Managing Europe From Home: The Europeanisation of the Irish ...

SECTION IV - THE AGENTS
Participation in the activities of the European Union poses challenges to those
who work in national civil services. In order to live with the Brussels system,
states need a cadre of EU specialists who can combine technical/sectoral
expertise with European expertise. European expertise rests on deep knowledge
of how the EU system works, of the legal framework and the personal skills to
work in a mutli-national and multi-cultural environment. It also rests on the
stamina to make the early flights to Brussels, work effectively in meetings and
analyse the discussion and direction of the negotiations. The core of the EU cadre
in any member state can be found among those officials for whom EU business
takes up more than 50 per cent of their time. They gain their initial experience at
working party level and may later find themselves at more senior levels with
substantial EU responsibilities. The most experienced of them spend time in the
Representation Centre or one of the EU institutions. Extensive exposure to
Brussels brings the added bonus of contacts with counterparts in other member
states or in Brussels. This cadre acts as ‘boundary managers’ between the
national and the European. They develop and transmit national preferences in the
course of EU negotiations and later filter Brussels outcomes back into the
national. They mediate between the domestic system of public policy making and
the EU.
Ireland’s EU cadre can be found in Foreign Affairs, Enterprise, Trade and
Employment, Agriculture, Finance and Justice. In all of the other departments,
there are significant EU related posts but these are few in number. The small size
of the EU cadre relative to the size of the civil service is striking. Internal civil
service estimates prepared in 1980 concluded that 151 (7 per cent) officials at AP
level upwards spent the greater part of their time on EU related matters, and a
further 111 (5 per cent) officials had significant EU involvement. The total
number of officials at this level was 2,217 (Internal Note, September 1980). Thus
EU business was central to the work of about 12 per cent of Irish civil servants.
An incomplete estimate prepared in 2002, that analysed those involved at Higher
Executive Officer (HEO) level or above, suggests that the numbers have increased
but not dramatically. Only three departments, Foreign Affairs, Enterprise, Trade
and Employment and Agriculture had over 50 staff working on Europe for more
than 50 per cent of their time. In many departments, the number was five or
less. Ireland’s EU cadre is relatively small in size.