EU Careers Glossary
Plain-language definitions of the 12 most-searched EU careers terms. Each entry has its own page with worked examples, FAQs, and links to relevant job categories.
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AD Grade
An AD grade is a salary and seniority band in the Administrator function group of the EU civil service. AD grades run from AD 5, the entry level for university graduates, up to AD 16, reserved for Director-General level appointments.
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Assessment Centre
The assessment centre is the final competency stage of an EPSO competition, where shortlisted candidates are tested on the general competencies the EU civil service expects of every official. It combines several exercises run over one day, either in person in Brussels or Luxembourg or remotely by video.
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AST Grade
An AST grade is the salary and seniority band for Assistants in the EU civil service. AST grades run from AST 1 to AST 11 and cover technical, administrative and executive support work that keeps the institutions running day to day.
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Blue Book Traineeship
The Blue Book Traineeship is the European Commission's main five-month paid traineeship for recent university graduates. Two intakes run every year, one starting in March and one in October, and trainees are placed across Commission Directorates-General and services in Brussels, Luxembourg and a few other duty stations.
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CAST Contract Agent
CAST stands for Contract Agent Selection Tool. It is the open-ended EPSO procedure used to recruit Contract Agents (fixed-term EU staff classified in Function Groups I to IV) for every institution and agency. Unlike an open competition, CAST has no calendar: candidates register a profile that institutions can search at any time.
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Correction Coefficient
A correction coefficient is a cost-of-living multiplier applied to an EU staff member's basic salary depending on their place of employment. Set out in Article 64 of the Staff Regulations, it keeps the real purchasing power of a given grade broadly comparable across all EU duty stations.
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DG (Directorate-General)
A Directorate-General, or DG, is a major policy department of the European Commission or, by analogy, the equivalent senior services of other EU institutions. Each DG owns a defined policy area (competition, climate, agriculture, trade, justice, digital, and so on) and is headed by a Director-General who reports to the Commissioner responsible for that portfolio.
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EPSO
EPSO is the European Personnel Selection Office, the inter-institutional body that recruits permanent and contract staff for every EU institution and agency. It designs, organises and runs the open competitions (concours) and CAST selection procedures that funnel candidates onto reserve lists from which the institutions then hire.
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EU Delegation
An EU Delegation is a diplomatic mission of the European Union in a non-EU country or to an international organisation. The Union runs around 140 delegations worldwide, managed by the European External Action Service, and they represent the EU much as an embassy represents a single state.
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Expatriation Allowance
The expatriation allowance is a supplement paid to EU staff who work in a country where they are not nationals and did not habitually live before recruitment. It equals 16% of basic salary, plus the household allowance where that applies, and compensates for the cost of building a life away from home.
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Function Group
A Function Group is the grading system used for Contract Agents in the EU institutions. There are four function groups (FG I, FG II, FG III and FG IV), each tied to a level of qualification, a salary band, and the type of tasks a contract agent can be asked to perform.
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Grade Step
Grade and step are the two coordinates that locate an EU staff member on the salary grid. The grade reflects the level of the post, such as AD 5 or AST 3, while the step marks seniority within that grade, and together they determine the basic salary.
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Junior Professionals in Delegation
The Junior Professionals in Delegation programme, or JPD, offers young EU graduates a paid posting inside an EU Delegation abroad. Run jointly by the European External Action Service and the Commission, it gives early-career professionals hands-on experience of EU external action and diplomacy.
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Laureate
A laureate is a candidate who has passed every stage of an EPSO competition and been placed on the reserve list. Being a laureate makes you eligible for recruitment by EU institutions and agencies, but it is not itself a job offer.
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Lawyer-Linguist
A lawyer-linguist is an EU official who combines a full law degree with mother-tongue command of an EU official language to translate, revise and quality-check legal texts. The role exists at the Court of Justice, the Council, the Parliament and the Commission, and is one of the highest-paid linguistic profiles in the EU institutions.
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Notice of Competition
A notice of competition is the official document, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, that opens an EPSO competition. It is the legal reference for the whole procedure and defines who may apply, how candidates are tested, and how many laureates will be placed on the reserve list.
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Open Competition
An open competition, also called a concours, is the standard EPSO route to becoming a permanent EU official. It is a public, merit-based selection open to any eligible EU national, and it produces a reserve list from which the institutions recruit for permanent posts.
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Probationary Period
The probationary period is the initial trial phase at the start of an EU appointment, during which the institution assesses whether a new recruit is suited to the post before confirming them. For officials it lasts nine months under Article 34 of the Staff Regulations.
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Reserve List
A reserve list is the published roster of candidates who have passed all stages of an EPSO open competition. EU institutions and agencies draw from these lists to fill permanent vacancies, but inclusion on a reserve list does not guarantee a job offer.
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Schuman Traineeship
The Schuman Traineeship is the European Parliament's paid five-month traineeship for university graduates. Two intakes run each year (March and October), with placements at the Parliament's seats in Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg as well as in liaison offices across EU member states.
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SNE
A Seconded National Expert (SNE) is a civil servant or public-sector employee from an EU member state who is temporarily posted to an EU institution while remaining on their national payroll. SNEs bring specialist knowledge from their home administration and keep Brussels and the national capital in contact with each other.
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Staff Regulations
The Staff Regulations are the founding legal framework governing officials of the European Union. First adopted as Regulation 31 (EEC) in 1962 and amended many times since, they define the rights, duties, careers, pay and pensions of everyone employed by the EU institutions.
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TA Temporary Agent
A Temporary Agent (TA) is an EU staff member hired on a fixed-term contract under Article 2 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants (CEOS). Temporary Agents are graded on the same AD and AST scales as permanent officials and do similar work, but their employment is tied to a specific post or project rather than to a reserve list.
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Talent Screener
The talent screener is the structured part of the application form used in EPSO specialist competitions, where you document your experience against each selection criterion. The selection board scores your answers to shortlist the strongest candidates before the later test stages.
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