z Newsletter article

The 2021 promotion appeals season opens Thursday 17 June, Generation 2004 is here to help

Newsletter - 2021-06-16, Promotions, reclassification Print This Post

*Please see the frequently asked questions (FAQs) from our conference on how to draft your appeal.*

Every year, the promotion and reclassification procedures, for officials and Contract Agents (CAs) respectively, go through several stages to culminate in formal recognition (or not) for the job performed during the previous years. During the first stage, your DG’s hierarchy put together draft promotion lists according to the DG quota distribution, and discussed those lists with the staff representation (trade unions and staff associations (OSPs). This first stage is now over and the DG promotion lists will be published in Sysper on Thursday, 17 June! Please consult Sysper and check whether you are proposed for promotion [My file>Promotion>List of proposals for promotion]. Continue reading The 2021 promotion appeals season opens Thursday 17 June, Generation 2004 is here to help →

COVID-19: The latest on the digital certificate, vaccination and more

COVID-19, IT kit for telework, Newsletter - 2021-06-16, return to the office-new normal, Teleworking Print This Post

According to the data provided by DG HR in the latest information meeting on 11 June 2021 and on intranet updates: the EU Digital Covid Certificate will become available with legal effects in all EU Member States as of 1 July 2021, although some might start issuing it earlier: for example, Luxembourg  started issuing it on 14 June, Belgium on 16 June [1] and Italy from the end of June. Some travel rules will also change as of 1 July 2021 (but no exemption from  PCR tests). There’s an online information session from the medical services together with DG SANTE on Tuesday 22 June lunchtime via EULearn. Continue reading COVID-19: The latest on the digital certificate, vaccination and more →

Brick by brick breaking bad behaviours: lunchtime coaching

Events, Newsletter - 2020-07-01, Newsletter - 2021-06-16, Training Print This Post

*Friday, 9 July, 12.15-13.45: Lunchtime workshop*

How many times have you told yourself: from Monday I will stop eating sweets! From next month I will stop smoking! From tomorrow I will start reading every day!

Yes I know!  We all have been there! We all wanted to change a bad habit and we all failed at a certain moment. A habit is a learned repeated behaviour and it can be related to goals, locations, circumstances or even people. Continue reading Brick by brick breaking bad behaviours: lunchtime coaching →

CBT training offer: July 2021

Events, Newsletter - 2020-07-01, Newsletter - 2021-06-16, Training Print This Post

*Deadline to register is 12.00 (midday) Friday 2 July 2021*

Generation 2004 is organising more computer-based multiple-choice test (CBT) training for July (4 x 2 hour sessions) to provide you with techniques to pass the Contract Agents selection tool (CAST) or the CBT phase of any European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) competition.

CAST exams are scheduled for 30 June-6 July (and probably September). It is also likely EPSO will launch more competitions in autumn (check ongoing selection procedures for CBT dates).

The final objective of this training is to guarantee that candidates master the CBT methodology. The training sessions will go through the theory of the exercises and share a practical methodology and exercises for practice at home, with the possibility of addressing doubts in the following session. Continue reading CBT training offer: July 2021 →

Stop the AST/SC exploitation NOW

Assistants, Junior Professionals Programme, Newsletter - 2021-06-16, Pensions, Petition, Secretaries and clerks, Staff Categories, Staff Regulations Reform Print This Post

*Update 13.10.2025 Point 6 below, internal competitions: there are to be 3 cross-function-group internal competitions which include AST/SCs, we look forward to seeing the eligibility criteria.*

*Update 23.09.2025: It’s now official: 50 AST/SCs are to have the (mis)fortune of doing an AST post without the corresponding AST promotion speed or career potential.  Check the Draft 2026 Commission budget: ’50 posts in the function group AST may be occupied by officials and temporary staff in the AST/SC function group to reflect the gradual phase-in of the AST/SC function group.’ (p. 955, footnote 1). 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.* Continue reading Stop the AST/SC exploitation NOW →

Teleworking from abroad: YES, WE CAN!

COVID-19, New HR strategy, Newsletter - 2021-06-16, Teleworking, teleworking from anywhere Print This Post

*Update 25.09.2025 1: TWA can now be combined with parental leave. 2: Details of the outcome of the court case (T-39/21) related to the removal of the expatriation allowance for some staff in the Parliament while working from outside the place of employment during Covid is added as footnote [**].*

Original article: Who said teleworking from outside the place of employment (TWA) [1] cannot be reconciled with the interest of the service and our duty to serve the public? Continue reading Teleworking from abroad: YES, WE CAN! →

The old guards maintaining the status quo in Karlsruhe and Geel

Elections, Electoral reform, Geel, Karlsruhe, Newsletter - 2021-06-16 Print This Post

*Here are the 2021 Karlsruhe election results.* Original article: The infinite depths of (Commission) space. The final frontier: the Joint Research Centre (JRC).  Its mission: to boldly go where noone (Commission official) has gone before: research, innovation, digitalisation, green deal … Really? Also at the JRC Karlsruhe and Geel?

What happened there? Continue reading The old guards maintaining the status quo in Karlsruhe and Geel →

On career unionism and the fallacy of irreplaceability (long read)

Central Staff Committee, Elections, Local Staff Committee, Newsletter - 2021-06-16, OSPs, Social Dialogue Print This Post

To start with, lets clear the air and get this out in the open: the discussions between the administration and the staff (‘social dialogue (SD)’) via the elected representatives (‘staff representation (SR)’)  and the trade unions and professional staff associations (OSPs), are necessary. As DG Human Resources and Security (DG HR) puts it on the Staff Matters website, the social dialogue: Continue reading On career unionism and the fallacy of irreplaceability (long read) →

Newsletter editorial – 21-5-2021

Editorial, Newsletter - 2021-05-21 Print This Post

Welcome to this latest edition of the Generation 2004 Newsletter. This edition showcases the ingenuity and dedication on display among the winners (so far) of our ‘Wild West of Teleworking’ Photography Contest and we invite you to continue to send us your photos, bills and input. Local agents, you have until the end of June to decide whether to sign up to the working-conditions-reform package, we look at what’s involved. We have a lunchtime workshop on decoding and communicating with your co-workers. We report back on our discussions with HR and the administration on operation ‘return to the office’,  hot-desking/open spaces and on the provision of canteens in the future. We also ask you about your experiences of doing the annual medical outside the medical service.  This edition outlines the outcome of a case on age discrimination with regards to the survivor’s pension and describes what has changed with corporate credit cards.

All of us at Generation 2004 want to express a big Thank You to all our members who appreciate and support our work. Particularly touching was for us to see recently the following message on our bank account from one of our dear members : ‘Membership fee doubled – donation. Thank you for your great work’. Thanks for your feedback, it makes it all worthwhile!

‘Wild West of Teleworking’ Photography Contest: winners!

additional teleworking costs, Cost of living Luxembourg, IT kit for telework, Newsletter - 2021-05-21, Teleworking, Working conditions Print This Post

Thanks to all of you who submitted photos of your home-office/kitchen-table/cupboard-under-the-stairs/garden IT setup and your increased bills and accommodation costs. We always appreciate your interaction and comments and you can still send us your teleworking photos and evidence of costs incurred: let us know where and how you are working! Continue reading ‘Wild West of Teleworking’ Photography Contest: winners! →