Staff Careers Unit and Staff Rights and Obligations Unit

Tasks of the Legal Service:

• To provide legal advice to the Institution, its organs and its General Secretariat and represent it in litigation proceedings before the Courts of the European Union as well as national courts.

• The selected trainee will participate jointly in the work of two units of the Legal Service:
  • Staff Careers Unit;
  • Staff Rights and Obligations Unit.

Description of the Units:

• The Staff Careers Unit of the Legal Service deals with social and labour law as applied to the European Civil Service, the careers of officials, agents and the accredited parliamentary assistants of Members on the basis of the Staff Regulations and related case-law. It enables lawyers pragmatically to approach fundamental rights such as the principles of equal treatment, proportionality, adversarial process, the duty of care and the right to be heard. Unit deals with sensitive pre-litigation and litigation files and for this reason, the work requires in-depth preparation in EU law, great legal analytical skills, full commitment and a strong sense of confidentiality.

• The Staff Rights and Obligations Unit of the Legal Service deals with social and labour law as applied to the European Civil Service, the rights and obligations of officials, agents and the accredited parliamentary assistants of Members on the basis of the Staff Regulations and related case-law. It enables lawyers pragmatically to approach fundamental rights such as the principles of equal treatment, proportionality, adversarial process, the duty of care and the right to be heard. Unit deals with sensitive pre-litigation and litigation files and for this reason, the work requires in-depth preparation in EU law, great legal analytical skills, full commitment and a strong sense of confidentiality.

• By joining the Units, you will have the opportunity to be involved in the handling of litigation cases falling within the Unit’s remit and to attend at least one hearing before the EU Court of Justice.

Description of tasks entrusted to trainees:

• Assisting the Units’ lawyers and Heads of Unit by:
  • research work (doctrine, jurisprudence);
  • the preparation of files (documentation, analysis).
• Analysing and discussing with the Unit’s lawyers on the key points of pre-litigation and litigation cases;
• Attending parliamentary committee meetings in Brussels and a plenary session in Strasbourg;
• Attending various meetings;
• Attending a hearing before the Court of Justice in Luxembourg;
• Any other task relating to the daily work of the Unit’s lawyers.

Place of work: LUXEMBOURG

Selection criteria:

• Law Degree - preferably Master 2
• Language skills: English and French