Petten

Call for Candidates: Building on Our Success – Local Staff Committee Elections in Petten

Local elections, Local Staff Committee, Newsletter-2026-01-13, Petten Print This Post

*Update: elections will be held from 19 March, at 11:30, until 26 march, at 12:30. Deadline for submission of candidates: 2 march. Please get in touch with us by Friday 28 February, lunchtime*

At the end of last year, Generation 2004 once again confirmed its strong position in the Local Staff Committee elections in Luxembourg, retaining the title of the biggest single staff organisation in the European Commission. This result reflects the trust colleagues place in our work and the commitment of our candidates and members. 

We are now launching a call for candidates for the upcoming Local Staff Committee elections at the European Commission Petten site, starting, where the election process is expected to move very quickly.   Continue reading Call for Candidates: Building on Our Success – Local Staff Committee Elections in Petten →

From Paper to Digital: A voting practice update is necessary

Brussels, Elections, Electoral reform, Geel, Ispra-Seville, Karlsruhe, Local elections, Luxembourg, Newsletter - 2024-10-28, Outside the Union, Petten Print This Post

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is one of the largest directorates-general (DGs) in the Commission.  With its scientific profile it takes pride in its innovative and modern endeavours. JRC practices the remote way of working, in line with the Commission guidelines, but also benefits from it to foster cooperation among its multisite structure of 6 locations across Europe.

Continue reading From Paper to Digital: A voting practice update is necessary →

Electric vehicle (EV) charging-point disparity

Brussels, commuting, Environment, Geel, Ispra-Seville, Luxembourg, Mobility and Climate, Newsletter - 2024-04-11, OIB, Petten Print This Post

*Update 14.10.2024 Luxembourg-based colleagues, the maximum reimbursement (‘ceiling’) for cross-border commuter passes has been doubled to €500 from 01.10.2024.*

*Update 24.07.2024 the Green Commuting Communication for staff in Brussels mentions the ongoing provision of FREE EV charging there, with no end date in sight. There is no date as yet for EV charging to be made available (free or otherwise) in Luxembourg buildings. The same text proposes to pay Brussels-based colleagues who cycle €100 per year. We asked about provision for other sites, but the response was negative. Why the inconsistency? Mixed messages on greening undermine the whole idea.* Continue reading Electric vehicle (EV) charging-point disparity →

Is e-voting the right tool for the JRC?

Brussels, Elections, Electoral reform, Geel, Ispra-Seville, Karlsruhe, Local Staff Committee, Luxembourg, Newsletter - 2023-12-01, Outside the Union, Petten Print This Post

*Update 23.07.2024 HR says its not feasible to have e-voting at Geel and Karlsruhe, once more money is cited as a factor, are we surprised?*

Original article: Digitalisation is everywhere: we pay electronically, we get our news and movies digitally and we even meet online. While some types of human interaction would, ideally, never be replaced, many routine administrative activities can certainly benefit from going digital. Nevertheless, it’s important to include those who will use new systems and procedures in the decision-making process: while we might save on queuing with e-Voting, are we maybe missing out somewhere else? Continue reading Is e-voting the right tool for the JRC? →

Promising and selling unicorns

Brussels, Elections, Geel, Ispra-Seville, Karlsruhe, Local Staff Committee, Luxembourg, Newsletter - 2021-12-02, OSPs, Outside the Union, Petition, Petten, Promotions, reclassification, Social Dialogue, Staff Categories, Working conditions Print This Post

*This article was published in November 2021 in response to promises made during Brussels, Karlsruhe and Ispra elections. Here are the Karlsruhe 2021 results.*

On allowances to cover the additional costs of teleworking and other promises

It is election time for many sites of the Commission and there are two unmistakable signs for this:

  • Your inbox is filling with largely indistinguishable e-mails asking to vote for union X or union Y, because they have done SO MUCH for you in the last year (although for some of them, you cannot remember ever having seen any action or results).
  • The e-mails contain a hodgepodge of measures that they are demanding, often defying any sense of reality: unicorns, rainbows, a guaranteed lottery win … 

Continue reading Promising and selling unicorns →

Wake-up call for the administration – Voter apathy and low voter turnout

Brussels, Elections, Geel, Ispra-Seville, Karlsruhe, Local Staff Committee, Luxembourg, Newsletter - 2021-12-02, Outside the Union, Petten Print This Post

The local staff committee (LSC) elections for outside the Union, Ispra/Seville and Brussels have all had to be extended (see below).

For outside the Union the issues raised are long standing. Continue reading Wake-up call for the administration – Voter apathy and low voter turnout →

2025 where are we now?

Brussels, Elections, Electoral reform, Geel, Ispra-Seville, Karlsruhe, Local Staff Committee, Luxembourg, New HR strategy, Newsletter - 2021-10-12, Outside the Union, Petten Print This Post

Commission-wide, Generation 2004 has 33% of the vote as of June 2024. Some context: there are eight ‘local’ staff committees (LSCs) and one additional non-LSC staff committee which we mention in the table below.

The 8 LSCs are sometimes called ‘sections’ since all together they contribute to the Commission-wide Central Staff Committee (CSC): Brussels, France, Geel, Karlsruhe, Luxembourg, Outside the Union (CLP-HU) and Ispra and Seville (yes, a shared LSC). Continue reading 2025 where are we now? →

The same electoral rules for all!

Brussels, Elections, Electoral reform, Geel, Ispra-Seville, Karlsruhe, Local Staff Committee, Luxembourg, Newsletter - 2021-04-28, Outside the Union, Petten, Social Dialogue Print This Post

Uniform and fully democratic electoral rules throughout the Commission, synchronised electronic elections at all sites and, last but not least, a separate local staff committee (LSC) for Seville: these are the key elements of a proposal for staff-representation reform developed by Generation 2004. We have been raising these issues in one form or another since at least 2013 and have actively led on related efforts to address these three points on several occasions. Continue reading The same electoral rules for all! →

Certification in the JRC – one size does not fit all

Assistants, Certification, Geel, Ispra-Seville, Karlsruhe, Newsletter - 2020-09-28, Petten Print This Post

The numbers speak an unmistakable language.  The success rate of JRC ASTs in the certification procedure is considerably below that of ASTs from other DGs. While JRC’s ASTs accounted for approximately 9.5% of all ASTs in the Commission in 2019 [1], henceforth considered to be the benchmark, their share of certifications is much lower and persistently so (Figure 1): Except for a one-off-high in 2016 with a share of 7% (although still below 9.5%), the share of certifications in other years was much lower. Continue reading Certification in the JRC – one size does not fit all →