Newsletter – 2021-10-08

Thanks to your support, fairer and more transparent election rules adopted!

Thanks to your overwhelming support, the Generation 2004 proposals which aimed at ensuring fairer and more-transparent staff representation elections were adopted with 90% in favour during the Brussels and Commission Representations in the EU staff general assembly (24.09.2021).

Why we needed change Continue reading Thanks to your support, fairer and more transparent election rules adopted!

An appeal from a Karlsruhe-based coffee addict

I started here at the JRC Karlsruhe not so long ago. The second lockdown was in sight, not optimal for a change of country and work environment. I am from a coffee-loving place, born and raised with a coffee culture, and my first sight on entering the JRC in Karlsruhe was the prominent placing of the Cafeteria with a professional espresso machine – what a nice working place! Continue reading An appeal from a Karlsruhe-based coffee addict

Generation 2004 member wins a case on access to their medical file!

Generation 2004 has been fighting hard for the effective implementation of the right of staff to have full and timely access to their medical file.

Access to your own medical file and the right to update the information contained there are very important, particularly in circumstances where that information is used to make a decision about you e.g. whether you are fit enough to continue to work or even just to be recruited.  A lack of transparency leads to questions about fairness and motives [1]. Of course, occasionally there may be legitimate reasons for insisting that a doctor access parts of the file on your behalf. However, we all still have the right to consult (via a healthcare professional, if necessary) the information in our medical history and to correct it or add a note where necessary. Continue reading Generation 2004 member wins a case on access to their medical file!

Internal competitions: EU institutions doing it differently

*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: EU institutions doing it differently

Stop the phasing out of the AST function group!

*Update 23.09.2025: check the Draft 2026 Commission budget (p. 954-955). While the Commission as a whole is set to lose 24 posts, the AST function group is to lose 121 (leaving 4398 permanent staff). No other function group is to decrease in size.*

Original article: A brief history of assistants, secretaries and clerks in the European Commission

Since 2018 Generation 2004 has been warning of and working against the phasing out of the assistants (AST) function group (FG) and the placing of all AST staff in ‘transition’. To better understand the issues at stake, we need to briefly examine the history and evolution of assistants, secretaries and clerks (AST/SC) in the European Commission.  Continue reading Stop the phasing out of the AST function group!