ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the symbolic boundaries related to the question of what it means to be an honorable Commission official. Much like other public administrations, the European Commission cultivates an ethos of public service, albeit a very specific one: it is shaped by the pursuit of the European interest, instead of a national interest. This chapter describes the symbolic boundaries related to Commission officials’ professional values. On the one hand, some respondents emphasize the importance of having a “vocation to build Europe” in order to be considered an honorable Commission official. It implies a symbolic boundary against those officials who seem to represent the interest of their country and/or who merely work for a high salary, job security or their career. On the other hand, some officials emphasize the worth of being “down to earth” with respect to these issues. This distinction is seen to create a symbolic boundary between Western and Eastern European Commission officials, who have made different experiences growing up in regions characterized by unequal levels of socio-economic development and different political cultures related to issues of supranational governance.
