The rumours were louder and louder in the last weeks… And now it’s official. The new competition to enter the European institutions has been launched this week. Several thousand people will compete to become one of the few elect. I was in this situation about two years ago, I know how it is, how people feel: stress, hope, concentration…

Do we want to stay isolated at the top of the EP ivory tower in Brussels? Or do we want to be open to Europe? Photo by Annette Poro on Flickr

When I applied for a competition three years ago, I was just finishing my studies, searching for a job in France. I had no connection in Brussels, no idea about how it is to work for the European institutions. The competition was a great opportunity, a big adventure for me. Month after month, it became more and more real. The final result gave me the chance to come to Brussels. Otherwise, I would probably have never come. I would have stayed at a local level, communicating for municipalities or regional authorities (an extremely interesting job, which was very complementary what I now do in Brussels).

The only thing I would like to wish to people is to take the opportunity, to go ahead and to enjoy the same experience. Europe needs young, creative and dynamic people. Europe needs people from all over its territory, not only from Brussels. And Europe is there for citizens, Europe should base on its citizens. EU institutions should be open institutions, accessible to everyone. Brussels shouldn’t be too far away in the heads of millions of citizens who could have the skills and the desire to work for the institutions!

Europe needs people from all over its territory.

I see the open competitions as the lung of the European institutions. They have – in my opinion – two aims.

The first one is to recruit specialists from different sectors. A lot of them are already in Brussels, working in or around the institutions. EU needs their skills, their commitment and their knowledge of its functioning and issues.

The second one is to attract citizens from the four corners of Europe. If we want institutions not in their ivory tower, closer to the people, if we want to destroy the bad image of “those in Brussels”, if we want to go to the citizen, we should first open our doors to them.

The European institutions have been too much separated from Europe in the last decades. Let’s hope it will change. Is the reform of the EPSO system (which organizes the competitions) a step in the right direction? I don’t know. Wait and see, and good luck to all the competitors!