Professional mobility

Update: internal competition COM/AD/02/21 (AD5) – Art. 90(2) complaint

Internal Competitions, Newsletter - 2022-01-28, Petition, Professional mobility, Staff Categories, Temporary Agents Print This Post

*update 18.07.2022: anyone who wishes to protest against any internal competition (e.g. COM/AST4/2022 (​AST4)) can follow the same process as that set out below. Apply then appeal (as below) and then get in touch with us.*

The non-eligibility decision for COM/AD/02/21 (AD5) was sent out on 25.01.2022, please check your EPSO account.

For example, this is the decision that a member of Generation 2004 has received:

Continue reading Update: internal competition COM/AD/02/21 (AD5) – Art. 90(2) complaint →

Update 25.01.2022: internal competition COM/AD/02/21 (AD5) – what’s next?

Internal Competitions, Newsletter - 2022-01-13, Petition, Professional mobility, Staff Categories, Temporary Agents Print This Post

*25.01.2021Rejection letters are out, please let us know whether you took action and we can coordinate on the  next steps*

Thanks to all of you who answered our December call to action in response to yet another very discriminatory internal competition (COM/AD/02/21 (AD5)) which excludes over 16 000 potentially eligible candidates. Yes, we also noticed that the ‘talent screener’ was simply a request for permission and your staff number. We have a Microsoft Teams group on this topic, come and join the discussion! Continue reading Update 25.01.2022: internal competition COM/AD/02/21 (AD5) – what’s next? →

Internal competitions – Time for collective action!

Assistants, Central Staff Committee, Contract Agents, Internal Competitions, New HR strategy, Newsletter - 2021-12-16, Petition, Professional mobility, Promotions, reclassification, Secretaries and clerks, Staff Categories, Temporary Agents Print This Post

*Please see 27.01.2021 update*

In the wake of the announcement by DG HR of yet another very discriminatory internal competition (IC), Generation 2004 organised a conference to debate the matter. According to our analysis, this IC excludes over 16 000 potentially eligible candidates. Although other institutions allow anyone who meets the education and experience criteria to take part, the Commission is definitely doing it differently. Continue reading Internal competitions – Time for collective action! →

Internal competitions: EU institutions doing it differently

Assistants, Institutions, Internal Competitions, New HR strategy, Newsletter - 2021-10-08, Newsletter - 2021-10-12, Professional mobility, Secretaries and clerks Print This Post

*Update 19.02.2025: ‘By default, all [internal] competitions will be cross-category.’ (Stay tuned: A new approach for internal competitions) This is excellent news and should now put the Commission on an even footing with the Parliament and other EU institutions. We hope that this inclusion is genuine and that the competitions are not  otherwise skewed to reduce participation.* Continue reading Internal competitions: EU institutions doing it differently →

Coaching support in delegation 16.09.2021

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Thanks to the very positive feedback received from participants in the Time management and the inclusion of conflict free session in delegations (held 26.08.2021), we will have another session on Thursday 16.09.2021. The two sessions are unrelated: it is not necessary to have attended the first in order to be admitted to the second. There are very few spaces left for this free coaching, but if you’re interested, get in touch and we’ll try our best to fit you in. Continue reading Coaching support in delegation 16.09.2021 →

Free coaching with certified Commission colleagues

Newsletter - 2021-03-26, Professional mobility, Services, Training Print This Post

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try!

  • Demotivated and without any energy?
  • Tired of doing the same thing over and over?
  • Lonely and/or that you cannot control your thoughts?
  • Purposeless and with no direction in life?
  • Stuck in your life and have no idea what to do first?
  • Unfocused and overwhelmed by work?

There is coaching available and there are coaches in the Commission who can support you in this journey wherever you are at this moment in your life!

Continue reading Free coaching with certified Commission colleagues →

CBT training offer

EPSO, Newsletter - 2021-03-26, Professional mobility, Training Print This Post

Generation 2004 is organising computer-based multiple-choice test (CBT) training to provide you with techniques to pass the Contract Agents selection tool (CAST) or the CBT phase of any European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) competition.

The final objective is to guarantee that candidates master the CBT methodology. The training sessions will go through the theory of the exercises and share a practical methodology and exercises for practice at home, with the possibility of addressing doubts in the following session. Continue reading CBT training offer →

2021 Contract Agent Mobility exercise – Please let us know your challenges!

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In the 2021 exercise Generation 2004 noted that following the conclusion of the first phase of the mobility exercise, a significant number of Contract Agents (CAs) [1]:

    • did not receive an invitation for an interview from any of the five countries in which they had expressed an interest:
    • did not receive an offer for any of the five countries in which they had expressed an interest.

Continue reading 2021 Contract Agent Mobility exercise – Please let us know your challenges! →

You are hired/fired: Recruitment trends at the Commission!

Contract Agents, Internal Competitions, Newsletter #19 – Nov 2016, Professional mobility, Staff Regulations Reform, z Newsletter article Print This Post

As can be seen from recent statistics (see table), the only category of staff that is currently still growing is the Contract Agent (CA) category. Looking at the data and comparing this growth with the recent trend in the recruitment of permanent officials (‘fonctionnaires‘), we can conclude that the Commission has begun a process of replacing permanent officials with CAs [1]. Continue reading You are hired/fired: Recruitment trends at the Commission! →

Cabinet appointments for common (but deserving) mortals

Newsletter #7 - Jul 2014, Professional mobility, z Newsletter article Print This Post

G2004 Newsletter # 7

When the 5-year legislature of a Commission comes to an end, many Commissioners return to their home country whilst dozens of temporary agents that were once brought to Brussels by these Commissioners grab at any possible straw in order to secure a permanent and ideally high-paying position in Brussels. Of course, if possible, without the unsavoury and demeaning obligation of having to pass an open competition just like any other common and inferior European mortals.

There is certainly nothing wrong with a Commissioner exceptionally bringing in an outsider, a person of special confidence into his or her cabinet, but for the rest, cabinets have important jobs to do that often require detailed knowledge and experience of Commission procedures and policies. Overly relying on outsiders on the basis of special recommendations exposes the Commission to the influence of lobby groups and limits the efficiency of the cabinets right from the first crucial months of a legislature. Continue reading Cabinet appointments for common (but deserving) mortals →