Trainees

Trainees When they discuss European actors, the media generally highlight those who make headlines (Heads of State, Commissioners, MEPs, etc.) but seldom mention those working behind the scenes (political aides, policy officers, parliamentary assistants, etc.), and take even less notice of trainees, who are practically invisible. Each year, a few million young adults carry out traineeships ranging from a few weeks to a few months during or upon completion of their studies, in a European institution or in one of the organisations gravitating around the institutions (representations of local authorities, interest groups, consulting firms, etc.). In this sector as in others, trainees constitute a cheap and easily employable workforce. European traineeships are particularly sought after by students and young graduates because they represent a virtually obligatory pathway towards a career in the institutions. Different backgrounds facilitate access to traineeships depending on the organisation. A skilled, flexible and precarious workforce The number of trainees working in and around the European institutions has significantly increased since the 1990s. First, the institutionalisation of the European political space has caused an expansion of the offer. Secondly, there is a greater demand for students and young graduates with the creation and development of courses preparing for European careers (master’s programmes in European politics, professions, affairs, studies, relations, etc.). Since the 2000s various groups (such as Génération précaire, the Association of European Commission Trainees and the European Parliament Stagiaires Association) have called for improvements of the trainee status association, including the generalisation of allowances, the introduction of a minimum allowance, the recognition of trainees as full agents and the implementation of a regulation adjusted to their working conditions, while denouncing abuses and the overall precarity of the trainees. In response to these demands, the institutions and some organisations have established rules on the recruitment and supervision of trainees: for instance, trainees working for the European Commission, the administration and some European Parliament political groups receive a monthly allowance of around €1,000, and employment contracts are mandatory. Yet, the condition of trainees remains precarious. Their situations vary widely depending on countries and employers, in terms of legislation, monthly allowance (between €0 and €1,200 per month), duration (between two weeks and several months) and content. Placed in a subordinate position, trainees generally perform underappreciated and/or relatively basic tasks: preparatory and monitoring activities (doing research, writing memos, press reviews, taking notes during meetings, etc.), or secretarial work (answering the phone, the mail, emails, making copies, sending out mailings…). However, it often happens that organisations which continuously work with trainees entrust them with tasks normally performed by agents working under fixed-term or open-ended contracts (monitoring policies, writing reports, setting up evaluation schemes…). As they are skilled, flexible and cheap (low allowances and contributions), trainees constitute an attractive workforce for many employers under payroll restrictions (like representations of interest groups, consulting firms and MEPs). Yet, despite their lack of recognition, trainees generally consider that their traineeship is worth doing, because it is part of their training or because it serves as a pathway to a more lasting professional position. An opportunity to acquire technical, relational and symbolic resources

The European institutions and the groups that gravitate around them often hire students and alumni of master’s programmes focused on preparation for European careers. The traineeships they offer are not only designed for end-of-study periods; many trainees have completed their studies and are in the process of starting their professional careers. There is a somewhat fluid circulation between positions and organisations on the labour market for these specifically European positions. Traineeships constitute additional training and a stage of a rite of institution to access a stable position within this sector of activity. It is not infrequent that by the time they finish their training students have done two or three traineeships; likewise, applicants to the same jobs often complete two or three traineeships before finding a stable position. In addition to giving access to a professional space, traineeships are means for future graduates to secure increasingly useful resources to perform well in their sector of the labour market. They offer the opportunity to acquire technical capital, knowledge of how the institutions and some policies work and forms of know-how. For young graduates who only have their theoretical knowledge on Europe going for them, traineeships provide practical experience and a period of familiarisation with the issues, the institutions and their departments. Trainees also expand the relational networks they have developed during their training. While working for a local authority, an institution or an interest group, they develop ties with actors of European politics and become increasingly likely to receive information about impending vacancies. Having experience of working for an institution also brings credit to trainees in the eyes of potential employers. Variable recruitment criteria Securing a traineeship or a temporary agent position within a European institution is not easy. The European Commission receives nearly 9,000 applications for around 600 traineeships. In the selection process, distinctive properties are particularly valued: speaking several languages, having previously completed a traineeship in the European political space, written a dissertation on a related subject, being a national of a specific country, politically engaged… Criteria vary depending on the organisation. Nationality is a factor in the attribution of traineeships in the European Commission, the Secretariat of the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council of Europe (CoE) – these institutions seek to achieve a balance between the states represented and to promote applicants from under-represented countries (this is particularly the case at the CoE). For internships with MEPs, applicants are not always selected on the basis of their academic credentials; their political resources – often relational – often matter. Membership in the same party as the MEP facilitates recruitment for some of them; in such cases internships are a form of reward for activism. This is however not a prerequisite for all MEPs. During job interviews, some MEPs ask questions about where applicants stand on the issues, while others merely make sure that they do not belong to the extremities of the political spectrum; yet others ask no such questions whatsoever. Having “minimal” properties, i.e., language skills (speaking and writing English is practically mandatory) and knowledge of European-level modes of negotiation attested by European diplomas – some of which are more valuable than others – makes securing traineeships in local authorities and especially in interest groups easier. The development of Europe goes hand in hand with an influx of young European actors in the making who sneak into this space through the back door of the traineeship. Trainees are the invisible drudges of Europe, whose conditions of employment deserve improvements and homogenisation. Trainees are a case in point of the inequality of European harmonisations, which primarily affect those situated at the entry level. Their recruitment reveals the properties that facilitate careers in the world of European politics. Access to these positions is no longer warranted by the sole possession of

theoretical knowledge on Europe acquired in specialised courses; practical experience has become another precondition.

Sébastien Michon References BALLATORE, M., « La mobilité après le diplôme. Enquête sur les stagiaires et « précaires » à la Commission Européenne », In Guillaume Courty, ed., La mobilité dans le système scolaire : Une solution à la réussite et à la démocratisation ? Lille, Presses du septentrion, sous presse, 2014. MICHON S., « Devenir stagiaire au Parlement européen : une entrée dans l'espace politique européen », Regards Sociologiques, 27-28, 2004, pp. 85-95. MICHON S., « Passer par un groupe d’intérêt. Entre pis-aller d’une carrière européenne et rite d’institution », In Hélène Michel, ed., Lobbyistes et lobbying de l’Union européenne. Trajectoires, formations et pratiques des représentants d’intérêts, Strasbourg, Presses universitaires de Strasbourg, 2006, pp. 89-111.