"I have always wanted a job with a purpose – to make society a little bit better. And a healthy society starts with information you can trust.

Working at Eurostat allows me to contribute to the public interest and provide the reliable data that our policymakers – and all of us – depend on. Even before I worked here, my friends and I used to send each other Eurostat infographics if we wanted to prove a point, so it’s great to be at the source now.

Plus, it’s an interesting, appreciative, and multicultural workplace!

I came to Eurostat through the Generalist/Graduate competition, after first working as a trainee for the EU agency for energy regulation in Ljubljana. Work at Eurostat is very varied: we have a lot of contact with other Directorates-General (DGs)of the Commission, but we also work closely with Member States. I personally work with data on digitalisation and internet use, which is such a fast-changing topic that it always keeps me on my toes.

As Eurostat’s Youth Correspondent, I also have a special interest in ensuring that our work reflects the needs and perspectives of the younger generation. We are all working together to shape the EU of tomorrow – if you want to be a part of it, check out the EPSO website and apply!"

“I am Aleks (she/her), and I work as a Financial Officer at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Budget (DG BUDG). My main responsibilities are in the areas of EU Green Bond financing and Asset Management Coordination. I’m also a member of the Commission’s Task Force on Equality.

Colleagues in my unit, including the Head of Unit, who were the first to be aware of my gender identity, were very supportive and understanding of my transition. Eventually, when the whole directorate became aware of my identity, I can confidently say that I have not had a single bad experience but rather found support and ‘kind curiosity’. I also prepared some materials on transgender issues with senior management, an initiative that was very well accepted by all. Transgender people can find a safe working environment in DG BUDG. Challenges remain, of course, especially when it comes to recognition and digital administrative systems, but positive changes are coming and I am happy to see and be part of various internal task forces and groups working on how to further improve current systems.

There’s a long path ahead but we are on the right course. I believe transgender people will be warmly welcomed in any team in the Commission.”

"Multilingualism - the possibility to express and inform oneself in any official language - plays a key role in Europe. This makes my work at the European Parliament’s Directorate-General for Translation useful. As the leader of the team responsible for TRAD’s statistics, I can analyse and make available information about the use of languages, as well as show the work of our translators. I like the fact that my work includes different skills. I am working with the technical part of data processing as well as the design of metrics to monitor the situation. Therefore, collecting, cleaning and organizing data is my daily job, in addition to creating new metrics fitting our management needs and issuing/reworking our indicators set."

"Official statistics are not just dry numbers: they are the lifeblood of democracy. They are essential for policy makers to make informed decisions, as well as to inform citizens on how economies and societies evolve, so that they can form their own opinion.

I am proud to work in Eurostat’s Directorate on Macroeconomic statistics, as the figures we produce – for instance on Gross Domestic Product or Household Price Index (i.e. inflation), just to mention two very well-known macroeconomic indicators –, crucially support the economic policy of the EU."

"At Eurostat we’re developing the European statistics of tomorrow. 

As a statistician, I could not have been part of such a variety of challenging and meaningful projects anywhere else. 

At the heart of the European Statistical System, this is the place to do exciting stuff while making a difference!"

“I started my Commission career in DG ECFIN and have been working for DG Competition in the last ten years as a member of the Chief Economist Team. This group of roughly 30 economists is involved in those competition investigations that require in-depth knowledge of economic theory or complex empirical contributions. Working at the Chief Economist Team gave me the opportunity to work on mergers and acquisitions in several industries, from petrochemicals to stock exchanges, and to contribute to some of the most interesting antitrust investigations concerning Google’s and Amazon’s digital services. Besides the case-specific work we are also involved in policy projects, for example I co-authored a study on how industrial concentration changed in Europe in the last 20 years. As an economist trained in empirical industrial organisation and interested in competition policy, this is indeed a great place to work.”

“I joined the Council’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs in 2016, and this is my second post here. In my first post I had the unique opportunity to be responsible for the negotiations on the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the main programme of NextGenerationEU, the post-pandemic recovery plan.

In my current post in the Budget and Cohesion Unit, I am in charge of the budget heading dealing with the Union’s external action, and as a result I was also fortunate enough to be responsible for the negotiations on the EUR 18bn macro-financial assistance package to Ukraine for 2023.

Before coming to the Council, I worked in DG FISMA at the Commission, and before that I worked at the European Parliament, where I had the chance to support the negotiations on the so-called six-pack and two-pack (the Stability and Growth Pact and the Macroeconomic Imbalances Procedure).

In sum, while I don’t work as a hardcore economist, my job does require the thinking, the knowledge and the type of analysis that an economist’s work does. Having a handle on the figures and being able to interpret them is always a valuable skill to bring to your work. And as you can see, you can switch institutions as and when it suits you, which also enriches your growth and your work – particularly, for example, during negotiations. I’m never bored!”

Εργάζομαι στο Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο εδώ και πέντε χρόνια. Στη μονάδα μου, συμβουλεύουμε και υποστηρίζουμε τα μέλη του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου στη διαχείριση των συμβάσεων των τοπικών βοηθών και των τοπικών παρόχων υπηρεσιών. Στο πλαίσιο αυτό, ο όρος «τοπικός» σημαίνει ότι οι εργασίες πραγματοποιούνται στις χώρες στις οποίες εκλέχθηκαν τα μέλη του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου. 

Ο ρόλος μου είναι να διασφαλίζω ότι τα αιτήματα των μελών του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου διεκπεραιώνονται με επαγγελματικό τρόπο και ότι οι πληρωμές προς το προσωπικό τους και τους παρόχους υπηρεσιών πραγματοποιούνται εγκαίρως. Σημαντικό μέρος της εργασίας μου είναι η επαλήθευση και η διασφάλιση της νομιμότητας και κανονικότητας των εν λόγω πράξεων, με την εξασφάλιση της τήρησης των κατάλληλων κανόνων. 

Η ποικιλία των καταστάσεων και των ερωτήσεων με τις οποίες ασχολούμαι καθημερινά, ενώ παράλληλα έχω άμεση επαφή με τα μέλη του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου και τους βοηθούς τους, θεωρώ ότι είναι η πιο δύσκολη αλλά και ενδιαφέρουσα πτυχή της εργασίας μου. Επιπλέον, μου προσφέρει ικανοποίηση το να γνωρίζω ότι το έργο μου συμβάλλει στη χρηστή και διαφανή διαχείριση των οικονομικών και του προϋπολογισμού του Κοινοβουλίου.

"Crisis management encompasses the response to emergencies, in Europe and around the world. Organised along the pillars of civil protection and humanitarian aid, crisis management, for DG ECHO, means tight deadlines, coordination with the other EU institutions and the Member States and with international organisations, travel, and, most of all, the sense that you are doing something that brings tangible benefits to millions. I work in communication – keeping the public informed on what the Union is doing in response to crises from the COVID-19 pandemic to the activation of the civil protection mechanism for Ukraine, to the organization of humanitarian air bridges to the strengthening of the EU’s firefighting fleet. Every day brings something different."

“European transport policy touches upon everyone’s daily lives. That is what I realised soon after I started working in the Transport Committee of the European Parliament 15 years ago. I am now in DG MOVE (Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport) in the inter-institutional relations team.

In this coordination unit, you have a very good overview of the DG and the pending ad upcoming MOVE proposals. It’s a perfect position to understand the working methods and dynamics of other institutions as well. It is extremely interesting to closely follow the proposals though the different stages of the co-legislation process and to see how the text evolves in the Council working parties/Coreper meetings and parliamentary Committees/plenaries, and later during the trilogue negotiations”.