- ‘After the Reform’ is also ‘Before the Reform’: Since the 2014 reform misses to address any of the 2004 failures, Generation2004 will continue to work towards a true reform of the staff regulations, one that will make the European Public Service a model for others rather than a subject of scorn and ridicule. To be sure, this will take a lot of patience and hard work, but the extent of the damage done in 2004 and now 2014 demands an in-depth re-working of the whole affair. This cannot be left to the administration and the Council! We as staff have to act, to strengthen our own reform agenda, and to take a leading and not a defensive position on the battle field. To achieve this, we need to be active, creative, determined and numerous. JOIN GENERATION2004!
- One of the provisions that has conspicuously disappeared from the Staff Regulations is Art. 6 on the equivalence of careers. Remember: it took HR several years to publish the first and so far only report on the so-called career equivalence, or is it inequivalence? And it was a smokescreen – not even alluding to the sad reality: that career equivalence was neither properly defined, nor achieved following the 2004 reform. Far from it! This is because although the actual age and seniority of recruits have increased sharply, pre-institution professional experience was entirely disregarded in terms of entry grade as well as promotion speed. Predictably, almost all suffer, and the more experienced post-2004 recruit you are, the more you suffer. Did the administration take any corrective action in the design of the promotion and recruitment systems? Of course not! Simply acknowledging that there is a 2004 issue is already too much for the now legendary courage of HR and still today, juniorising senior recruits is the norm! This practice continues to create huge frustration and to destroy the very fabric of our institutions. This demands correction both for past and for future juniorised recruits. IT MUST BE ADDRESSED. URGENTLY.