European Commission Traineeship for All Nationalities 2024-2025

The European Commission Traineeship opens twice a year, and offers around 1800 paid internship positions. The program is offered for the duration of five (5) months (March to July or October to February), in administrative or translation traineeships.

The European Commission Blue Book traineeship program starts on 1 March or 1 October each year. Trainees will work 40 hours a week and gain hands-on experience in EU policymaking in a multicultural environment. The European Commission internship application is made online and is open for EU and non-EU citizens.

Program Details

• Host Institutions: European Commission.
• Area: Competition law, human resources, environmental policy, etc.
• Number of Positions: Many.
• Duration: 5 months (March to the end of July or October to the end of February), mostly in Brussels (Belgium), but also in Luxembourg and elsewhere across the European Union.
• Target group: Open to all.

European Commission Traineeship Benefits

Selected candidates for the European Commission internship will have the following benefits:

1. Insight into the processes and policies of the European Institutions;
2. An opportunity to contribute to the day-to-day work of the Commission;
3. The opportunity to put academic theory into practice;
4. A living allowance of € 1.376,89 per month..
5. Visa costs and related medical fees associated with the traineeship will be reimbursed together with travel expenditures

European Commission Traineeship Eligibility

Subject to eligibility criteria, the traineeship is open to all EU citizens, regardless of age. A limited number of places are also allocated to non-EU nationals. The traineeship program is open to university graduates who:

1. have completed a standard 3-year higher education degree (minimum EQF 6 level), corresponding to a complete Bachelor’s cycle, or equivalent. Only if you have a certificate or official confirmation from your university that you have such a degree will you be eligible to apply. You will have to provide the following documents:
   • diplomas or certificates with final grades clearly indicated
   • and proof of minimum EQF 6 level. Find out more about EQF levels
2. have no prior work experience of any kind, in excess of 6 weeks in any EU institution, body or agency, delegation, with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), or Advocates General at the Court of Justice of the European Union (EUCJ)
3. have a very good knowledge of languages
   • For the administrative traineeship – you must have a very good knowledge of two EU official languages, one of which must be a procedural language: English, French, or German at C1 or C2 level as per the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and a second one at B2 level at least as per the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. For non-EU nationals, only one procedural language is required at C1 or C2 level.
   • 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 (At least one of the source languages you offer must be French, English or German).
     • your main/target language must be one of the official EU languages
     • your first source language for translation must be a working language of the EU: English, French or German
     • your second source language can be any of the official EU languages with at least B2-level proficiency.

European Commission Traineeship Selection Criteria

Candidates will be evaluated anonymously using the following criteria and, in the following, order of relevance:

• Level of education (minimum – ‘bachelor’ or equivalent);
• Level of knowledge of one of the three European Commission working/procedural languages (EN, FR, DE);
• Level of knowledge of any other of the official/working languages of the EU as well as in any other European or non-EU languages, if any (for non-EU nationals only one procedural language is compulsory).
• Relevant work experience, if any;
• International profile (education/work/volunteering abroad, mobility, aptitude to work in an international atmosphere), if any;
• Motivation and quality of reasoning;
• Rare domains of studies;
• Papers and publications, if any.

Similar opportunities

1. OECD Internship Program for Students of All Nationalities;
2. OPEC Fund for International Development Internship Program;
3. Top 10 Government Scholarships.

How to Apply for the European Commission Traineeship

To apply for this Europe program, applicants must follow steps below:

STEP 1: Register

Please click on the apply button below to register on the application platform to begin your application. For all questions regarding your registration with EU Login (European Commission’s authentication service) see the EU Login FAQ page or contact [email protected].

STEP 2: Complete your application

Login and fill out the application form. You do not have to fill in everything in a single session. You can save and log back in to complete your application and upload all required documents.

STEP 3: Submit your application

Before submitting your application, the system will show you an overview and any remaining sections that need to be completed before submission. Once your form is fully and correctly completed, you can submit your application. After submission, you cannot make any changes to your application.

A confirmation receipt will appear on-screen, along with your candidate number. This confirms that your application has been correctly submitted. Please do not wait until the very last few days before submitting your application.

STEP 4: Apply for Traineeship

Selected applicants will receive instructions to connect to the Virtual Blue Book (VBB) portal where Commission services and agencies propose various traineeship positions. Carefully read the job description and the details of the post. You may mark as many positions as you like as favorites. Candidates may apply for up to three posts. Applications for traineeship positions in VBB will be allowed for one week and there will be a cap of 25 candidates per post. Post openings will be unpublished as soon as the maximum number of applicants has been reached or after one week.

Supporting Documents

1. Copy of a valid ID card or passport;
2. A copy of university qualifications completed before the deadline for applications;
3. Proof of ongoing studies, university exchange programs abroad, participation in EU or international programs, seminars, or workshops;
4. All declared language skills (other than the mother tongue/s);
5. All declared work experience;
6. All declared publications.

The application deadline for October 2024 session is March 15, 2024 at 10:00 CET. For more detail on the European Commission Traineeship, please visit the official page. To be the first to see latest opportunities, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.