“Europe is seeking to hire the best brains,” reports Die Welt. Between now and 2020, an entire generation of European civil servants will retire. Thousands of posts, the equivalent of one third of the current EU workforce, will have to be filled in European institutions. The Commission alone will have to replace 10,000 of its 35,000 employees.
However, while the EU believes that it is legitimate to woo highly qualified individuals with exceptionally good working conditions — extra holidays, tax-free bonuses, ample salaries — these privileges enjoyed by its civil servants do not escape criticism, notes the daily —
The Taxpayers Association of Europe is railing against civil servants helping themselves. British Prime Minister David Cameron wants to cut billions from the EU’s wages budget. And the CSU [the Bavarian branch of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats] has taken advantage of a shortage of news during the holiday season to publicise a demand to get rid of 15 of the 27 European commissioners. […] When member states are forced to make savings, say its critics, the EU should not be an exception.
The Union spends 6 per cent of its budget on its own administrative staff of 44,000 civil servants — 55,000 if you count temporary and short-term contracts. In 2011, €8.2bn was spent funding this apparatus. And, as Die Welt reports —
There is a high level of interest for well-paid jobs, especially at time of economic crisis. […] In particular, there has been an upsurge in the number of applications submitted by candidates in Southern Europe.