Staff Categories

Promising and selling unicorns

Brussels, Elections, Geel, Ispra-Seville, Karlsruhe, Local Staff Committee, Luxembourg, Newsletter - 2021-12-02, OSPs, Outside the Union, Petition, Petten, Promotions, reclassification, Social Dialogue, Staff Categories, Working conditions Print This Post

*This article was published in November 2021 in response to promises made during Brussels, Karlsruhe and Ispra elections. Here are the Karlsruhe 2021 results.*

On allowances to cover the additional costs of teleworking and other promises

It is election time for many sites of the Commission and there are two unmistakable signs for this:

  • Your inbox is filling with largely indistinguishable e-mails asking to vote for union X or union Y, because they have done SO MUCH for you in the last year (although for some of them, you cannot remember ever having seen any action or results).
  • The e-mails contain a hodgepodge of measures that they are demanding, often defying any sense of reality: unicorns, rainbows, a guaranteed lottery win … 

Continue reading Promising and selling unicorns →

Generation 2004 submitted AST/SC petition to the European Parliament

Contract Agents, Petition, Secretaries and clerks Print This Post

We need you to please register at the EP website and sign this petition there.

We are happy to inform you that Generation 2004 formally submitted a petition to the European Parliament to stop the unfair treatment of AST/SC staff on 11.11.2021, but please add add your name to show your support! [1]

‘Will you support a petition to the European Parliament (EP) to raise the MEPs’ awareness of the specific challenges faced by our AST/SC colleagues and to urge the EP, during the next revision of the staff regulations, to adopt the necessary legislative changes to abolish the unfair treatment of the AST/SC staff members? Continue reading Generation 2004 submitted AST/SC petition to the European Parliament →

Stop having AST/SC staff do AST roles without the corresponding pay and potential!

Administrators, Assistants, Contract Agents, Junior Professionals Programme, Local Agents, Newsletter - 2021-11-17, Petition, Secretaries and clerks, Staff Categories Print This Post

*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 having AST/SC staff do AST roles without the corresponding pay and potential! →

Promotion/reclassification exercises 2021

Administrators, Assistants, Contract Agents, Local Agents, Newsletter - 2021-11-17, Promotions, reclassification Print This Post

As you probably know, this year’s promotion (officials) and reclassification (Contract Agents) exercises will end with the publication of the final lists this week here (according to our information it will be on Wednesday, 10 November 2021) [1].

If your name is on the list you will be promoted/reclassified (changes will be visible in your December 2021 payslip) and Generation 2004 would like to warmly congratulate you. Continue reading Promotion/reclassification exercises 2021 →

Do you think harassment or bad managerial behaviour improved in 2020?

Local Agents, Newsletter - 2021-11-17, Outside the Union, workplace bullying and harassment Print This Post

The mediation service has published its 2020 annual report showing that the number of cases reported is much lower compared to previous year(s).   One cannot help but wonder:  is that because harassment/bad managerial behaviour really improved, is it because colleagues are fed up with the ineffectiveness of the available harassment fighting procedures, or is it simply a partial story: it does not show how many cases never started because the other side refused to engage. (Yes, mediation is voluntary and the mediation service can do nothing when only one side is willing.) Continue reading Do you think harassment or bad managerial behaviour improved in 2020? →

Correction of function group for Local Agents in Delegations – We need an action plan!

Elections, Local Agents, Working conditions Print This Post

Stories on the ground

Story 1  LA Function Group IV recruited as  section secretary.  Later on the job task of the DMO (document managing officer) is added to the job description and this has been the situation for more than 2 years.  Management refused to discuss changing the post to Group III. Continue reading Correction of function group for Local Agents in Delegations – We need an action plan! →

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 →

Stop the phasing out of the AST function group!

Assistants, Newsletter - 2021-10-08, Newsletter - 2021-10-12, Secretaries and clerks, Staff Categories, Staff Regulations Reform Print This Post

*Update 23.09.2025: check the Draft 2026 Commission budget (p. 954-955). 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.*

Original article: A brief history of assistants, secretaries and clerks in the European Commission

Since 2018 Generation 2004 has been warning of and working against the phasing out of the assistants (AST) function group (FG) and the placing of all AST staff in ‘transition’. To better understand the issues at stake, we need to briefly examine the history and evolution of assistants, secretaries and clerks (AST/SC) in the European Commission.  Continue reading Stop the phasing out of the AST function group! →

Thanks for your support for colleagues in Afghanistan!

EEAS, Local Agents, Newsletter - 2021-09-08, Petition Print This Post

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! →

Empty promises? Medical staff already forgotten?

Assistants, COVID-19, Newsletter - 2021-09-08, Promotions, Working conditions Print This Post

As Generation 2004 we would like to express our enormous gratitude to the medical staff as whole: you have worked extremely hard, under huge pressure, put in long working hours and showed great dedication throughout this pandemic. We make a special mention also of those in Brussels charged with the additional responsibility of vaccinating [1] Brussels-based and visiting staff Continue reading Empty promises? Medical staff already forgotten? →