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Lunchtime event: Contract Agents: key challenges and recent developments

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*Update 30.10.2025, here’s the promised Contract Agent FAQs.*

*Update 29.10.2025: here is the recording and the slides.

Original article: Generation 2004 is here again to help you to know the rules that apply to you as a Contract Agents (CAs). We want you to make the best decisions you can with the information available. In the hybrid event below we plan to have around 1.5 hours to address your CA questions. We intend to gather all of your questions to make a Contract Agent frequently asked questions (FAQs) for our website. Continue reading Lunchtime event: Contract Agents: key challenges and recent developments →

Newsletter editorial – 07-10-2025

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Welcome to the ninth edition of our Newsletter!  This edition spotlights critical issues such as the Career of Contract Agents in Offices, the incessant shifting of staff between buildings in Luxembourg, the latest update on the CALux 12 actions, in addition to highlighting support for families burdened by education costs. We also invite you to our next lunchtime event on pensions. The Commission’s policy shift on mobile phone ownership raises urgent questions about our rights.  You will find training offers for :  EPSO Competition AD7,  EPSO AST3 in Communication field and  AST Certification interview.  Don’t miss  forthcoming events: learning session/demo on how to navigate in the jungle of the new Staff center (Staff matters) & how to acquire the Belgian nationality?  If you work in EEAS, you will find news about the new partnership between Generation 2004 & the  EUDN (EU Delegations Partners Network) and a text on Reforming Promotion Practices to ensure Fairness and Transparency.  Last but not least, have a look at two articles written in collaboration with two of our members: AST/SC being forgotten in Delegation Career Opportunities and a succes story on Egg Freezing costs reimbursement.

That’s all for now!

Enjoy the reading and get in touch if you believe we can help!

Training offer: EPSO AST3 in Communication – Exam exercises

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Our Training partner Yasemos Europeos, has a special  offer with a 10% discount rate for our members. The package contains: self-study exam packages for practising the different tests.  There are 2 package options available:  EXAM 1 + PRE-EXAM session (live online via ZOOM, link will be published in participants training platform profiles) EXAM 1 (only 1 mock exam for practice with NO pre-exam session).
Continue reading Training offer: EPSO AST3 in Communication – Exam exercises →

Internal Competitions 2025: A Missed Promise of Inclusion 

diversity & inclusion, EPSO, Equality, Internal Competitions, Newsletter-2025-10-07, Staff Categories Print This Post

Many of you contacted us about the publication of the second of the promised internal competitions: the specialist AD7/AD9 financial risk management. We agree, we too were disappointed: this was not the new approach for internal competitions announced in February 2025, that of internal competitions being open to colleagues from other function groups (yes, the Parliament’s been doing this for years, but at the Commission it’s new).  Continue reading Internal Competitions 2025: A Missed Promise of Inclusion  →

A side quest to the 12 actions for Luxembourg?

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*Update 27.10.2025 at the Central Staff Committee (plenary no 585) Mr Quest linked these ‘Luxembourg actions’ to the forthcoming  large scale review. Is this a way to squeeze yet more praise out of what increasingly appears to be an abandoned project?

Original article: Generation 2004 is pleased to see the recently-announced agreement to have bills for hospitalisation in Luxembourg sent directly to the JSIS (so a default prise en charge/direct billing). No longer will JSIS members in Luxembourg have to pay bills for scheduled (‘elective’/non-emergency) surgery and then await reimbursement[1], for example. Well done on making this happen! Continue reading A side quest to the 12 actions for Luxembourg? →

Training Offer: EPSO AD7 Building experts (4 fields) – Study group for reasoning, MCQ and written tests

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**Update 29.10.2025: Due to high demand, one additional work group in English is offered (see below in red) Update 29.10.2025: Due to high demand, one additional work group in English is offered (see below in red) *Update 08.10.2025: SOLD OUT – Registration closed. Generation 2004, in collaboration with Yasemos Europeos, is happy to offer you online training with Study group for reasoning, MCQ and written tests for the AD7 Building experts (4 fields) competition.  There is a special discount rate for our members ONLY and registrations are made on “first come first served basis”.

Continue reading Training Offer: EPSO AD7 Building experts (4 fields) – Study group for reasoning, MCQ and written tests →

Lunchtime event: 12 actions for Luxembourg

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*Update 14.11.2025 Here is the presentation. Thanks to the colleague who provided information for point 5: interinstitutional excellence hubs and linking it to the Luxembourg-specific EPSO competition for data specialists.* *Update 31.10.2025, 14.11.2025 is indeed a Friday. We have corrected the article and send huge thanks to the colleague who reached out to us!*

Original article: Generation 2004 is pleased to invite you to a lunchtime event to look at the ongoing challenge of attracting and retaining staff in Luxembourg (the ‘attractivity’ issue). We will look at the original 12 actions for Luxembourg: those announced in 2022, together with the  default-direct-billing side-quest of October 2025. That’s not one of the 12 actions, not even part of our additional unofficial 13th action (hospital overpricing): is this issue really well-known enough for its solution to impact recruitment and retention in Luxembourg? Continue reading Lunchtime event: 12 actions for Luxembourg →

Savings gone too far? A need for more and better contract agent advancement 

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First a bit of context, Contract Agent (CA) colleagues (3A and 3B together) are now 24.5% of Commission staff, that is, CAs are the second-biggest group of staff (behind the biggest group of all: administrator (AD) officials).  For some time now there are more CAs than assistants (ASTs) (counting both AST officials and AST temporary agents) and yet the CA salary, job security and advancement possibilities in general remain limited in comparison to other categories of staff. Continue reading Savings gone too far? A need for more and better contract agent advancement  →

AST/SC – Forgotten in Delegation while the Commission does its own thing? 

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In a recent internal communication on the 2026 Delegation rotation exercise [*], the European Commission announced opportunities for AST and AD staff to take up posts in European External Action Service (EEAS) Delegations around the world. Yet, one function group was (again) clearly overlooked. AST/SC staff are not even mentioned there, you have to dig to find any mention of this function group. Continue reading AST/SC – Forgotten in Delegation while the Commission does its own thing?  →