Reading time: 1 minute

This article examines the underrepresentation of Poland and Hungary in the EU civil service, highlighting both EU-wide and domestic factors. It underscores the need for an impartial and representative EU HR system and offers recommendations, including enforcing geographical balance especially in senior roles, preventing politicization, and reforming the concours system, to address this disparity.

The balanced representation of every European Union (EU) nationality in the European civil service is a matter of significant concern, as it touches upon the principles of fairness and geographical balance that underpin the European project. Twenty years after the 2004 enlargement, many “new” Member States, certainly Poland and Hungary, remain underrepresented within the EU civil service, especially among top jobs, while other countries are overrepresented. This does not only questions the equitable distribution of influence but also challenges the commitment to collaboration within the EU’s civil service and the fair representation of the cultural and political diversity of every Member State.