EU Parliament staffers vote as Politico unions target top jobs
EU Parliament staffers are voting this week for the Staff Committee as politico unions challenge how top administrative jobs are filled. The committee will represent the non-political workforce in talks with management figures including Roberta Metsola.
The Parliament employs 11,200 people, and about 3,900 work as lawmakers, assistants or political group staff. Ethos says political affiliation has taken precedence over competence and merit, while many vacancies are never advertised or are designed for preselected candidates.
Staff Committee and Metsola
The Staff Committee is the channel through which administrative workers negotiate with the Parliament’s management. That makes this week’s vote more than an internal election: it decides who speaks for the staff side when the union complaints reach the people running the institution.
Roberta Metsola is one of those management figures. She said Alessandro Chiocchetti’s appointment had been “the most open process in the history of this institution,” after he became secretary-general following a controversial appointment.
Chiocchetti appointment
Chiocchetti had been Metsola’s chief of staff before becoming secretary-general. Green MEP Heidi Hautala called the appointment “a sordid saga,” while the Parliament’s press services said the administration has taken a number of steps in recent years to further strengthen transparency, documentation and consistency in senior management selection procedures.
The complaint from Ethos goes further than one appointment. In its election program, the union said ordinary staff members “have virtually no career prospects” because they have devoted their careers to the administration without passing through a cabinet post and without political experience.
Welle’s stronger role
The backdrop to the dispute includes Klaus Welle, who served as secretary-general from 2009 to 2022. Under him, the secretary-general role became far more powerful, adding weight to whoever holds the post and to the way senior appointments are handled inside the Parliament.
That leaves staffers voting now with a practical stake: the committee they choose will help press the case that administrative jobs should not depend on political connections. If the unions carry enough support, the internal fight moves from complaint to negotiation.
