A ‘Temporary Agent’ in the European Commission or another EU institution refers to staff employed in the ‘Administrators’, ‘Assistants’, and the ‘Secretaries and Clerks’ groups who are hired for a set period of time and, hence, are usually not entitled to become permanent officials with indefinite employment contracts. In a sense, ‘Temporary Agents’ are similar to ‘Contract Agents‘ who also have time-bound contracts in the European Commission, but better paid and with higher level of responsibility.

Temporary agent positions are usually created to satisfy the following service needs in EU institutions:

• To hire staff for Commissioners’ private offices for the duration of employment of the particular Commissioner;
• To perform highly specialised jobs of temporary nature, particularly in advanced technical or scientific positions;
• To make up for staff shortages in cases where competition reserve lists have been exhausted.

Here’s a sample European Commission vacancy announcement for a temporary agent in the communications field.