The European Central Bank (ECB) is facing calls to bring in nationality-based quotas for staff recruitment. This comes after an Irish member of the ECB's executive board called on Dublin to ensure a substantial presence of Irish citizens among the bank's employees.
ECB chief economist, Philip Lane, who is Irish, is expected to retire within the next 10 years and he is worried that the numbers of his countrymen and women within the bank are declining meaning Ireland will have less representation than it has presently.
He recently warned an Irish government minister about the potential decline in the presence of Irish employees at the bank, noting that few Irish nationals were applying to join the ECB.
The warning has led union representatives to write to the ECB board.
"It is very disturbing to see that a member of the executive board is not aiming at achieving an overall balanced representation of nationalities within the ECB, but only at having the representativeness of his own country/government addressed," said the letter which was seen and quoted in the Financial Times.
It requested a system to be put in place to ensure there is a balanced representation of nationalities within the organisation. The system would involve making specific efforts to hire and promote individuals from underrepresented nationalities, similar to what is already being done at the European Commission.
However, the ECB stated that their hiring process is based on "abilities and merit", and should not rely on nationality quotas.
Which countries are most represented within the EBC staff?
The ECB, which employs over 5000 people, has gained attention because 500 are due to retire over the next 10 years, meaning there will be opportunities for new members of staff to be taken on.
Currently, Germans account for nearly a quarter of the total workforce and nearly a third of managerial positions, whereas France only has 7.7 percent of the workforce.
In the past, other representatives, such as Carlos Bowles, vice president of the ECB staff union IPSO, have advocated for a national quota system as reported by POLITICO.
"Our objective would be to adopt the system applied in other European institutions where nationality imbalances are monitored and adequate hiring measures are taken when the imbalances become significant," he pointed out.
"This is necessary to reduce the scope for national biases in ECB's operations and ensure a fair representation of all European nationalities."
Meanwhile, Lane regularly urged people from all nationalities to apply for jobs at the bank, as reported by the ECB.
According to the ECB webpage, the institution implements various diversity and inclusion policies, considering both gender and nationality diversity when selecting candidates with equivalent qualifications for a job.
