Thanks very much to the colleagues who joined our petition and expressed their support and solidarity. We acknowledge also the huge effort made by the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the Commission to provide information and updates in this very extreme situation : they reacted quickly to sort through the avalanche of information they received and take appropriate action. Continue reading Thanks for your support for colleagues in Afghanistan!
Petition
Please support colleagues in Afghanistan
We have written to the president of the Commission to ask that the European External Action Service (EEAS) leave no one behind in Kabul, Afghanistan. In response to the current political crisis we ask the EU to move now to arrange safe transportation and passage from the different addresses of colleagues to the airport where it is anticipated that they will be transported to safer locations via humanitarian flights. Continue reading Please support colleagues in Afghanistan
UPDATE: Petition in support of Contract Agents!
Remember our petition in support of Contract Agents from last year? The one that closed 27 November with 1 415 signatures? (Thanks very much for your support!) It’s now with the European Parliament and still moving! Here are details on the next steps[1]. Continue reading UPDATE: Petition in support of Contract Agents!
AST/SC conference Tuesday 22 June
We will be glad to have you at our AST/SC conference on 22 June 2021 from 12:30 to 14:00 held via Teams (here is the link).
You may wish to read our article Stop the AST/SC exploitation NOW and show your support for our petition to the European Parliament to help our AST/SC colleagues.
Stop the AST/SC exploitation NOW
*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
Update to special-leave-for-parents petition
Further to our June 2020 article From the special-leave-for-parents petition to the social dialogue meeting and the closure of the corresponding petition for special leave for parents of young children in August 2020 with 2121 signatures, we continue to do what we can to ensure that your voice is heard and that parents of young children are not simply left to get on with it. Continue reading Update to special-leave-for-parents petition
Need to design a modern HR policy? Please start with the most evident modifications!
Generation 2004 strongly believes that a professional and efficient public administration implies competent, motivated and impartial civil servants working in a system dedicated to serving the public interest. However, while it may be relatively easy to of a merit-based civil service in conceptual terms, it is much more difficult to define the ways and means of putting it in practice. If anyone has any doubts about this, then Generation 2004 suggests that any doubtful minds consults. Continue reading Need to design a modern HR policy? Please start with the most evident modifications!
Petition in support of Contract Agents!
The recent announcement that the internal Administrator (AD5) competition is tailored to temporary agents is, for the vast majority of EU staff, the straw that broke the camel’s back. Many Contract Agents (CAs) – the most neglected staff category, Assistants (AST) and Secretarial and Clerk Assistants (AST/SC) fulfil the criteria for the competition; excluding them from this career advancement opportunity is a major loss for the European Commission and a major source of frustration for these categories of staff. Continue reading Petition in support of Contract Agents!
Coronavirus Special leave petition results and social dialogue
Generation 2004’s petition for special leave for parents with young children was a great success. At the time of writing this article, it has gathered over 1950 signatures (Update: 2090 signatures as of 09/06/2020) [1].
Continue reading Coronavirus Special leave petition results and social dialogue
