Source: European Parliament
As for all Commission staff, Cabinet members are bound to respect the obligations set out in the Treaties, the Staff Regulations[1] and the internal rules of the Commission[2].
Moreover, Cabinet staff, without any distinction of grade, must have solely the interests of the institution and of the EU in mind when performing their duties. They shall not take instructions from any government, authority, organisation, or person outside the Commission.
Cabinet staff, working as a team in a trust relationship with their Commissioner, should reflect the diversity of the EU. For this reason, the rules governing the composition of the Cabinets of the Members of the Commission and of the Spokesperson’s Service[3] for the mandate 2024-2029 have been strengthened regarding nationalities.
In particular, the staff of the President, the Executive Vice-Presidents (EVPs) and the High Representative/Vice-President (HR/VP) must consist of members of at least five different nationalities of the EU, respectively for their administrator (AD), assistant (AST) and secretary/clerk (AST/SC) staff members.
No more than four AD staff for the President, three AD staff for the EVPs and the HR/VP shall have the nationality of their Commissioner.
The staff of Commissioners shall consist of members of at least three different nationalities, respectively for their AD and AST — AST/SC staff, and no more than two AD staff shall have the nationality of their Commissioner.
The Commission can confirm that the staff of all members of the College fulfil these conditions.
- [1] Staff Regulations of Officials and Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (Regulation No 31 CEE 11 (CEEA).
- [2] Commission Decision (EU) 2024/3080 of 4 December 2024 establishing the Rules of Procedure of the Commission and amending Decision C(2000) 3614, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2024/3080/oj/eng
- [3] Communication from the President to the Commission P(2024) 7, https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/ef4cd545-2fa4-445c-8374-8dce9e10acf5_en?filename=Rules%20governing%20the%20composition%20of%20the%20Cabinets%20and%20SPP.PDF