Institutional Cooperation Unit - Post A

The Directorate-General for Parliamentary Democracy Partnerships (DG PART) is a relatively new Directorate-General created in 2022 with the objective to streamline the promotion and upholding of parliamentary democracy in Europe and beyond, by fostering cooperation with national parliaments and coordinating efforts made by the Parliament liaison offices and representations outside the European Union.

Our Directorate is responsible for the relations between the European Parliament and the National Parliaments of EU Member States. Within the Directorate, the Institutional Cooperation Unit has horizontal and networking tasks, and also has political work, including in support of the President. We follow what is happening in the Parliaments of the Member States and discussions on the role of Parliaments in the EU. And we promote the European point of view in interparliamentary debates. 

In 2025, the most likely areas of interest in interparliamentary cooperation will be the priorities and initiatives of the newly elected European Parliament and newly formed European Commission. These could include highly political and interesting topics such as the consequences of Russian aggression in Ukraine, the war in the Middle East and the EU’s defence and security, the debates over future enlargement of the EU and EU institutional reform, possible changes to key policy areas such as economic competitiveness, Common Agricultural Policy, or the digital transition, including discussions on Artificial Intelligence. At staff level cooperation, we will put a particular effort in increasing our cooperation with national Parliaments in parliamentary diplomacy.

In concrete terms:

• We serve the President and the Secretary General in their contacts and meetings with National Parliaments;
• We serve and assist the European Parliament’s Delegation to the COSAC (Meeting of the EU Affairs Committees of the EU Member States and the European Parliament);
• We give advice on interparliamentary relations to the Vice-Presidents responsible for relations with national Parliaments, to the Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, to the Cabinets of the President and the Secretary General and to the colleagues who work in the political groups;
• We provide expertise and information on national Parliaments to different services in the European Parliament, notably to External Policies (DG EXPO) and to Research and Documentation (DG EPRS);
• We provide services to the representatives of the EU National Parliaments, who are hosted in Brussels by the European Parliament;
• We are a compact, multicultural and multilingual team of EP officials who like trainees and treat them well!

• Drafting briefing notes on the different aspects of inter-parliamentary cooperation between the European Parliament and national Parliaments;
• Follow-up of the parliamentary dimension of the Polish and Danish presidencies;
• Monitoring meetings of the Constitutional Affairs Committee, and especially its reports, which may have consequences for national Parliaments or for the EP´s relations with them;
• Preparation of comparative studies and summaries from information stemming from national Parliaments;
• Organisation and follow-up of various bilateral meetings between Members and officials of the European Parliament and national Parliaments.

• Interested in politics, international relations, parliaments and parliamentary cooperation (Diplomas in international relations, law, EU studies, political science, or anything similar... all welcome);
• Willing to learn all about the modalities, the complexity and the possibilities of the European Parliament´s cooperation with national Parliaments;
• Equipped with excellent drafting and analytical skills, very good interpersonal and relational skills and very good knowledge of English (knowledge of French or other European languages is of course an asset);
• Flexible and willing to take on a variety of tasks and integrate into a friendly, hard-working, multicultural team, which appreciates your fresh views and good questions;
• Already possessing an understanding of national politics or experience in a national Parliament/Chamber, be it campaigning, a traineeship, or involvement in political/civic organisations.