Now that the political agreement on the new European External Action Service (EEAS) has been made, the question arises: who will this new service have as its staff?

The idea to have 1/3 Commission (mainly RELEX and some related DGs), 1/3 Council (from its Brussels Secretariat) and 1/3 Member States (national diplomats) in the service is interesting. Senior people mention some 1200-1600 starting staff, but it is widely held that the total number of the service staff will go up to as much as 6000 until 2013.

The EU Civil Service Tribunal recently handed down its decision in the Pachtitis v. European Commission case - brought by an unsuccessful candidate in a previous EPSO pre-selection. Although details are not yet clear, the decision may have far-reaching consequences with regards to how EPSO organises it selection procedures and may even force EPSO to offer a second chance to candidates who were not pre-selected in the recent AD competition.

Highlights:
 - Pre-Selection is part of the competition
 - EPSO is not competent to make sele...

It doesn’t matter who designs your product or service - a rookie or an expert - nobody can escape the Features-Usability tradeoff curve. Perhaps you can fight it by organizing additional features smartly, but eventually you’ll start losing to it. More features mean wider categories.

When you add music to your “Videos” folder you need to rename it to “Media”, and when you start serving meat at your pizzeria, it becomes a restaurant. Features bring about generalization, and generalization brings about navigation problems.

Costumers ...

The European Parliament launched a banner campaign on various EU online media platforms (EUobserver, EurActiv etc.) where a blue flash banner box with catchy titles such as "massive job-losses", "less economic growth", "sharp budget cuts" lead to the key question: "How does the crisis affect Europe?". The proposed solution? Watch www.europarltv.eu

Sure, let's see what you get if you decide to click through despite this unspellable domain name. Actually, not much. It leads you to the European Parliament TV's "your voice" page where ...

Where are the people who understand what "online communication" or "digital tools" mean in Brussels? It seems that EU institutions and the majority of lobby organisations are stuck with Web 1.0, or let's be generous, Web 1.1.

Is the situation really that bad? After all, EU institutions do use Facebook and Eutube, Commissioners have blogs and the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) even uses Twitter from time to time and most public and private lobby bodies are present on the internet. A Brussels consultancy has released a Blog...

Are you a diplomat representing a South American country in Brussels? Are you a trade association covering renewable energy matters? Are you a lobbyist trying to have DG SANCO issue a positive opinion about a plant fertiliser? Are you an NGO going to great lengths to have the European Parliament condemn an act of racism in an African country? Well, the sad truth is that nobody cares about you.

To be fair, the truth is that everybody cares about you only as much as you offer them something they care about.

What does this mean? If you a...

What’s common in a Lamborghini driver, a sensational tabloid headline, a spam email and a job interview candidate wearing a provocative dress?

It’s the message they convey: craving attention but lacking content.

Those who buy these cars, write these headlines, send these emails and put this outfit do manage to fool certain audiences. But times are changing and people are realising that depth cannot be exchanged for loudness.

A Mini is more attractive these days because it conveys a message of cuteness; a nice play-on-words ...

Has the BP oil spill reached Europe? Is the oil already covering EU institutions' websites? Here is an amazingly smart public affairs environmental campaign where you can check how the oil would affect the virtual world and make your voice heard in the real world!

(Disclaimer: the above screenshot was created with the www.instantoilspill.com website to raise awareness of their resourceful campaign. No harm is made or intended for any public website whatsoever.)

If you are aiming to get an EU affairs job in Brussels, you must act by the classic job market rules: you shall convince an employer that only you have the specialist knowledge they are seeking. This requires horizontal (generalist) and vertical (specialist) knowledge. Neither of the two is enough these days, so we decided to share some great ideas in the coming months on how to get an EU affairs job.

Let's see the first crucial element: find your niche.

What is a niche? It refers to a special segment of EU issues or a specialty that m...

 We asked our Facebook fans why they are interested in getting an EU job and an amazing 39 answers were given. Here are the reasons why European job seekers are looking to work for the European Union in Brussels (only first names are shown for privacy) - a fascinating read!

I'M REALLY INTERESTED TO GET AN EU JOB BECAUSE...

1. " ... the salaries and benefits are excellent while the competences required and the content of the job are unclear, and there is plenty of unemployment in other sectors!" (Sophia)

2.  "‎... no one in the EU in...

One of the most commonly held urban legends in EU circles is the saying attributed to Henry Kissinger of "Who do I call if I want to call Europe?". As the FT revealed, he never actually said it. But how could it hold on so long there in Brussels and beyond?

Waste is present even where we don't see it: just look at two everyday issues in European institutions (or at any large government administration) like document printing and staff meetings. Apply a bit of numerical reasoning to quantify it, and be surprised.

Whether you apply to work for an EU agency, a Brussels job in EU affairs, a temporary job at an EU diplomatic mission or elsewhere, you will almost certainly send your application via e-mail: providing a cover message (the e-mail body) and a CV attached. Sounds simple - except when your message is not even delivered to the future employer. How is that possible?

Did you think EU Commissioners have an easy or safe job? Think again! Since the Lisbon Treaty entered into force, their life and moral safety is under threat: the Ukrainian orthodox Greek-Catholic Church has just issued a scathing statement...which, in our view, may even endanger Ukraine's (anyways uncertain) EU accession..!!

When EPSO announced its new selection procedures, it was welcomed by many with enthusiasm. Lowering the barrier to entry while selecting more suitable candidates via the Assessment Center by removing EU knowledge tests was a big relief for most people. But recruitment is not limited to EPSO: consider the (s)election of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), the European Commission President and other senior politicians. Maybe a change of procedures is the answer to the EU's problems?