Brussels has overhauled the 2026 AD5 exam as a simpler, digital competition after past technical problems and legal issues. The new format will allow remote testing in all 24 EU languages and use a more straightforward assessment process.
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EPSO, the European Personnel Selection Office, helps European citizens find jobs in EU institutions and agencies. The last AD5 generalist competition was in 2019, with 22,644 candidates taking part. After that, the opportunity was no longer available.
Since then, many people have been waiting for the next chance. For the 2026 edition, between 50,000 and 60,000 candidates are expected to apply for 1,490 spots on the reserve list. Only about 3% of applicants are likely to succeed.
“It’s a unique opportunity that I take with respect, but I won’t stop enjoying life [while I study]. If you take it as a life-or-death opportunity, you will get so stressed you sabotage yourself”, one realistic candidate told Euronews.
The hype is real in the ‘Brussels Bubble’, where thousands of young professionals see EPSO as a rare path to stable, long-term employment inside EU institutions. But, the return of the competition, combined with this year’s surge in demand, has also reignited debate about the Union’s staffing model.
Analysts argue that the absence of large-scale permanent recruitment forced institutions to rely on temporary agents and contract staff, many of whom work under less secure conditions and with fewer benefits.
However, “recruitment did not stop entirely during this period. While entry-level generalist competitions were paused, EPSO kept running specialized competitions for specific profiles such as auditors, IT experts, and lawyer-linguists, which allowed institutions to keep hiring in targeted areas”, shared Oliver Salles, EPSO’s newly appointed Director (since May 2025).
“In addition, where skills gaps remained, EU institutions relied more heavily on non-permanent staff, including temporary agents and contract agents”, he added.
What is EPSO?
The EPSO selection process picks ready-to-hire permanent officials. Depending on the institutions’ needs, it organises specialist or generalist competitions. Both grant access to permanent positions within the bloc’s civil service, allowing workers to be “set for life”.
EPSO mainly recruits into two staff categories: Administrators (AD), with grades going from AD5 (entry level) to AD16 (senior management), and Assistants (AST), with grades ranging from AST1 to AST11. In both categories, grades vary with work experience: higher grades indicate greater seniority and come with higher pay, but the minimum salary is around €3.754.
The AD pay-level ranges from €6.100 for entry-level positions to over €21.000 for top senior administrators, meaning this year’s successful AD5 candidates will start earning approximately €6.000 per month.
But there is a catch. Passing the EPSO exam is not a guarantee of recruitment- it only makes candidates eligible. Successful candidates enter a one-year reserve list (or three years for specialists) from which EU institutions, bodies and agencies hire when suitable positions become available. The fortunate few who get an initial interview start seeing the light on the path towards a permanent position in the EU civil service.
Candidates’ suitability to become AD5 officials is challenged through a set of four online tests. Two multiple-choice questionnaires assess verbal, numerical and abstract understanding as well as knowledge of EU institutions, procedures, and policies. A new digital skills test checks digital readiness, and a written test on EU matters assesses written communication skills.
To be eligible for EPSO competitions, candidates must be EU nationals, have fulfilled national military service obligations (if required by their country), and have a thorough knowledge of one EU language and sufficient command of another.
External providers offer training courses and practice materials for candidates to prepare. The prices show a high range: around €140 or more for a book, while a preparatory course can cost up to €200, depending on duration and subscription.
“Paying all this money and investing so much into something we probably won’t even get is a bit unfair. The books and websites are not official”, lamented another applicant. Indeed, many argue that it would be fair for the Commission to provide its future civil servants with basic preparatory materials.
Back and stronger than before
EPSO framed the AD5 competition’s multiple postponements as part of the Commission’s efforts to switch to a new test provider, aiming to “establish a robust and functional IT platform” and guarantee a proper remote testing system.
This came after sustained criticism, including from the Ombudsman, on outdated IT infrastructure and technical issues with the testing platform. Concerns included worries that the process was slow and opaque, and even some court cases (in 2023, a major competition (EPSO/AST/154/22) had to be cancelled and completely re-run, causing massive delays and costing around €300.000).
In addition to delays caused by COVID19, many claimed that personnel-cuts and inflation-driven increases in staff costs played a big role in the competition freeze.
In the meantime, EU institutions prioritised internal competitions for existing staff while increasingly relying on “cheaper” outside contract staff rather than “more expensive” AD5 intakes.
Salles acknowledged that EPSO’s reputation has suffered in recent years, particularly after the technical crisis in 2023. “But this negative reputation is probably somewhat exaggerated for three reasons.”
“First, our mission remains a very exciting project, and we truly believe in it. Most of the staff in the office are still very engaged and motivated. They like what they do because it is both exciting and critical for the future of Europe.”
“Second, by design, most of our stakeholders (the candidates) are disappointed, because success rates in these competitions are low. Many do not pass, so they are understandably frustrated or upset. They may write to ask questions, submit complaints, or even launch legal challenges, which means that structurally many of our “clients” are unsatisfied.”
“Third, many people outside do not fully realize the complexity of organizing these competitions. There are multiple stages, all EU institutions must agree on the requirements and testing modalities, and everything must be processed in 24 languages. Candidates can choose two languages for their tests so all materials must be available and adapted accordingly. We also must verify their credentials, documents, and identification, and when dealing with thousands of candidates, this becomes very heavy to manage”, he noted.
New and in high demand
EPSO has overhauled the competition with a new fully digital testing system that allows candidates to sit exams remotely, replacing older procedures that relied on physical test centres and were often criticised for delays and logistical complexity. Trialled this January, the shiny new testing platform ‘TAO’ is already encountering technical issues.
