Values, Beliefs and Origins: Revisiting the Socializing Effect of International Institutions. the Case of the European Commission.

The beliefs and values of international civil servants have long attracted interest, with a consensus emerging in the early 2000s that, certainly in so far as EU institutions are concerned, the impact of working for an international organization has little impact (see, Hooghe 2001, Checkel 2002). More recent studies have similarly emphasized the importance of prior socialization (Busioci, Groenleer, and Suverierol 2013).  This paper challenges this view. Drawing on a new dataset composed of responses to an online survey administered to the entire staff of the European Commission in spring 2014, as well as a comprehensive programme of follow-up interviews and focus groups conducted in spring and autumn 2014, it argues that working in the Commission does in fact leave an important and measurable imprint on its personnel. It contends, moreover, that the test used in the existing literature is highly problematic. Furthermore, it shows that ‘commitment to Europe’ does not vary significantly across permanent and temporary employees.