Departamentul International

Deadline: 31 March 2013
Open to: Graduates from EU Member States or official candidate countries who have a knowledge of two of the official EU languages.
Costs: All costs are covered

Every year, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) offers a limited number of university graduates a five-month traineeship:

• from 16 February to 15 July (spring session);
• from 16 September to 15 February of the following year (autumn session).

Each trainee is assigned to a specific department of the CoR. The nature of the work depends largely on the unit. Some units are more politically oriented, others are more administrative. In general, the type of work assigned is equivalent to that performed by junior executive-grade officials (AD5).

Aims
The aim of the traineeship within the CoR is:

• to provide a unique, first-hand experience of the workings of the CoR in particular, and of the EU institutions in general;
• to acquire practical experience and knowledge of the day-to-day work of the Committee’s departments;
• to work in a multicultural and multilingual environment;
• to put into practice knowledge acquired during studies, particularly in your areas of competence.

Objectives
The CoR offers trainees the possibility to organize a study visit, under the supervision of the Traineeships Office. The subject of the study visit is selected by the trainees and should be related to areas of CoR’s main political interests. The study visit allows/enables the trainees to fulfil the following objectives:

• learning how to cooperate in a professional setting and in a multicultural environment;
• living the reality of European integration, with a focus on the local and regional perspective;
• contributing to the CoR’s work by drafting a report which can be used by units;
• attending a wide range of conferences/forums/seminars on diverse subjects.

Traineeship period
There are two training periods per year:

• Spring session: from 16 February to 15 July
• Autumn session: from 16 September to 15 February (of the following year)

Eligibility

To apply for a traineeship at the CoR, the applicant must meet the following criteria:

• be a national of one of the Member States of the European Union or of a State which is an official candidate for accession;
• have completed at least the first cycle of a higher education course and obtained a full degree by the closing date for applications;
• have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union and a satisfactory knowledge of another EU-working language (French or English).

Costs

CoR-trainees are entitled to a monthly grant. The amount of the grant is equivalent to 25% of the salary of AD*5 officials (step 1) at the start of the traineeship for the full 5-month period. If a CoR trainee in receipt of a grant is also in receipt of income from a source external to the CoR during his/her in-service training period, he/she shall have no claim to any financial contribution from the CoR, save insofar as that external remuneration is less than the in-service training grant. In that event, he/she shall receive the difference up to the amount of that grant.

An additional monthly allowance of €100, 00 is awarded to:

• a married trainee whose spouse is not gainfully employed;
• a trainee who has dependent children (€100, 00/child/month).

A supplementary grant amounting to up to half of the monthly grant may be granted to a handicapped trainee after consideration of his/her individual situation.

Health insurance
The Health insurance is compulsory. If the trainee is not covered by any other health insurance scheme, he/she will be insured by the CoR’s health insurance policy. The contribution of the trainee shall be one third of the premium, which will be deducted from the monthly grant, the remainder being borne by the CoR.

If a trainee wishes to use a different health insurance policy, proof of this insurance must be presented to the CoR before the start of the traineeship period. If this is not done within the provided deadline, the premium for the CoR insurance scheme will be deducted from the trainees’ grant by default and the trainee will be automatically insured through the CoR health insurance scheme.

Accident insurance
The accident insurance is compulsorily as well.All trainees must also be insured against risk of accident under the conditions set out in the insurance policy taken out by the CoR. The trainees’ contribution shall be one tenth of the premium, deducted automatically from the trainee’s grant, the remainder being borne by the CoR.

Travel expenses

1. A trainee who is recruited from anywhere except Brussels shall be entitled to the reimbursement of travel expenses incurred at the beginning and the end of the traineeship period, provided that his/her place of recruitment is within the geographical limits of the European Union, or of a State which is an official candidate for accession.
2. A trainee whose place of recruitment is within 50km of his/her place of assignment shall not be entitled to the reimbursement of travel costs.
3. Travel expenses are calculated on the basis of the most economical route.
4. In order to receive the reimbursement for your travel expenses, you must present supporting documents (such as train or plane tickets, compulsory boarding pass, electronic booking form, invoices, etc.).
5. The cost of the return journey equals the cost price of the inward journey and is reimbursed at the end of the traineeship, without the documents having to be produced. 

Application

Applications are exclusively submitted online via an internet Application Form in English, French or German.

About the application form:

• Before you start the form, please make sure that you have all the required information.
• There are mandatory and optional fields to complete. It will be impossible for you to submit your application unless you complete all the mandatory fields. The other fields are optional, and are intended to help the Traineeships Office to establish a more detailed profile of you.
• Please check that all the information you provide is correct.
• Also check your form thoroughly before submitting.
• You can return to your application form and make changes at any time before the submission deadline. After this date, no changes are allowed.
• Once your application is submitted electronically, you will receive an acknowledgement of receipt by e-mail. With this e-mail you will receive a personal access code. This is to allow you to check your status during the selection process.
• Any false statement or omission in the application form, even if unintentional, may lead to rejection of the application or cancellation of a traineeship.

Application deadline
The electronic application form must be submitted within the following
timeframe (unless otherwise stated on the website):

• Spring session: Between 1st April and 30th September (midnight, Brussels local time) of the preceding year
• Autumn session: Between 1st October and 31st March (midnight, Brussels local time) of the same year

Any application received outside this period will not be accepted by the Traineeships Office.
Any application not submitted electronically will not be accepted by the Traineeships Office.

For further information on the application process and the required documents visit

The Official Webpage.