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Britain faces soaring cost of Brussels pensions | News | The Times

Brexit, Newsletter #25 – Nov 2017, z Newsletter article Print This Post

The devil is in the detail or how public is made to believe that post-2004 recruits are responsible for increased cost of EU pensions

 Brexit negotiations have become a favourite topic for the press all around the EU nowadays, and the issue on UK contribution to the payment of EU pensions occupies a central place in the debate. Within the myriad of publications, our attention was caught by an article in The Times (Political position: centre to centre-right) entitled Continue reading Britain faces soaring cost of Brussels pensions | News | The Times →

Have you been accused of unjustified absences in the recent past?

Newsletter #24 - Sep 2017, z Newsletter article Print This Post

We are hearing complaints that the medical service puts colleagues in unjustified absence even though they had a medical certificate from a medical doctor outside of the Commission. If you are aware of such situations around you, we invite you to contact us.

Who represents the staff and for how long: Staff representatives secondments and the 6-year rule

Central Staff Committee, Elections, Features, Local Staff Committee, Newsletter #24 - Sep 2017, z Newsletter article Print This Post

Existing rules provide for the Commission to ensure sufficient resources for staff representation activities. This includes a number of reserved posts outside of the DGs dedicated for full-time staff representation activities – the so-called detachments or secondments. At present, there is a well justified limit to a maximum of 6 years to occupy such a post after which one must return to a regular job in a DG (There is no limit to how many times you may be elected as Staff representative though!). There are in total 41 Full Time Equivalents available for staff representation secondments, distributed to each staff organisation proportionally to the percentage of votes received in staff elections (only the organisations that pass the 5% threshold benefit from these secondments, which explains why organisations tend to merge just before the elections). Continue reading Who represents the staff and for how long: Staff representatives secondments and the 6-year rule →

Air quality in Brussels

Environment, Features, Health, Mobility and Climate, Newsletter #24 - Sep 2017, z Newsletter article Print This Post

Many of us are concerned with the air quality of the cities where we live and work. The Brussels region is slowly waking up on this issue. They recently released data on black carbon pollution levels in Brussels. These measurements are the results of a citizen science program called ExpAir in which some of our colleagues took part. Each participant was given a little box to measure black carbon both outdoor and indoor. Black carbon is a subset of the micro-particles that are subject to the EU legislation on air quality (it makes about 10% of the total mass of PM10 micro-particles, but it is potentially the most harmful part of these particles as it is a direct product of combustion and moreover it can aggregate all sorts of volatile organic compounds that are harmful to our health, including a number of carcinogenic substances). Continue reading Air quality in Brussels →

You are a Contract Agent? Share your experience with us!

Contract Agents, Newsletter #24 - Sep 2017, z Newsletter article Print This Post

“In a Union of equals, there can be no second class workers. Workers should earn the same pay for the same work in the same place.” J.C. Juncker, State of the Union address, 13 September 2017.

Contract Agents account for more than a quarter of the European Institution’s population and are increasingly the victims of budgetary restrictions. Limited access to decent employment opportunities in the Institutions, insufficient job security and unfair working conditions are now well documented.

However, what is less documented is that there is a growing gap between the duties performed by CAs and their functional group. Continue reading You are a Contract Agent? Share your experience with us! →

Wind in our sails, but in what condition is our ship?

Contract Agents, Newsletter #24 - Sep 2017, z Newsletter article Print This Post

A wind of optimism is blowing in the EU institutions. Some are beginning to argue that the added-value of the EU has become clearer following the events of the past 18 months. Indeed, recent electoral rounds in France and in the Netherlands have been less negative than expected with respect to the future of the EU. The outcome of the elections in Germany is perceived by some observers as less encouraging. However, it is clear that the eurosceptics will not prevail there any time soon. Unfortunately, the main issues that affect the staff are still very unclear and may be affected by a number of events.

Obviously colleagues who happen to be British citizen are worried by the lack of clarity on their future. The only consolation at the moment is that the Belgian authorities are beginning to realise that EU officials of UK citizenship need assistance. The Brussels Commissioner (not one of our Commissioners but an official appointed by the Brussels region to provide administrative assistance to the expat community in Brussels) organised an info session last June and provides some advice on its website. It is useful to go through this advice if you are a UK citizen working in Brussels. Continue reading Wind in our sails, but in what condition is our ship? →

Promotions: why are some years good and some other years bad?

Newsletter #23 – Jun 2017, Promotions, z Newsletter article Print This Post

You might have been promoted this year, or not promoted… We have argued many times that the current promotion system is flawed but why is there so much uncertainty in the system? Part of the explanation lies in the so-called “wave effect”. Basically, if you are in a grade with increasing population, for instance because of the arrival of a wave of colleagues promoted from the grade below, the mathematical peculiarities of Annex IB of the staff regulations result in a temporary increase in the quota of promotions available for that grade (see Annex 1 below for a theoretical example). Conversely, if you are in a grade with decreasing population, there will at some stage be a temporary decrease in the quota of promotions available for your grade. As a result, if you are lucky to be in “growing” grade, you might be promoted quickly just because “you are riding the front of the wave”. If you are in a “shrinking” grade, you might have to wait longer than normal to get your promotion just because you are “floating” on the “tail of the wave”. Continue reading Promotions: why are some years good and some other years bad? →

Pensions and Brexit

Brexit, Newsletter #23 – Jun 2017, Pensions, z Newsletter article Print This Post

Generation 2004 regularly alerts the staff with respect to the sustainability of our pension scheme [1]. Commissioner Oettinger seems to agree with us (“He therefore recommended a rigorous [budgetary] approach, particularly as there would be a considerable increase in the cost of EU officials’ pensions in the coming years“, see middle of page 14 in the Minutes of the last meeting of the College in May). Some more reasons to worry according to an article in The Guardian: an “EU diplomat” is quoted as saying “we cannot trade pensions for the MFF” [during the Brexit negotiations]. Let us hope that this diplomat really means what (s)he said. The fact that the Brexit Task Force has so far not bothered informing the staff about what is in preparation with respect to the employees of the institutions, not even those who have British origins, almost a year after the Brexit referendum, is not a good sign. The article in The Guardian emphasises that the EU has promised transparency, as opposed to the UK negotiators who apparently want secrecy. We have some doubts about this transparency pledge by the EU, see top of page 4 of our May newsletter. Continue reading Pensions and Brexit →