Croatian Recruitment Target Announced As Accession Preparations Enter Final Lap

European Commission

Press release

Brussels, 12 July 2012

Croatian recruitment target announced as accession preparations enter final lap

The Commission has set its sights on recruiting 249 Croatian nationals as a result of Croatia's accession to the EU on 1 July 2013. The decision is part of a package of documents adopted today, to ensure that administrative aspects of the accession process go smoothly.

The indicative target is self-imposed by the Commission. It will help to ensure that sufficient Croatians are employed in all areas of the Commission and at all levels, including management, so that nationals of the EU's 28th Member State are properly reflected within the institution as rapidly as possible. The target covers officials and temporary agents, and covers a five-year transition period ending on 30 June 2018.

As in former enlargements, the recruitment targets are calculated on the basis of the relative weight of the new MemberState. They include senior and middle management posts as well as administrator and assistant posts, as follows:

Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič said: "I am delighted that after years of negotiations, we are finally entering the final lap towards Croatian membership of the EU. I am sure Croatia will make an enormous contribution to European integration, and I hope many of its brightest and best talented citizens will be inspired to do exactly that by coming to work in the European Institutions".

The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) has already launched one wave of competitions to prepare for this enlargement. Priority at this early stage was given to linguistic experts of the Croatian language (translators, interpreters, and lawyer-linguists), for all EU institutions, which were open to EU-28 nationals.

Another wave of open competitions mayalready be launched later this year. These competitions will cover a range of profiles for Croatian nationals, including generalist administratorsand assistants. There will also be profiles for linguistic experts, heads of translation and interpretation units, proof-readers, and language editors of the Croatian language. This latter will be open to EU-28 nationals.

On 30 June 2013, the eve of accession, the EU Delegation to Croatia will cease its functions. The following day, the new Commission Representation in Croatia will open its doors. It will employ around 20 staff. In addition, a group of about 35-40 staff – the Transition team – will stay in place for a maximum period of 18 months following Croatia's accession to phase out Pre-accession Instrument assistance.

Background

With the accession of Croatia, the population of the EU will increase by 4,443,000, the number of official languages will increase to 24, and the surface area of the Union will increase by 56,594 square kilometres.

The package adopted today includes:

• A Communication to the Commission by Vice-PresidentMarošŠefčovič in agreement with the President, Vice President Viviane Reding, and CommissionerŠtefan Füle on phasing-out of Commission pre-accession activities in Croatia - Creation of a Commission Representation in Croatia;
• A Commission Staff Working Document on the administrative preparations for enlargement;
• A Communication to the Commission concerning the recruitment of Commission officials and temporary agents from Croatia;

Link to documents:

Link to Croatia country profile:

Contacts :
Antonio Gravili (+32 2 295 43 17)
Marilyn Carruthers (+32 2 299 94 51)

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