Accredited parliamentary assistants (abbr. APA) are chosen by a Member or a group of Members of the European Parliament to take care of the dirty work in their legislative activities. APAs’ prestige depends on the… Accredited Parliamentary Assistant
The Committee of the Regions (CoR), established in 1994, was set up to address two main issues: showcasing European regional food by organizing buffets cultural events in Brussels and ensuring a political future to many… Committee of the Regions
Becoming a Contract Agent (abbr. CA) is the first step to become a eurocrat. You just need to perform the following tasks: Be invited to a CAST Competition (hint: networking is required). There are several… Contract Agent
A Directorate-General (abbr. DG) is an administrative branch dedicated to a specific field of expertise (e. g. agriculture). It is very similar to a ministry, but we can’t call them like that or member states… Directorate-General
Outside the EU Bubble, the term is used by anyone who wishes to undergo surgery in order to increase their attractiveness visavi potential sexual partners. Within said bubble, enlargement means adding more countries to the… Enlargement
Europe Elects is a poll aggregator that publishes election-related data using the Black Speech of Mordor. Posts like Hlas-S&D: 21% OĽaNO-EPP: 11% SaS-ECR: 10% PS-RE: 9% Smer-S&D: 9% are not uncommon on this unholy account.… Europe Elects
The European Central Bank (ECB) administers monetary policy within the Eurozone. The bank’s capital stock (€10,825,007,069.61) is owned by all 27 central banks of each EU member states. That’s why it’s very hard for a… European Central Bank
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is a retirement home for veteran officials and social partners. Its canteen is conveniently located at the Committee of the Regions (best buffet in town!). The EESC can… European Economic and Social Committee
Flexibalise, present tense of flexibalised, means to make something flexible. The etymology is unknown, though it sounds like a French-speaking speech-writer using the word flexibilisé. This word was added to the English Dictionary (Bubble Version)… Flexabilise
An Infringement Procedure is like a letter written by an ex-lover: it is awkward and hard to understand, it contains accusations and you take months to reply to it. It represents a legal action taken… Infringement Procedure
Interimaire are trainees who failed to become Contract Agents and ended up in the institutions’ purgatory: they work hard, pay taxes on their salary (the ultimate Eurocrat’s shame), and have a weekly renewable contract with… Interimaire
Intramuros (abbr. IM) are the most normal people you can meet in the corridors, as they have never been institutionalized (both meanings apply). They are usually unaware of anything concerning the European Union or the… Intramuros
Luxembourg (abbr. LUX) is one of the funding members of the European Union, with a curious inverse relationship between its size and the cost of housing. Its considerable community of eurocrats is haunted by the… Luxembourg
A Member of the European Parliament (abbr. MEP) is the living proof that eurocrats are elected by the people, as in every well-functioning democracy. They change every five years, which is more or less the… Member of the European Parliament
Member State (abbr. MS) is how eurocrats call a country which is part of the European Union. Clear writing guidelines recommend using EU country or EU countries instead, but some habits are hard to die.
When used by someone in the EU Bubble this term refers to the 24 official languages of the European Union. Except if the speaker/writer is French, then it just means: “more French”. A language can… Multilingualism
Parachuting is the act of appointing people who had prestigious political roles to administrative positions they don’t have the requirements or the competences for (e. g. an ex-commissioner with little academic experience who is nominated… Parachuting
A qualified majority (abbr. QM) is the number of votes required in the Council for a decision to be adopted (don’t forget that this is only one step of the EU legislative process). You might… Qualified Majority
Seconded National Experts (abbr. SNE) are like the Erasmus students of the institutions: they already work in the administration of a member state and are lent to the European Union for a short period of… Seconded National Expert
SOTEU (short for Sound Of The European Union) is the most successful musical of the EU Bubble. It is performed once a year in front of the whole European Parliament, usually in Strasbourg, though SOTEU… SOTEU, State of the European Union
Spitzenkandidat (German for lead candidate) indicates a person chosen by a certain political group of the European Parliament for the post of President of the European Commission. By extension, the plural of the word (spitzenkandidaten)… Spitzenkandidat
Strasbourg (abbr. STR) is the place you don’t want to go to. It is also one of the seats of the European Parliament (together with BRU and LUX). Conveniently located between the Vosges mountains and… Strasbourg
Temporary Agents (abbr. TA) are the unicorn of the institutions, as they are very rare (they make up around 2% of the institution staff) and only a few people had the privilege of meeting one.… Temporary Agent
A third country (/θɜː(r)d kʌntɹi/) is a country that has not (yet) joined the European Union; or a country which, through some inexplicable act of self-harm, has left that same Union. In this latter case… Third country
A topical moment of any institutional meeting, it’s the process of asking all the participants to briefly introduce themselves, usually answering the following questions: What’s your name? In which Directorate/Unit do you work? Why are… Tour de table
Whatever it takes, often stylized as Whatever it tak€s, is a recurrent phrase from the European Central Bank film franchise, used to express determination to achieve a certain objective. Its origins are probably Indo-European, as… Whatever it takes
A White Paper generally indicates a government report giving information or proposals on a certain issue. In the EU Bubble the term refers to the one and only Juncker’s initiative in which citizens were invited… White Paper