Administrative Traineeship for VET Graduates (Blue Book)

Benefits & funding

• Five months of paid experience inside the European Commission. The monthly grant is set by place of assignment: for the March 2027 session it runs from EUR 1,047 in Bulgaria to EUR 2,081 in Denmark, and is EUR 1,572 in both Belgium and Luxembourg, where the VET placements sit.
• A general travel allowance of EUR 275, subject to budget availability.
• A meal and public transport allowance worth 5% of the adjusted monthly grant, and an accommodation allowance worth 20% of it.
• Trainees with a disability recognised by a competent national authority can receive a supplementary allowance of up to 50% of the adjusted monthly grant.
• Insurance cover can be extended for up to twelve months immediately after the traineeship ends.
• Around 1,000 traineeship positions per session across the programme, in Commission departments, executive agencies, Commissioner cabinets and bodies such as the EEAS, EDPS, EEA, EFCA, FRONTEX, SESAR, SRB and EU-RAIL.
• VET placements sit in Commission departments and services, mainly in Brussels and Luxembourg.

Eligibility

• Open to nationals of the Member States of the European Union and of the countries covered by the EU pre-accession strategy.
• A completed vocational education and training qualification at EQF level 3, 4 or 5, or the national equivalent. The diploma must already be obtained at the time of application, with the diploma or official transcripts as proof.
• Qualifications earned outside the EU are accepted when they represent a completed vocational education and training cycle.
• Applicants must be 18 or older on the starting date of the traineeship.
• EU nationals: English, French or German at B2 or above, or as a mother tongue, plus a second official EU language at A2 or above.
• Non-EU nationals: English, French or German at B2 or above, or as a mother tongue.
• Anyone with more than six weeks — 42 calendar days — of prior or ongoing work in any EU institution, body or agency is excluded, paid or unpaid.
• A valid passport or national identity card is required.
• Declared professional experience counts only from the age of 16, and only where a single experience lasted at least 15 calendar days.

Application process

1. 1
   Create an EU Login account using an email address that stays valid until the end of the traineeship.
2. 2
   Log in to the candidate account during the open registration period, choose “Send an application” and select the ADMIN VET traineeship type.
3. 3
   Merge every supporting document — education, language knowledge, identity, declared experience and skills — into a single PDF and upload it.
4. 4
   Submit before the deadline. Only one traineeship type may be chosen per session; applying to more than one causes every application to be rejected, and no documents or corrections are accepted after submission.
5. 5
   Wait for the assessment and eligibility check, which usually takes four to eight weeks after the deadline. Results appear in the candidate account and by email.
6. 6
   Candidates who pass enter the Virtual Blue Book and may apply to up to three published positions, one per round across three rounds, with a general motivation text of 500 to 1,500 characters and a position-specific cover letter in PDF.
7. 7
   Accept the written placement offer issued by the Traineeships Office; a selection is final only once the offer appears in the candidate account.

Program timeline

1. 22 July 2026

   Applications open for the March 2027 session

2. Application deadline

   4 September 2026, 10:00 Brussels time

3. Pre-selection

   September–October 2026

4. Selection

   November–December 2026

5. Traineeship starts

   1 March 2027

6. Traineeship ends

   31 July 2027