Parliament offers several options for traineeships within its Secretariat, to provide opportunities for vocational training and for learning more about what the European Parliament is and does.

Traineeships for university graduates are intended to enable trainees to supplement the knowledge which they acquired during their studies and to familiarise themselves with the activities of the European Union and, in particular, the European Parliament.

These traineeships cover:

  • Robert Schuman scholarships, general option
  • Robert Schuman scholarships, journalism option.

Applicants for a traineeship for university graduates must.

  • be nationals of a Member State of the European Union or an applicant country, without prejudice to the provisions of article 5 paragraph 2 of the Internal rules;
  • be aged 18 or over on their traineeship starting date;
  • have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union;
  • not have been awarded any other traineeship or have been in paid employment for more than four consecutive weeks at the expense of the European Union budget.

Applicants for Robert Schuman scholarships, journalism option, must demonstrate professional experience as evidenced either by works published, or by membership of an association of journalists in a Member State of the European Union, or by a qualification in journalism recognised in the Member States of the European Union or in the applicant countries.

These traineeships are awarded for a period of five months which cannot be extended.

Traineeship dates and deadlines for receipt of applications
Application period Traineeship period
15 August – 15 October (midnight) 1 March - 31 July
15 March – 15 May (midnight) 1 October - 28/29 February

To apply for the traineeship you must fulfil the conditions and complete the online application form.

We advise you not to wait until the last day to apply, to prevent the system from becoming overloaded because there are a large number of applications.

When applying online, you have a maximum of 30 minutes to complete each page of the application form. Please note that if you leave your application form inactive for 30 minutes, the data you have entered will be lost. We therefore advise you to read carefully the ‘Internal rules governing traineeships and study visits in the Secretariat of the European Parliament’ and the Frequently Asked Questions before filling in the application form.

In order to apply to those Directorates-General that best suit your profile, you can read their description via the information button  on the last page of the application form or visit the website of the Secretariat of the European Parliament.

The application cannot be changed online and is completed and submitted in a single operation. After filling in your application please make sure that it is correct and complete before submitting it.

You may send only one application for one traineeship option. In case of multiple applications for one option we will keep only the most recent one.

NB: Any incomplete applications will automatically be rejected.

Once you have confirmed/sent your online application you will automatically receive a confirmation message to your email address. The message contains a confirmation number that you should quote in all future correspondence concerning the traineeship and the summary of your application in pdf format, a paper version of which will be requested, if we offer you a traineeship.

More information - http://www.europarl.europa.eu/aboutparliament/en/007cecd1cc/Traineeships.html