Traineeships 2021 - Help build a more effective, accountable, transparent and ethical administration in the EU

The European Ombudsman’s mission is to support European citizenship. We do this by dealing with complaints and by working with the institutions of the EU to help create a more accountable, transparent, ethical and effective administration. To fulfil this mission, we deal with complaints concerning maladministration by EU institutions, conduct own-initiative inquiries into systemic issues, and encourage good administrative practices in the EU's administration

Our guiding principles are independence, integrity, fairness, accountability, transparency, dialogue, and service.

Equal opportunities

The European Ombudsman is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from anybody who meets the eligibility criteria and required qualifications. We will try to accommodate the needs of applicants with disabilities.

1. September 2021 traineeships

We invite you to apply for a traineeship starting on 1 September 2021. We offer paid traineeships of one year, subject to a positive assessment of the trainee’s performance.

For this traineeship period, the Ombudsman is offering traineeships in:

• Case handling[1] (up to 5 traineeships)
• Media and communication (1 traineeship)

2. Eligibility criteria and required qualifications

Candidates should be nationals of a Member State of the European Union or of an accession/candidate country.

Candidates should not have benefitted, for more than eight consecutive weeks or two full months, from a previous paid traineeship or work contract in a European institution, body, agency, office, service, delegation, representation, including the office of a Member of the European Parliament or of a European political group.

They should have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the EU and very good knowledge of another. The main working language of the Ombudsman’s office is English and therefore a very good knowledge of English is required.

Candidates applying for case handling should have a degree or diploma of at least 3 years in either law, political science, European studies, or European public administration.

Candidates applying for media and communication should have a degree or diploma of at least 3 years in communication, journalism or media, with focus on online media and/or digital marketing.

3. Selection criteria

Candidates applying for case handling and communication should have sound:

• understanding of the role of the European Ombudsman;
• understanding of the EU institutions;
• drafting skills in English;
• drafting skills in another official language of the European Union;
• analytical and research skills.

Additionally, candidates should fulfil one or more of the following specific selection criteria:

4. Responsibilities and tasks

As a trainee in case handling, you will:

• Provide support to the investigation of complaints against EU institutions and bodies concerning issues relevant to EU administration, including research and drafting of decisions and preparatory notes;
• Handling of “out-of-mandate” complaints;
• Monitor EU policy developments and carry out research relevant to the Ombudsman’s activities;
• Replying to citizens’ information requests;
• Participate in meetings with EU institutions and bodies and draft minutes of meetings;
• Provide practical support in meetings and other events organised by the Office.

As a trainee in media and communication, you will:

• Assist with communication-related tasks with a focus on social media (mainly LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter) and online communication tools, including website management;
• Contribute to the implementation of the Unit's strategy by proposing, producing and editing online and offline content;
• Carrying out research relevant to the work of the Ombudsman for speeches and briefings;
• Assist in other communication activities, such as events and publications;
• Draft minutes of meetings.

5. Place of work

Brussels or Strasbourg

6. Deadline for applications

You must submit your application through the online application system on the Ombudsman’s website by 31 March 2021 (23:59) at the very latest.

Please, avoid waiting until the last minute to send a full application. Carefully read the rules and prepare the required scanned documents in advance, before starting the registration process.

For general information on traineeships, their aim, duration and monthly grants see the Decision of the European Ombudsman concerning traineeships.

For general information on the processing of your personal data see https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/document/en/109434

[1] Dealing with the complaints submitted to the Ombudsman; handling complaints that do not fall within the Ombudsman’s authority or powers of investigation or that cannot be dealt with for other reasons (out-of-mandate complaints); replying to requests for information. For a detailed job description, see Section 4: Responsibilities and tasks.