More EAs should consider working for the EU
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EU Policy Careers
Credibility Rating
3/5
Good(3)Good quality. Reputable source with community review or editorial standards, but less rigorous than peer-reviewed venues.
Rating inherited from publication venue: EA Forum
An EA Forum advocacy post encouraging effective altruists to pursue careers in EU institutions as a neglected high-impact pathway for influencing AI governance and safety-related policy from within.
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190
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13
Forum
eaforum
Forum Tags
Animal welfareBiosecurityCareer choiceCause prioritizationGlobal health & developmentPolicyEuropean Union ITN framework
Metadata
Importance: 45/100commentary
Summary
This EA Forum post argues that European Union institutions represent an underrated career path for effective altruists, particularly those interested in AI governance and existential risk policy. It highlights the EU's growing influence on global AI regulation and the relative lack of EA-aligned people within EU institutions compared to other policy venues.
Key Points
- •EU institutions have significant and growing influence over AI regulation and global tech policy, making them high-impact career destinations.
- •EA-aligned individuals are underrepresented in EU institutions relative to their potential influence there.
- •Working for the EU offers opportunities to shape AI governance frameworks like the EU AI Act from the inside.
- •The post provides practical guidance on pathways into EU institutions, including traineeship and competition-based entry routes.
- •EU policy careers may be especially valuable for Europeans who have natural access and language advantages.
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# More EAs should consider working for the EU
By EU Policy Careers
Published: 2026-02-01
Context: The authors are a few EAs who currently work or have previously worked at the European Commission.
In this post, we
1. make the case that more people[^cauplg6m5ov] aiming for a high impact career should consider working for the EU institutions[^cnne0koy30e] using the Importance, Tractability, Neglectedness framework, and;
2. briefly outline how one might get started on this, highlighting [a currently open recruitment drive](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/711/oj) (deadline 10 March) that only comes along once every ~5 years.
Why working at the EU can be extremely impactful
------------------------------------------------
### Importance
The EU adopts binding legislation for a continent of 450 million people and has a significant budget, making it an important player across different EA cause areas.
**Animal welfare**[^n1n31ockeao]
* The EU sets welfare standards for the over 10 billion farmed animals slaughtered across the continent each year.
* The issue suffered a major setback in 2023, when the Commission, in the final steps of the process, dropped the [‘world’s most comprehensive farm animal welfare reforms to date’](https://farmanimalwelfare.substack.com/p/europes-animal-welfare-reforms-are?utm_source=chatgpt.com), following massive farmers’ protests in Brussels.
* The reform would have included ‘banning cages and crates for Europe’s roughly 300 million caged animals, ending the routine mutilation of perhaps 500 million animals per year, stopping the inhumane slaughter of a billion or so farmed fish, and reducing the overcrowding and pain-inducing growth rate of about 11 billion broiler chickens annually.’
* Still, the EU already has the highest animal welfare standards globally and is arguably the only major jurisdiction where further progress seems likely in the near term.
* The [reform options in the current political mandate](https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/14671-On-farm-animal-welfare-for-certain-animals-modernisation-of-EU-legislation_en) are much less ambitious, but include a ban on cages[^74limuyjokh] and extending the EU’s standards to imported animal products.
* Import standards could potentially affect farming practices worldwide through the ‘[Brussels Effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels_effect)’, and make any current and potentially future EU standards much less likely to be undermined by import competition.
* There continues to be significant uncertainty whether these reforms will be proposed at all in the current mandate. Ultimately, the decision is up to the Commission - same as the decision not to propose the ambitious reforms in the last mandate.
* The EU is also the single [biggest public investor in alternative proteins](https://gfi.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2024-Executive-summary-State-of-Global-Policy.pdf), ah
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