Institutions

Conference on standby duty and use of private phones for work purposes in Delegations April 2024

Generation 2004 is here for you, regardless of where you are! We would like to invite you to our virtual meeting to discuss standby duty and the use of private phones for work in Delegations. Please participate in any of our three sessions on Monday 22.04.2024. See practical details further below. Check out our corresponding articles and get your questions ready! Continue reading Conference on standby duty and use of private phones for work purposes in Delegations April 2024

Are we testing competences or IT setup?

*Update 19.02.2025: ‘By default, all [internal] competitions will be cross-category.’ (Stay tuned: A new approach for internal competitions) This is excellent news and should now put the Commission on an even footing with the Parliament and other EU institutions. We hope that this inclusion is genuine and that the competitions are not  otherwise skewed to reduce participation. This can run in parallel to the certification: use all your options!* Continue reading Are we testing competences or IT setup?

Flash report on the Local Agents’ Provident Fund

The pension benefits system for local staff in Delegations (Provident Fund for Local Agents (‘PFLA‘)) has lost over 5% of its value. This means that the amount of money local agents (LA) receive at the end of their career (through employer and employee contributions) is falling. Continue reading Flash report on the Local Agents’ Provident Fund

Generation 2004 meets staff in EU Delegations 24.10.2023

*Update 27.10.2023.  Please find the presentation on Mobility for CA in delegations and the Decision on Working Time and Time Management, shared with you during the session on 24.10.2023. Generation 2004 is here for you, regardless of where you are! We would like to invite you to our virtual meeting to discuss all matters Delegations on Tuesday 24.10.2023. Please participate in any of our three conferences: 9:00–10:30, 12:30-14:00 or 18:00-19:30 (all times are CEST/Brussels time). See practical details further below). Check out our corresponding EEAS and Outside the Union articles and get your questions ready! Continue reading Generation 2004 meets staff in EU Delegations 24.10.2023

The competitions are in dire straits

We’ve written a lot already about the issues related to the remotely-proctored EPSO competitions. When we first raised these issues on your behalf with EPSO[1] and its management board in December 2022 (and in April 2023), we anticipated that they would be addressed (whyever wouldn’t they be, right?). However, to our surprise (and disappointment), not much was done. To add insult to injury, the very same issues we highlighted then continue to be present, even across different providers, in the internal competitions: a situation we find both frustrating and scandalous. Nevertheless, the response continues to be unsatisfactory: ‘everything is fine’ (January, February and May). Continue reading The competitions are in dire straits

Webinar on EEAS internal competitions

Generation 2004, in cooperation with Ya Semos Europeos, has organised a webinar on the application and competition process for the internal competitions in the External Action Service (EEAS). These don’t happen very often and we understand that you want to make the best of this opportunity.

We focus on practical aspects of the application:

  • work experience requirements
  • tips for the talent screener for those competitions which have it
  • the most common mistakes done by the candidates

You can find the PowerPoint presentation  here.

Ongoing difficulties for Local agents in Delegation Türkiye

*Update 29.09.2022 Local Agents in Türkiye are now being paid in euro, thank you all for your support!* Original article: Generation 2004 finds the situation for Local agents in Delegation Türkiye frustrating. We urge the administration to do the right thing: uphold the rule of law and principle of equal treatment.  Abide by the outcome of the court case and comply with the instructions of the court.  The pretext/excuse of a “lack of administrative” budget does not hold water. Losing a court case is not a daily operational business and therefore no institution should expect to be able to meet the financial liabilities under that business-as-usual budget item. Continue reading Ongoing difficulties for Local agents in Delegation Türkiye

2022 internal competitions, where are we?

*Update 19.02.2025: ‘By default, all [internal] competitions will be cross-category.’ (Stay tuned: A new approach for internal competitions) This is excellent news and should now put the Commission on an even footing with the Parliament and other EU institutions. We hope that this inclusion is genuine and that the competitions are not  otherwise skewed to reduce participation.* Continue reading 2022 internal competitions, where are we?

Internal competitions – excluded again?

*Update 19.02.2025: ‘By default, all [internal] competitions will be cross-category.’ (Stay tuned: A new approach for internal competitions) This is excellent news and should now put the Commission on an even footing with the Parliament and other EU institutions. We hope that this inclusion is genuine and that the competitions are not  otherwise skewed to reduce participation.* Continue reading Internal competitions – excluded again?

Laissez-passer renewal unnecessarily complicated and expensive?

Generation 2004 has been contacted by many colleagues serving outside the territory of the European Union regarding the issue of renewing their service passport (‘laissez-passer’ (LP)). While for the issuing of this document (e.g. for a new start in a new country (‘posting’)) the associated travel costs are met by the services, the same is not true for the renewal. Continue reading Laissez-passer renewal unnecessarily complicated and expensive?