Fall of senior British civil servants in EU 'worrying'

The UK government has been urged to "up its game" to halt a predicted "worrying" fall in the number of senior British civil servants in the European Union.

A new report from the British Bankers' Association (BBA) warns that failure to address the issue will see a "sharp decline" in the UK's influence in Brussels.

The BBA says the UK is currently reasonably represented at the top echelons of the European Commission. Of the 128 senior management and top cabinet positions, Germany held 20, the UK 13 and France 11 at the end of 2013.

But the Association points to a "worrying" impending "cliff-edge" for British influence because many of the highest-ranking British officials are near retirement age and there is no 'pipeline' of junior colleagues ready to replace them.

The proportion of permanent British officials in the Commission is also decreasing rapidly – from 9.6% in 2004 to 4.5%, compared to a UK population share of approximately 12%.

The BBA says "even these low numbers" are concentrated in departments that are not policy focused, for example, the directorate general for communication.

This leaves the percentage of British officials in departments that are crucial in drafting and overseeing financial services legislation even lower, such as 3.5% in the internal market and services DG where there is only one British national among 19 top managers compared to four French nationals, three Spanish nationals, and two managers each from Italy, the Netherlands and Germany.

The top managers overseeing agricultural products, from wine to arable crops, are largely drawn from France, Italy and Spain.

The report also reveals that in the last three years the UK accounted for only 2.4% of the candidates taking the EU civil service entrance exam and just 2.6% of those passing the exam.

Additionally, not a single person from the UK Government’s re-launched EU Fast Stream, which offers chance of a five-month secondment to the Commission, has gone on to join the executive.

Representation in the European External Action Service is slightly higher, with 7.6% of staff British, and the UK currently has 107 seconded national experts working in the EU institutions.

An estimated 1,000 Commission civil servants will retire each year in the next 10-20 years and, of these, 950 are expected to come from member states, like the UK, that joined before 2004.

But to counter the potential "large decrease" in its influence, the BBA says the UK should, for example, argue for increasing the number of British managers working on financial services legislation "to mirror the fact" that the UK hosts the leading financial centre in Europe.

BBA Chief Executive Anthony Browne said: “It's crucial the UK has as much influence as possible in Brussels.

“When it comes to staff numbers working in Brussels, Britain massively punches below its weight, particularly in the most important parts of the Commission. The UK has less than half the staff it should for its size of population and even far smaller EU nations are better represented. This means there are fewer people with a strong understanding of UK issues in the corridors of power in Brussels, and so a greater likelihood that our national interests aren’t taken properly into account.

“The situation is bad now, but set to get much worse. Fewer than three in 100 people passing EU entrance exams are from the UK. We are also worried that a number of senior British officials will be retiring soon and the government is not doing enough to replace them. This cliff edge effect is real and worrying so the government needs to up its game.”

A government spokesperson said: "It is in UK interests for us to be well represented in the EU institutions. UK experience and insight can add real value to the EU Institutions’ policy and legislative development.

"We recognise the problem that, in relation to its share of the EU's population, the UK is significantly under­-represented among the staff of the major EU institutions. Turning this around is a key priority to which the Government is committed."

The EU Staffing Unit, launched in April 2013, aims to reverse the trend by promoting EU career opportunities and increase secondments in positions of strategic importance to the UK.

A Commission spokesman said: "We are aware that the current number of UK nationals in the Commission is far below the level expected. As for a number of other countries including Demark and Ireland, this situation will be exacerbated by the high levels of retirements expected following 40 years of membership and by the low levels of entry-level applications from the UK of around 2.4%.

This is why the Commission is working hard with officials in the UK government to encourage motivated Brits to come and work in the EU institutions."

UK Tory MEP Vicky Ford, who chairs the Internal Market Committee, said: "As EU laws are usually negotiated in English British officials play a vital role and will often be relied upon to draft the final details of complex legislation.Many potential British candidates have told me that they cannot meet the Commission’s entry criteria because they do not speak a second European language. This is particular barrier for UK nationals as it is common from bright graduates from other countries to be highly proficient in English as a second language."

UKIP deputy leader Paul Nuttall said: "What we see is a gradual disengagement from the EU that is not just visible in the opinion polls, but is also now clearly apparent amongst the establishment itself. That the EU has made the language requirements more stringent, with three fluent languages required for a new entrant is, not by accident, designed to make life harder for British applicants."

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