The category of contractual agents was created in 2004 when the Staff Regulations were reformed, in order to support the administrative work of officials at a lower cost. Contractual agents are financed by administrative, operational and research budget lines. Articles 3a and 3b of the CEOS define the role of contractual agents and the functions they can perform.

Contractual staff referred to in Article 3a may be engaged, on a part-time or full-time basis, in a post not provided for in the establishment plan:

• for the services of the institutions: to perform exclusively manual or administrative support tasks in function group I, i.e. menial tasks,
• for representations and delegations, agencies and other Union bodies: to perform the duties referred to in Article 80(2) of the CEOS, in function groups I, II, III and IV.

Such staff shall have a contract which may be converted into a contract for an indefinite period after a first renewal for a fixed period.

The contract staff referred to in Article 3b shall be engaged:

• to perform tasks other than those referred to in Article 3a(1)(a) of the CEOS in a post not provided for in the establishment plan, or
• to replace an official or temporary staff member who is temporarily unable to perform his duties.

Contractual agents GF 2, 3, 4 are therefore occupied with one-off, time-limited tasks. These staff are engaged for short periods, from a minimum of 3 months to a maximum of 6 years. Article 80 of the CEOS establishes a correspondence between each function group (hereafter FG) and the tasks that can be performed by a CA.

The second category of staff recruited by the institutions is that of temporary staff:

The engagement of a member of the temporary staff referred to in Article 2(a) or Article 2(f) may be concluded for a fixed or indefinite period. The contract of such a member of staff engaged for a fixed period may be renewed only once for a fixed period. Any subsequent renewal of the contract shall be for an indefinite period. The engagement of a staff member referred to in Article 2(b) or (d) shall not exceed four years, but may be limited to any shorter period. His contract may be renewed only once for a period of not more than two years, provided that the possibility of renewal was provided for in the initial contract, within the limits laid down in that contract. On expiry of his contract, an agent may not occupy a permanent post in the institution unless he is appointed as an official in accordance with the Staff Regulations. An agent referred to in Article 2(c) may be engaged only for an indefinite period.

Seconded staff from Member States’ national diplomatic services may be engaged under Article 2(e) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants to fill a permanent post in the EEAS on a temporary basis.

Until 30 June 2013, by way of derogation from Article 29, for recruitment from outside the institution, the EEAS shall recruit exclusively officials from the General Secretariat of the Council and the Commission and staff seconded from the diplomatic services of the Member States.

The contracts of temporary agents subject to the provisions of Article 2(a) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants who are in service in an agency on 31 December 2013 are converted, without a selection procedure, into contracts under Article 2(f) of the Conditions of Employment.