What is "eurocrat"

A Eurocrat (a portmanteau of "European" and " bureaucrat") is "a staff member of the administrative commission of the European Union" or more broadly, any official of the European Union. The term was coined by Richard Mayne, a journalist and personal assistant to the first Commission president, Walter Hallstein, in 1961.

There are three main types of Eurocrats. First, Political Appointees, such as the European Commissioners, the Members of the European parliament. Secondly there are fonctionnaires, these are the permanent staff which form the majority of the European institutions. There are two categories of fonctionnaires Assistants and Administrators. Assistants perform a "secretarial" roles while administrators perform more policy or managerial responsibilities. The third category is the contractual agents. Contractual agents do not have an employment contract with the same conditions as the fonctionnaires. Their first job contract is limited in duration, however after several renewals this can be extended permanently. Eurocrats come from all member states of the European Union. EPSO is the main body which selects staff for recruitment to the European Institutions.

Nowadays the term Eurocrat has come to encompass staff from all EU Institutions and not only staff from the European Commission.

Eurocrat is a sans-serif typeface designed by Adrian Williams in 1986 for Club Type.