European Commission Traineeship: Registration Open

Twice a year, the European Commission offers university graduates from the EU member states the chance to take part to paid administrative or translation traineeship for a period of five months, starting on 1 March or 1 October. This is a chance to get practical experience, plus the internship is paid and will tale place either EU Institutions, as the European Parliament, or agencies. You could go working in Brussels, in Luxembourg or elsewhere across the European Union, where other EU agencies are located.

The registration for the internships at the European Commission starting in October 2021 are now open.

Who can apply to European Commission Traineeship

The selection process provides that only candidate with the following requirements can apply:

• be EU citizens (a limited number of places are also for non-EU nationals);
• have completed the first cycle of a higher education course (university education) and obtained a full degree or its equivalent by the closing date for applications
• not have completed a traineeship in another European Union institution or body or have worked for more than 6 weeks, or 42 calendar days (weekends included), in any European institution, EU Body, EU Executive Agency, EU delegations or for Members of Parliament (MEPs);
• have a very good knowledge (C1/2 level as per the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) of two EU official languages, one of which must be a procedural language: English or French or German. For non-EU nationals, only one procedural language is required.
• for the Translation traineeship in the Directorate-General for Translation (DGT) you must be able to translate into your main/target language (normally your mother tongue), from two other official EU languages.

Duties of interns of a European Commission Traineeship

While doing your traineeship at the European Commission, you will carry out different activities. It depends mostly on the service you are assigned to, being it a translation-field internship or an administrative one. In fact, while filling in the your application form you will have to specify which areas are the most interesting to you. According to that, you may work in the field of education, culture, sport, science or competition law, human resources, environmental policy. The area of work is very broad.

Generally, your work will be a day-to-day contribution to the European Commission work. You will be able for example to attend and organise meetings, working groups, and public hearings; do research, draft and edit documentation, answer enquiries, support your colleagues in daily tasks and much more.

Each trainee receives a monthly allowance that cover the expenses.

How to apply for an Internship at European Institutions

Firstly, if not yet, you have to create an account on the EU Login page. Once done, you are free to submit your application form. Be aware that the application form asks for many information, so do take your time to fill it in. Consequently do not wait until the very last few days before submitting your application. Before that, you can also try out the eligibility test that tells you whether you are eligible or not, and which chance you have to be selected.

Thousands of young people apply each year for the “Blue Book Traineeships”. Only 3,000 of them, each year, pass the two pre-selections. This means that the chance to pass the selection might be few, but do not feel discouraged. In fact you can apply twice a year without limitations other than the above-mentioned.

Last not least to say, grab your opportunity and apply for the European Commission internship! The deadline is 29th January 2021, 12:00 midday, Brussels time.

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