The European Commission has unveiled plans to improve mobility among its staff as part of a drive to reward merit and boost efficiency.
"We are eliminating a rigid system that blocked talent and bringing in a flexible system that promotes merit, creativity and new ideas," Commission President Romano Prodi said.
Implementing a more merit-based system in the European Union's Brussels-based bureaucracy has been a priority for Mr Prodi since he took office in 1999 after the resignation of the previous Commission amid allegations of fraud and cronyism.
Under the changes, senior Commission officials will not be allowed to stay in the same job for longer than seven years but would be able to apply for corresponding posts in other departments.
"Not only do we want senior managers to change jobs with reasonable regularity so that knowhow and experience circulate in the institution, we also want our senior staff to have the widest possible experience," Mr Prodi said.
He also said he wanted to see more women in the Commission and also more officials from member states that are currently under-represented.
Where there are candidates of equal merit we shall give priority to countries that are underrepresented, he said.