Only 70% of those invited showed up, a 30% no-show rate raised questions about login issues, and 9% failed due to probable technical glitches or disqualification for violating test rules. The update button in the Data Management and Data Knowledge competition in November 2025 was missing.
The format has also been simplified and shortened, with fewer stages and updated test types for more efficiency. Tests can now be taken in any of the EU’s 24 official languages, following legal disputes and criticism that earlier language restrictions disadvantaged some candidates.
The key question is whether it will work without crashing. EPSO foresees an exceptionally high number of candidates, almost 55.000, due to the hiatus.
Asked whether the surge in applications is a cause for concern, Salles said that, “of course, it brings some additional pressure, because we need to ensure our systems and procedures can handle such large numbers. But overall, it is very encouraging to see such strong interest in EU careers.”
However, a candidate shared fears that technical failures, rather than personal performance, decide on the exam outcome. The Commission should take the whole process “more like seriously”: “We are already stressed about the exam itself [and worrying about the IT system] only adds more stress. If they want to do it online, then they should put more effort [into a properly functioning testing platform]”.
According to another source, the importance lies in how system failures are handled. “Can the institution in charge of hiring staff show care towards candidates and say okay, there’s been a glitch, we will do the best we can on our end to give the candidate a fair chance [to repeat the test?]”, the applicant said.
The pent-up demand is also linked to the generalist nature of the competition, which, unlike specialist exams, does not require a dedicated degree or qualification; it accepts dentists and sociologists alike.
Urgent refresh needed
The EU’s staff regulations set the retirement age at 66 years-old, and legal protections designed to shield the civil service from political interference make firings extremely rare. For example, in 2022, only three Commission officials were fired for malpractice out of a workforce of approximately 32.000.
This means that most permanent officials remain in office until retirement, raising concerns amongst member states. Ireland has warned that nearly one-third of its staff in EU roles are due to retire by 2026. Newer or smaller member states fear that, as their veteran officials retire, they are not being replaced by younger nationals at the same rate, thus losing political influence.
This “demographic ticking clock” has pushed EPSO into action.
“Hopefully, [the new officials] will not only be talented, but also young and enthusiastic. The exam should also help institutions restore a bit more geographical balance in their staffing, because it is well known that some member states are currently overrepresented while others are underrepresented”, noted Salles.
The average age of permanent staff at the Commission has climbed over the last decade, with the largest group of male officials now in their mid-50s. Most of the younger workers are temporary staff, which EU auditors warned against.
“They push young workers beyond boundaries. You are more prone to work overtime to prove yourself, which I wouldn’t have done if I had a permanent position”, a young temporary worker said.
Crucial digital skills
The institutions must accelerate efforts to attract a more diversified workforce. A key reason behind this is the digital transformation. The EU aims to shift the skill set from traditional administration to digital fluency. Currently, 45% of EU adults lack basic digital skills, something the Commission labels a “major challenge” to global competitiveness. In the EU workforce, the gap is most pronounced in areas such as digital content creation and cybersecurity, which are essential to modernising administration.
Older employees are more susceptible to stress from pressure to master complex new tools and constant interruptions in digital workflows, which leads to decreased productivity or reluctance to adopt new systems. Likewise, younger staff feel that key digital regulations and reforms are being drafted by employees who lack long-term investment or the same perspective on digital-first lifestyles.
To meet its Digital Decade goals, the EU needs to employ 20 million ICT specialists by 2030. It currently has about half that number. And outside of the institutions, over 70% of EU businesses cite the lack of staff with adequate digital skills as a primary barrier to investment, making the need for tech-savvy officials even more pressing, hence why the new test includes a Digital Skills Test component.
“It was a decision taken collectively by the institutions as part of what we call the new competition model. It was felt that nowadays, digital literacy has become extremely important, as officials are expected to use and master many different digital tools and applications”, explained Salles.
“This was true even before the arrival of AI-based technologies, so it was important to also test candidates’ competence in this area. Digital literacy is part of what we call the competency framework, a set of horizontal skills that officials are expected to have. It is not a technical coding exam, but rather a broader evaluation of candidates’ ability to operate effectively in a modern digital work environment”.
The ‘red tape’ debate
Successful AD5 applicants can receive a lifetime of job security and a competitive salary. But does the test reward the best workers, or just the best test-takers?
General cognitive ability tests, like verbal and numerical reasoning, are strong predictors of job performance. The AD5 is not designed to select people with deep industry expertise, but generalists who can apply policymaking logic across different departments.
“It would be good for [institutions] to assess more than policymaking and EU policy, because this is a generalist competition so you could end up in a completely different role”, shared a candidate. Another one said that “on one hand, the tests filter for people who really studied for it and really show interest. But at the same time, it’s very general. It doesn’t assess soft skills, or background studies. I think it’s too broad”.
Many claim that designing regulations for complex sectors requires experts. Without internal expertise, the EU risks creating “red tape” that stifles innovation. In their reports, Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi emphasised that, to stay competitive, EU officials must understand industrial supply chains and global trade patterns.
On average, 56% – 58% of EU citizens believe that experts, rather than politicians, should make decisions for their country. Dissatisfaction stems from a perceived “democratic deficit”, the idea that the EU institutions lack transparency and decision-makers are out of touch with ordinary citizens.
Sceptics argue that the EU civil service is an elitist bubble run by insiders, disconnected from the concerns of rural and lower-class communities. The recent wave of farmer protests across the EU (2024-2026) was an example of this. Protesters argued that “eurocrats” in Brussels are overregulating and prioritising idealistic goals.
