Of stable doors and bolting horses

So far, this book has shown how trends and/or their consequences seemed to creep up on UK governments and parties as though they were almost unawares although, in retrospect, it always seemed evident what was likely to occur. Regarding the esoteric issue of staffing of the EU institutions, a UK government did, finally, realize what was occurring and tried, belatedly to reverse the negative trend. But, as will be seen, by then it was too late and, anyway, the prospect of a referendum inevitably discouraged those who might otherwise have thought about attempting to launch an EU career. It is yet another sorry tale where statecraft seemed to be mainly lacking – or, if not statecraft, the typical behaviour of an important member state, making sure that the EU bureaucracy contained an appropriate or proportionate number of its own nationals. This chapter will first explain the basic concept of the European Union civil service and the member states, and then look at the importance of “representative bureaucracy” in general and, in the case of the EU institutions, geographic origin in particular. It will then show how the UK has, notwithstanding various limitations, traditionally been a “purveyor” of top-level EU civil servants, and will examine some of the reasons for this. The chapter will then describe the growing problem of staffing, the belated realization in 2010 that something was badly wrong and the various issues taken to try and correct the issue. The chapter will conclude with a general reflection on the cautionary tale of the not-so-mysterious case of the disappearing EU Sir Humphreys.

The European Union civil service and the (new) member states

The European Union’s institutions are primarily staffed by specifically European civil servants (though there are other, more temporary, types of agent) who enjoy their own special status, as opposed to being national civil servants or diplomats. The answer as to why there is a European civil service is bound up in the European Union’s origins.