EPSO CAST vs. CAST PERMANENT
One of the reasons for frustration of Contract Agents (CA) happens even before they are hired (i.e., during the recruitment phase).
The CAST PERMANENT is a selection tool that was introduced in 2017. Permanent means that there is no deadline, so candidates can submit applications at any time. Continue reading Contract Agents are frustrated! Here is why!


We are in April and DG HR has not yet provided competition planning (provisional or otherwise). We do not think that this will change any time soon. Even if the planning was to become available now, the ongoing exclusion of certain staff categories (16 000 potentially eligible staff) from internal competitions requires action and the most recent example of this is the internal competition published at the end of the last year (
*Update 15.01.2025, Here’s our December note on 
*25.01.2021Rejection letters are out,
*Please see
*Update 08.07.2022: you can also take the same action (apply and appeal the rejection) for the
*Update 19.02.2025: ‘By default, all [internal] competitions will be cross-category.’ (
Generation 2004 strongly believes that a professional and efficient public administration implies competent, motivated and impartial civil servants working in a system dedicated to serving the public interest. However, while it may be relatively easy to of a merit-based civil service in conceptual terms, it is much more difficult to define the ways and means of putting it in practice. If anyone has any doubts about this, then Generation 2004 suggests that any doubtful minds consults.