Traineeships offer:

•     first-hand experience of the work of the GSC
•     EU knowledge - insight into the processes and policies of the EU institutions
•     an opportunity to contribute to the Council's day-to-day business
•     the chance to work in a multicultural, multilingual and multi-ethnic environment
•     an opportunity to share your fresh point of view and the knowledge you have acquired during your studies.

    Paid traineeships
    Compulsory unpaid traineeships
    Traineeships for students of national administration schools

What does a traineeship involve? Depending on the needs of the service, your daily work would generally be equivalent to that of junior administrator officials at the beginning of their career, such as:

•     preparing meetings and drafting minutes
•     attending meetings of Council preparatory bodies and Coreper (Committee of the Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the member states to the EU)
•     researching on a particular project
•     translating documents
•     compiling documentation, writing reports.

Trainees will also be invited to take part in a study programme that includes visits and conferences at other EU institutions in Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg.

GSC traineeships are open to EU citizens and citizens from candidate countries that have concluded EU accession negotiations. Candidates must meet the eligibility requirements, including those on nationality, at the time of selection. Therefore, UK nationals remain eligible and can be selected for the traineeship period beginning 1 September 2019 and ending 31 January 2020 if, at the time of selection (April 2019), the UK is a member state of the EU. Candidates must have very good knowledge of at least two EU official languages. Given that English and French are used extensively for internal communication within the GSC, a good knowledge of English or French and the ability to communicate in one of these languages is required. The majority of applications currently come from candidates with qualifications in law, political science, international relations, EU studies and economics. The GSC is also looking for trainees with qualifications in other fields, such as: translation, human resources, communication, education studies, computer sciences, graphic design, multimedia, agricultural technology, biochemical engineering, health and food safety, energy management, environment, aerospace engineering.

Applications will not be accepted from candidates who have already benefited from any kind of training (paid or unpaid) or employment for more than 6 weeks within an EU institution, body, agency or office.