Budget cuts hit European Parliament communications department

BRUSSELS — The European Parliament is bracing for cuts within the institution’s sprawling communications department as some staffers now fear their jobs are in danger.

The Parliament has for years contained one of the biggest communications departments in Brussels, essentially acting as the body’s in-house public relations agency. But the years of abundance — and an annual budget that reached €127 million in 2025 — appear to be coming to an end as the institution reallocates resources to focus on what Parliament leaders perceive as their central mission: legislating and democratic oversight.

“It is known they want to cut. That is a fact,” said one Parliament official, who, like others in this story, spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss internal matters. “There are people scared for their jobs.”

Alessandro Chiocchetti, the Parliament’s secretary-general, a powerful post overseeing the institution’s expansive bureaucracy, has vowed to reallocate the institution’s resources to what he considers core parliamentary work since beginning his mandate in 2023.

One of his measures has been to create four new departments to help MEPs draft legislation, requiring new personnel and resources. But because the Parliament’s annual budget of around €2 billion, despite adjustments for inflation, is fixed, other departments need to be trimmed in order to find the funds.

Delphine Colard, a Parliament spokesperson, confirmed to POLITICO that Director General for Communication Christian Mangold is working with Chiocchetti to “review” his department’s activities.

With a plan to restructure the communications department expected to come by the summer recess, many staff members say they are unnerved by the uncertainty.

“The process is not transparent,” said a second Parliament staffer, speaking to POLITICO. Another said the situation has caused “a morale issue” in the department’s ranks.

The directorate general for communications had 761 staff members in 2022, according to data from its annual report.

“They’re looking at the overall numbers and they’re saying, oh, it’s a big directorate general, so it needs to be trimmed,” said one of the officials, referring to the communications department. Another official, however, cautioned the restructuring will likely not be a “major reform” but rather a “readjustment” of resources.

What’s on the chopping block

The Parliament’s leadership intends to gradually reassign existing staff members to jobs in other departments or to reallocate posts after employees retire.

Less clear is what happens with subcontracted temporary positions — so-called externals — who often work in areas such as audiovisual services, website maintenance and event organization.

Specifically, the administration is considering withdrawing funding for events such as the Brussels 20-kilometer race. | Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images

At first, senior leadership planned to discontinue up to 50 percent of external contracts, according to the minutes of an internal meeting seen by POLITICO. But those cuts are likely to be less drastic, according to one of the three officials. (Colard refused to provide the number of externals currently employed in the communications department.)

Overall, the Parliament’s outreach and campaign activities are likely to be most affected. Specifically, the administration is considering withdrawing funding for events such as the Brussels 20-kilometer race, grants for organizations at the regional and local level, and art exhibitions, according to a draft plan seen by POLITICO.

It may also slash part of its budget for awards, according to the three Parliament officials, including the LUX Audience Award for films, the European Citizen’s Prize and the European Charlemagne Youth Prize for youth projects promoting democracy.

The Europa Experience initiative, a project to establish EU-themed spaces across all 27 member countries, has already suffered cuts because of soaring costs and lackluster visitor numbers.

The uncertainty has caused some staffers to look elsewhere to build their careers, especially in the newly created legislative directorates, according to two of the officials POLITICO spoke to. “The feeling now is that the future is in the new directorates if you want to grow professionally,” one of them said.