ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the Commission officials’ perception of their influence and career chances within the European Commission. As any bureaucratic organization, the European Commission has to organize paths of career advancement and formal mechanisms of influence. It is, in principle, committed to advancement based on merit. As a supranational organization constrained by intergovernmental elements within the EU, however, it has to balance this principle with considerations related to nationality. Based on this, my interviews show that Commission officials differentiate between being “influential” and an “insider” in the organization and being “unimportant” and an “outsider.” While in a supranational organization these positions are, in principle, unrelated to nationality, my interviewees do tend to associate higher chances of being influential and making a career in the Commission with being from a “large” and an “old” member state as compared to being from a “small” or a “new” member state. Overall, Commission officials come to experience how the geo-political asymmetries between their countries of origin may shape their influence and career chances in the organization.
