Reforming the staffing process in the European Union institutions: moving the sacred cow out of the road

Abstract

Since the 1960s, the EU institutions have relied on a system of open competitions (or concours ) for hiring staff, with only incremental changes. That system is now undergoing a major reform that is currently in the implementation phase. A policy analysis approach explains how the leadership of the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) overcame resistance to change. Analysis from a public management and political sociology perspective sheds light on the challenges EPSO faces in the implementation and evaluation of the reform. Points for practitioners One strength of the EU staffing model is the active role of EU staff in selecting their peers through the use of Selection Boards. The new system maintains staff involvement while professionalizing the Selection Boards. The reform was responsive to complaints by managers and heads of EU institutions with a slow, complex, and antiquated system, and it is they, as key clients, who will ultimately evaluate the effectiveness of the reform in enabling them to hire top-quality staff more quickly.