civil servant with a higher education in Italy, Spain or Greece earns €780–1,800 net per month — significantly below the AD5 level. Hohlmeier suggested that unemployment among young people with higher education in Spain, Italy and Greece is higher than in the north, and this may influence their willingness to take the risk and apply.

What Brussels Is Proposing

Selection to the EU institutions is merit-based, and the number of applications does not predetermine the nationality of successful candidates, but persistently low participation from the north makes it difficult to correct geographical imbalances as senior officials retire. The European Commission has already developed action plans to attract candidates from underrepresented countries, but they fail when there are simply too few applicants. Hohlmeier, a member of the Committee on Budgetary Control, proposed holding separate competitions for underrepresented member states and stressed that the goal is proportional representation of all countries not only in the Commission but also in the agencies and other institutions. At the same time, she said, the decision rests with the individual: an EU career means relocating, learning languages and living far from loved ones.