Post-national or Multinational? Revisiting Nationality in the European Commission

The importance of nationality as a socializing influence remains contested in international administrations including the European Commission, but claims often rest on limited and partial data that constrain their reach and explanatory power. Drawing on analysis of a dataset composed of responses (n=5,545) to an online survey administered to the European Commission workforce in 2014 by a research team led by the authors, this paper aims to assess the importance of nationality in the organization. First, it examines the extent to which the Commission has one culture, defined in terms of shared norms about the role of the organization, or many. Second, it compares nationality, professional background, generation, level of seniority, staff grouping and DG types as a predictor of beliefs, values and expectations.