The European Commission had 33271 employees on 01/07/2026.
However, there are as many as 79 EU institutions and all of them employ staff. The total number of staff employed by all EU institutions is slightly over 79211 persons. The “EU system” includes such bodies as the European Parliament, The European Council, 40+ EU agencies, and lesser known entities such as the European Court of Auditors.
While the 79211 figure might seem like a lot at first glance, there are about the same number of employees in all EU institutions as in the central governments of Sweden and Greece (66,409 and 75,112 respectively according to Eurostat).
Most common positions – administrators and assistants
Administrators (grade AD) form the largest part of European Commission staff at 14 917 persons or 44.8% of all staff.
There are 6 063 Assistants (grade AST) or 18.2% of all EU Commission staff.
Secretaries and Clerks in grade AST/SC make up 4.6% or 1,527 persons.
Contract Agents in grades FG I to FGIV represent another important part of commission staff:
FG IV: 4 661 persons or 14.0%.
FG III: 1 544 persons or 4.6%.
FG II: 1 965 persons or 5.9%.
FG I: 592 persons or 1.8%.
Other staff categories like Seconded National Experts (SNEs) and Special Advisors make up 6% of staff or 2 002 persons.
You might also want to read these articles:
* What is the salary of a contract agent FG IV?
* AD5 salary and allowances
* Job opportunities in EU agencies
Largest DGs or General Directorates
If you ever wanted to be employed by the European Commission, it makes sense to look at which are the largest General Directorates, as there the likelihood of relevant vacancies is the highest. Here’s a handy graph of Commission DGs.
Where are the European Commission staff employed?
As one can expect, the majority of staff are employed in Brussels and Luxembourg.
The large number of staff in Italy is explained by the presence of the main location of the JRC, the Joint Research Center, in this country.
The relatively small number of staff in each EU member state are usually staff deployed to EU representation in the particular EU member state’s capital.
The category “Other Locations” mainly covers stuff deployed in EU Delegations all over the world.
What are the European Commission staff costs?
On average, the EU institutions spend around 6% of their annual budget on staff, administration and maintenance of buildings.
Other relevant articles:
* How much do EU officials earn?
* How much does the European Commission President make?
References:
* European Commission report “HR key figures 2022”
* European Court of Auditors Special Report “Future of EU agencies – Potential for more flexibility and cooperation”. p.4.
* Images come from European Commission reports “HR key figures 2021” and “HR key figures 2022”
3 responses to “How many people work for the European Commission?”
“Staff under national law” are likely not SNEs, but contract agents with a contract under the law of the place of employement, such as for example the Salariés de Droit Luxembourgeois (SDL)
SNEs are usually not considered to be staff members.
As indicated in the report of the Court of Auditors, the six axecutive agencies staff are not included in this calculation of 8957 staff members. only the decentralised agencies are included.
Thank you for pointing this out, the article is updated accordingly.