The European Parliament offers two types of traineeships: Traineeships in the Secretariat (Schuman traineeships) and Traineeships with Members of the European Parliament.

For detailed information about traineeships with the European Parliament, visit the website HERE.

Traineeships in the Secretariat – Schuman Traineeships

Schuman traineeships are paid and can be undertaken at one of the European Parliament’s official places of work – Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg – or in its Liaison Offices in the Member States.

A Schuman traineeship:

• will enhance your education and your vocational training
• will provide you with an insight into the work of the EU institutions and the European Parliament, a crucial forum for decision-making and political debate at EU level
• may be undertaken in a wide variety of fields, such as EU internal and external policies, finance, law, multilingualism, administration, infrastructure and logistics, communication or IT.
• is an equal opportunities employer; candidates without distinction as to gender, sexual orientation, cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds or disability are encouraged to apply, with reasonable accommodation available for successful candidates with disabilities who may need them.
• is honouring journalists who were killed during the exercise of their work - the Directorate-General for Communication offers a number of Schuman traineeships in memory of Ján Kuciak, the Slovak investigative journalist who was murdered in February 2018.
• opens pathway for the Schuman Recruitment and Development Programme, which is a new and exciting programme that creates a pathway for a number of high performing Schuman trainees to continue working for Parliament as staff members, following the successful completion of their traineeship.

Application:

The Schuman traineeships are awarded for a period of five months:

• Traineeship period 1 October-28/29 February - you can apply from 1 to 31 May
  
• Traineeship period 1 March-31 July - you can apply from 1 to 31 October
  

Spontaneous applications will not be considered.

Applicants for a Schuman traineeship must:

• be aged 18 or over;
• be nationals of a Member State of the European Union or an accession/candidate country (a very limited number of traineeships to nationals of other countries can also be offered);
• hold a university level diploma (!)
• have a thorough knowledge of one of the official EU languages and a very good knowledge of a second (citizens of non-Member States must have a very good knowledge of either English, French or German);
• provide an eligible criminal record;
• not have worked, or have benefitted from any other type of traineeship, for more than two consecutive months in an EU institution, body or agency;
• not have carried out a study visit at the Secretariat of the European Parliament six months prior to the beginning of the traineeship.

In order to apply, visit traineeship application page.

Traineeships with Members of the European Parliament

Members of the European Parliament may offer paid traineeships at their offices in the premises of the European Parliament in Brussels (or Strasbourg) based on an agreement with the European Parliament.

The MEP traineeship:

• will enhance your education and your vocational training
• will allow you to better understand the working methods of the Members of the European Parliament
• may be undertaken in a wide variety of fields
• is between six weeks and five consecutive months, and is decided on by the Member of Parliament who awards the traineeship. It can start at any time during the year.
• awards a monthly grant of between € 1133 and € 1856 for a full-time traineeship

Members freely choose their trainees. However, candidates must fulfil the following criteria:

• be aged 18 or over (derogations from this age limit can be granted in response to a duly substantiated request);
• be nationals of a Member State of the European Union or an accession/candidate country. Nevertheless, Members may offer a traineeship to nationals of third countries, provided they comply with visa requirements;
• have obtained a secondary-school leaving certificate, followed a higher or technical or vocational course of study to an equivalent level, or obtained a university level diploma
• have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union;
• not be party to an employment contract or any working contractual relationship during their traineeship;
• not have carried out a previous traineeship with a Member, nor have previously worked as a parliamentary assistant to a Member, whether local or accredited.

To submit an application, it is necessary to contact directly the Members of the European Parliament.