***UPDATE: You can find the link to the recording [1] and to the presentation [2] here.***
The 2025 draft reclassification [3] and promotion [4] lists will be published in Sysper on Thursday 12 June. There are now very limited options to influence whether your name is on the final lists when they are published mid-November. We have a lunchtime event planned to explain both what happens next and what those limited options are that are available to you if you find that your name is not on that list (and you believe that it should be). Please prepare for the event and start making notes for a potential appeal.
Thursday 12 June at lunchtime (12.30-13.30 Brussels time)
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Consult Sysper and check whether you are proposed for promotion/reclassification.
1. Your name is on the draft June list
i. Congratulations!!!
ii.Please consider that the June lists are drafts only and that the final promotion/reclassification lists are published in November. There are no guarantees that your name will be on that final list. For those wanting to avoid all risk we advise you to consider waiting until December before changing DG or function group (e.g. certification [6]) or going on unpaid leave/CCP [7]. Also, while noone chooses the timing of their own disciplinary action [8], please be aware of its damage potential here.
2. Your name is not on the draft June list
i. Check below whether you’re eligible for promotion/reclassification and what the average speed is for you.
| Staff[*] | Appraisal | Reward possible? | Minimum time in grade (‘seniority’) to be eligible | Average speed of reward |
| Officials | Yes | Promotion [9] | 2 years | staff regulations Annex I.B [10] and our chart [11] with those percentages converted to years |
| Temporary agents [12] (2a and 2d) | Yes | Reclassification (JRC/GROW/RTD [13] only?) [**] | 2 years | Staff Regulations Annex I.B [10] |
| Temporary agents (2b, 2c, 2e, 2f [14]) | Yes | no[***] | Not applicable (N/A) | N/A |
| Contract Agents [15] 3a | Yes | reclassification [16] | 2 years | Page 3 of Ares(2021)2467829 – 12/04/2021 CSC note on CA 3a [17] |
| Contract Agents 3b [18] | Yes | no | ≤ 3 years | N/A |
ii. Consider whether the reason for not including your name on the list might be related not to your performance but to other reasons: having moved team/DG (‘mobility’), having taken parental/maternity leave, a change of line manager, other difficulties or personal conflicts.
iii. Draft an appeal text. The appeal is a misnomer: you are not questioning anyone’s assessment of you, but rather requesting access to the small amount (5% of the overall quota) of promotions/reclassifications held back for this purpose. Noone will know whether or not you appealed unless you are successful. And if you are successful then you’ve made your manager’s work easier next year since you will already have been promoted/reclassified.
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iv. Get someone else to look at your appeal. As usual Generation 2004 can help with reviewing your draft but, due the number of cases and the shortness of the period, we are unable to write it for you or with you. Please register via our online form and we will then contact you to let you know who from our team will work with you and to arrange for a meeting if you prefer to talk to us.
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v. submit the appeal via sysper within 5 working days from the date of publication of the proposal lists (in principle late Thursday 19 June, but this is extended for those on leave). So, even if the appeal tab is no longer visible in SYSPER, if you believe this applies to you, please contact HR [21]e.g.
‘Dear colleagues, Please re-activate the appeal button in SYSPER. I would like to file my appeal against my exclusion in the list of proposal for promotion/reclassification [delete one] this year. However, the corresponding tab in Sysper is no longer available. I was unable to use SYSPER due to sick leave/annual leave/etc. [delete as appropriate] and so for me the period of 5 working days has not yet expired. Please advise how to proceed.’
vi. Wait until the final lists are published in mid-November. There is nothing more for you to do. Your appeal will be examined by the committee and may result in your name being added to the list of reclassification proposals. Ultimately however, it is the Appointing Authority that takes the decision to promote members of staff.
The next steps in the 2025 reclassification [22] and promotion [23] exercises are:
- mid-November: publication of final lists in (check administrative notices [24] or email
- December: changes visible in pay slip.
As always, we would love to hear from you. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us [25] or leave a comment below.
If you appreciate our work, please consider becoming a member of Generation 2004 [26].
For those of you unable to wait, please check 2024 recording [27] and the 2024 presentation [28].
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[*] Local agents are promoted via different processes: here are the rules for delegations (EEAS) [29] and here is an example [30] for those in EU Representations.
[**] There is a joint committee on reclassification (not promotion) for Temporary Agents (TAs) of JRC/GROW/RTD [31] only. We also see TAs with permanent contracts (yes, mental gymnastics are necessary here: to be permanently temporary) 2a and 2d [14] listed for reclassification.
[***] 16.01.2023 HR response to our questions on TAs: Conditions of Employment of Other Servants (CEOS [32]) (Article 15(2)) which states that only the provisions on annual reports [appraisal] from the Staff Regulations [33] (SR) (Article 43) apply by analogy to TAs. By contrast, there is no such provision concerning promotion (SR Article 45). This means that, in principle, TAs are not subject to promotion. This principle is confirmed in the case-law of the General Court (e.g. T-366/15 P [34], paragraph 48).