After a good, albeit strange summer break, the Generation 2004 newsletter is back.
In this issue we will report on the reply we got on a note we sent to DG INGESTAD where we raised concerns over negative discrimination against Contract Agents and ASTs who were not allowed to participate in the recently launched internal competitions. As it turns out… as usual… we were “wrong” and there is no such thing as discrimination in the Commission… On a loosely related topic, we have analysed the participation and inclusion, or lack thereof, of JRC AST colleagues into the AD certification exercise for ASTs. Yet again, absolutely no discrimination, which, in this instance, actually generates discrimination itself…
We also keep covering the CHAFEA debacle and the potential for the huge brain drain that may result from the undergoing relocation of the Executive Agency’s services to Brussels.
To end on a more positive note we will also cover the recent introduction of a national-insurance card for colleagues in the Netherlands and finally we cover the European Mobility week‘s most famous feature: its car-free Sunday, with an emphasis on how it happened in Brussels!
This is all for now and more will come soon, meanwhile, enjoy the reading!
In early July, following the announcement of an internal Administrator (AD5) competition tailored only to temporary agents, Generation 2004 addressed 
So far, only one third of our remaining colleagues from the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (Chafea) have declared their intention to move with their job to Brussels. This leaves two thirds to either change their mind or find an alternative and the clock is ticking (the 2-month deadline for staff to make a decision is fast approaching: accept the transfer or refuse?). 
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 
If you work for the Commission in the Netherlands, you might have had some problems in the past with your health care[*], due to the lack of a health-insurance card. This results in additional costs for JSIS members, e.g. the “passantentarief” when you are not registered with a general practitioner (GP) and, since the JSIS does not issue a Dutch health-insurance card, you simply could not register with a practitioner. 
Are you a Commission colleague posted in a EU Delegation to a third country and are you coming back to the EU for vacation? Or perhaps you already came to Europe for a short vacation and got stuck due to COVID-19 related travel bans and as a consequence you were put on forced annual leave? Do you feel discriminated when your treatment is compared to the same situation of Commission staff residing in the EU? 
Coronavirus or not: a serious bureaucracy will not be deterred by such a thing when it comes to inventing new regulations with doubtful benefits and uncertain costs. Never mind that all but essential missions have been cancelled for the time being and that complementary measures – with unknown costs – are still in the making, mission perimeters of various configurations will now be introduced for all JRC sites outside Brussels. 
Following 