Welcome to the Generation 2004 Newsletter. Today we mark 2 years of mandatory teleworking for most of us: we discuss the ongoing and increasing costs of teleworking and digital overload. We also take a look at the situation in Ukraine for colleagues who remain there (we are still collecting signatures to support our list of actions) and clarify the rules on volunteering. Continuing with Outside the Union, we present the court case won by local agent colleagues in Turkey and note that today is the last day for many local agents to submit their self-assessment text. We consider the perfect storm of the (latest) return to the office and infrastructure upgrades in Luxembourg: many of us will feel the benefit eventually … We invite you to compare actions taken with the words expressed in the context of International Women’s Day and on the topic of action, those of you in Brussels of Luxembourg why not join us for a walk outside?
So, that’s it for this edition, thanks to all of you for your support, ideas and feedback: please keep it coming! If there’s a topic you’d like to see us tackle, whether as an article or as an event, please get in touch!
Take care, stay healthy and enjoy reading!
16 March 2022: exactly 2 years since 100% teleworking became obligatory for almost everyone at the Commission. On that first day in 2020 some of us did not even have an internet connection at home or a computer. Nevertheless we did what we could with what we had and ensured business continuity at the Commission in the face of a global pandemic. We bought computers, got the internet connected, used our own mobile phones, joined work whatsapp groups, 
*update 01.04.2022: it is proposed that this be made 5 days for volunteering in Ukraine. it’s not 
Upon request, teleworking in Ukraine and abroad has been made available also for local agents by the latest Admin decision (2022)20. For the time being this arrangement will be for 3 months, we will closely monitor the situation and the requests for extensions where applicable and necessary.
We have the perfect spring transport storm for some of you: trains, roads, trams and back to the office 2 days a week[1]. The infrastructure work is ongoing all over but the benefits will not be felt for a while. Let’s start with cross-border travel.
Generation2004 stands in solidarity with local agent colleagues in Turkey. We expresses our extreme concern on continued EU non-compliance with the 2021 court ruling concerning the payment of local agents there. The European External Action Service (EEAS), specifically the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey, has again been told that its unilateral insistence on paying local staff Turkish lira (TRY) and not in Euro is a violation of the rules (Republic of Turkey, Court of Cassation, 9th Civil Chamber Case No:2021/5672 Order No:2021/11022). 
It is now the turn of our European External Action Service (EEAS) local agent colleagues to have their 
Generation 2004 marks