The European Commission’s entrance exam, EPSO, is starting between November 9 and November 13. But over half of this year’s applicants are Italian, which clashes with an internal hiring rule forcing departments to prioritise candidates from underrepresented countries.
The EU’s permanent civil service suffers from severe geographical imbalances. Germany and France sit at just 64% and 73% of their targeted staffing benchmarks, while a retirement wave is set to empty 16% of all active German official posts.
To correct this, the Commission enacted a 2025 internal HR framework prioritising 15 “underrepresented” member states in the upcoming hiring processes. The mandate legally forces managers to invite at least one candidate from these countries to final job interviews. This will apply to candidates who pass this year’s EPSO generalist exam and enter the EU jobs reserve list.
But 2026’s registration came with a record-breaking statistical difference. Out of roughly 175,000 total applicants, nearly 80.000 were from Italy.
Because the exam is a blind, merit-based test of raw scores, this means Italian candidates (and a broader surge from Southern Europe) are mathematically positioned to sweep the final hiring lists, while youth in Northern and Western Europe are largely ignoring the call.
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Source: www.euronews.com
