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Professional Mobility survey: the results are out!

Newsletter #29 - Jun 2018, Surveys, z Newsletter article Print This Post

In our previous Newsletter, we asked you to participate in a survey on professional mobility. Here is our analysis of the contributions we have received.

Let us start with the gist of it. In general, job mobility seems to be a positive thing (chart 1) while at the same time it seems to be difficult to achieve (chart 5): around 3 quarters think that the impact of a move is  neutral to very positive while the same share of respondents find it neutral to very difficult to move. Continue reading Professional Mobility survey: the results are out! →

Reform of the social dialogue – Will staff representation disappear from smaller sites as the Local Staff Committee of Luxembourg tells you?

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Declaration of “the” Local Staff Committee of Luxembourg

“The” Local Staff Committee of Luxembourg, in its communication of 22 May 2018 “Declaration on the importance of local representation of the Staff Committee in Luxembourg” explains that the interests of the Luxembourg staff are at risk, because of a reform of the staff representation. This is at least very strongly exaggerated! Continue reading Reform of the social dialogue – Will staff representation disappear from smaller sites as the Local Staff Committee of Luxembourg tells you? →

Are you registered to vote in Belgium? Don’t miss the deadline – your voice counts!

Newsletter #29 - Jun 2018, z Newsletter article Print This Post

Until 31 July, non-Belgians can sign up to vote in the local municipal elections which will take place in October. All EU citizens have the right to vote, while non-EU citizens can vote after living 5 years in Belgium.

Non-Belgians represent one third of the electorate (or 300.000 people) in Brussels, including nearly 1/2 of the electorate in the communes of Etterbeek, Ixelles or Saint Gilles. Voting is your chance to have a say on the decisions taken by the communes which have broad powers, such as population services, cleanliness, urban planning, roads and public spaces such as parks and playgrounds, and cultural and sports centers. Continue reading Are you registered to vote in Belgium? Don’t miss the deadline – your voice counts! →

The promotion system for officials: How it works

Newsletter #28 - Apr 2018, Promotions, z Newsletter article Print This Post

The annual promotion decisions are taken by the Appointing Authority (AA), on the basis of 1) proposals by the senior management of each DG; 2) recommendations by a Joint Promotion Committee (JPC).

DGs and JPCs must determine who deserves a promotion on the basis of a comparison of merits (in theory…, see article below). All officials take part in the appraisal exercise. But only those who are eligible for promotion, i.e. have been in the grade for at least 2 years take part in the promotion exercise. Continue reading The promotion system for officials: How it works →

Reform of the promotion system

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Elsewhere we explain how the promotion exercise works in theory, with three levels of ‘merit comparison’ along the exercise (at directorate-general level, by the Joint Promotion Committees and their preparatory groups, and finally by the appointing authority (AIPN)) on the basis of comprehensive and unambiguous appraisals. Continue reading Reform of the promotion system →

Where there is a will, there is a way! (at least for the chosen ones)

Newsletter #28 - Apr 2018, z Newsletter article Print This Post

Generation 2004 has a confession to make… Due to the long and unfair fight with the Commission (EC) administration to rectify the differences between pre- and post-2004 staff employment conditions, we were ready to give-up, turn off the lights and close the shop. It is not easy to fight battles against a pre-2004 biased administration with a hierarchy still composed in the vast majority of pre-2004 staff. Therefore, it was only natural that our motivation had ebbed…

Continue reading Where there is a will, there is a way! (at least for the chosen ones) →

Staff representatives meet Commissioner Oettinger

Newsletter #28 - Apr 2018, z Newsletter article Print This Post

Commissioner Oettinger invited staff representatives on 27 March for an exchange mainly about heading V of the next EU budget. G2004 members attended and we would like to inform you about the tone and the content.

As we all know, the Brexit will have an impact on the finances of the EU and most probably also on heading V of the budget which covers the administrative expenses of all EU institutions, including salaries and pensions[1].

The UK has accepted to continue contributing to staff expenditures and pensions after leaving the EU during a transitional period until the end of 2020. Until the end of the school year 2020/2021 the UK is also ready to support the European Schools and will recognise the A level graduation which pupils receive there until this date. Our UK colleagues will have legal certainty about their status in the Commission also in the future. (See also article below.) All rules set out by the staff regulations will remain relevant for them but the one related to recruitment: the Commission will not recruit UK citizens after March 2019 anymore.  Continue reading Staff representatives meet Commissioner Oettinger →

The pink bubble of wishful thinking and the truth about AST career future

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On 8 March Generation 2004 organized a lunchtime conference dedicated to the career prospects for AST colleagues. The date was chosen deliberately as a reminder for the predominantly female gender ratio in the AST category. And while at a parallel event organized by DG HR on the same day, colleagues were presented a pink-optimistic picture about the career prospects for females in the Commission, we spoke facts (see presentation here): since 2004 there was a deliberate policy of juniorisation of recruitment with a consequent even more deliberate framing of the recruited in the AST category. Continue reading The pink bubble of wishful thinking and the truth about AST career future →

Generation 2004’s action on mobility in the Brussels region

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Generation 2004, through the Brussels Local Staff Committee (LSC) (Łukasz Wardyn, the President of the LSC is one of our members), is actively pushing for improvements in the mobility situation in Brussels. Brussels is one of the most polluted cities in Europe and traffic jams have become more or less permanent during the past decade. The LSC organised an extensive consultation on mobility via a conference with Brussels Mobility Minister Pascal Smet and several splinter sessions that took place at the end of November 2017. The Commission is preparing its future mobility plan, as requested by the Brussels authorities. In this context, it is important that the Commission listens to the concerns of staff as expressed in the Position of the Brussels Local Staff Committee regarding future of the mobility in Region Brussels-Capital: the perspective and recommendations of the Commission’s staff recently approved by the Local Staff Committee, LSC, click here. Continue reading Generation 2004’s action on mobility in the Brussels region →

Staff representation and its functioning in the European Commission

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Are you sure that you know what is staff representation and how does it function in the Commission?

Do you know that during the 2015-2018 mandate the President of the Brussels Local Staff Committee (LSC), Mr Łukasz Wardyn as well as the General Secretary of the LSC, Ms Paola Pagliarulo and the General Secretary of the Central Staff Committee (CSC), Ms Lorella Cattaruzza are Generation 2004 members?

The staff regulations are the legal basis for the establishment of the Staff Committee as a recognized body, to represent staff vis-à-vis their employer. The Staff Committee composition is a result of elections where several staff representative organisations (trade unions and staff associations) compete fo Continue reading Staff representation and its functioning in the European Commission →