If European commissioners think they don’t have the right expertise on hand, they can always ask for outside help.

That’s exactly what they are doing, according to a letter sent to the European Parliament and Council of Ministers and seen by POLITICO, which calls for 44 so-called special advisers to be on hand for the next 12 months, a slight increase on last year’s figure.

Some will be paid, some won’t — and there are big names on the list, including former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, former commissioners Michel Barnier and Siim Kallas, and ex-Commission Secretary-General Catherine Day.

According to Commission rules from 2007, special advisers are appointed to assist one of the EU institutions based on their special qualifications and “notwithstanding gainful employment in some other capacity.” The Commission has to notify the Council and the Parliament of its wish list, including both new names and renewals. Neither institution can veto the names on the list.

Paid advisers tend to be external experts who are needed for a short time while unpaid advisers are often former Commission, EU or national officials who have “high-level experience.” Their commitments vary from a few phone calls to attending meetings and drafting reports.

Barnier is already an adviser to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on defense policy, and Juncker wants to keep him on for the year ahead. Day, the Commission’s secretary-general for a decade from 2005, is also being asked to stay on as an adviser on the multi-annual financial framework (the long-term budget).

Monti, who was the commissioner for competition as well as once holding the highest office in Italy, chairs a group on budgetary own resources (self-financing) that is expected to present a report on the EU budget this year. The Commission has asked that he stay on to allow him to complete his work. Kallas, who was at various times commissioner for transport, economics and administration, will continue to advise Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis on the Eastern neighborhood.

Of the new appointments, Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief, wants Patrick De Rousiers, a retired French general and former chairman of the EU’s military committee, to serve as a special adviser. Jyrki Katainen, the Commission vice-president for jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness, wants a former member of his team, Valerie Herzberg, now head of international relations at Ireland’s central bank, to advise him on “the competitiveness of the European economy.”

Some former advisers have not made the list. Allan Larsson, a former Swedish finance minister who was appointed by Juncker as special adviser for the “pillar of social rights” on January 19 this year, is not on the list.

Horst Reichenbach, a former EU official who now works at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is also missing from the list. He was advising Pierre Moscovici, the commissioner for economy and financial affairs.

The Commission can send a second list with additional names at a later date, officials said. The current line-up of advisers ends on March 31, with the new appointments scheduled to start on April 1.

In September, Emily O’Reilly, the European Ombudsman, received a complaint about special advisers from two NGOs, Corporate Observatory Europe and Friends of the Earth. They argued that the appointment of former German politician Edmund Stoiber as special adviser on the Commission’s better regulation agenda broke internal rules on appointments.

The complaint is ongoing. Stoiber sent a letter to Juncker in December ending his tenure working for the Commission.