*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. We update and republish the questions below to accommodate this change.*
Secretaries and clerks
Secretaries and Clerks (AST/SC) FAQs
We will add the presentation from our February 2025 event here and below you’ll find an extended version of a frequently asked questions (FAQs) based on the questions asked there.
If there’s something here that you can add to, that you’d like more information on or that you’d like to challenge (we’re open to all input!) then please get in touch: we’re here for you ! Thanks very much to all who attended! Continue reading Secretaries and Clerks (AST/SC) FAQs
ASTs and AST/SCs: promised change: conference
*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 ASTs and AST/SCs: promised change: conference
The first staff regulation reform: a new underclass (long read)
*Update 15.01.2025, Here’s our December note on the technical difficulties in application process in a call for expression of interest for the internal competition JPP14 (French and German as language 2).*
*Update 20.12.2024, Here’s our Note to HR on European Court of Auditors Special report: European Court of Auditors, 2024, Special report 24/2024: EU Civil service–A flexible employment framework, insufficiently used to improve workforce management* Continue reading The first staff regulation reform: a new underclass (long read)
AST & AST-SC staff: ECA Report Highlights Long-Standing Career Challenges
*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 AST & AST-SC staff: ECA Report Highlights Long-Standing Career Challenges
Time to put an end to the career blockage of AST/SC staff
*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 Time to put an end to the career blockage of AST/SC staff
One step forward in our fight: internal competition for AST & AST/SC (+training offer)
*Update 23.05.2024, COM/AST3/2024 competition exam date will be June 5, 2024. Enrolment on COM AST3 training with follow up sessions are closed. Registration for the self-study option is still open. *Update 02.05.2024 COM/AST3/2024 indicative planning has been updated, but still not precise enough to allow for holiday planning. Continue reading One step forward in our fight: internal competition for AST & AST/SC (+training offer)
More missing contributions for a pension transfer-in
While it is possible to take your pensions contributions from national systems and put them into the pension scheme of the European Union institutions (PSEUI), this is often a long-drawn-out process and it can be rather opaque. We recently highlighted the general exclusion of Member State ‘gifted’ contributions (e.g. covering times of military service or caring duties) from transfers-in and of a failed court case to try to recover the contributions where their inclusion made no difference. Now we cover a further potential complication which is delays in Member States doing their part in this process. Continue reading More missing contributions for a pension transfer-in
Please take action: European Parliament petition in support of Contract Agents
*Update 29.01.2024, the petition has been closed with no clear follow-up. We have contacted the Parliament for clarification.* Original article: Please sign the European Parliament (EP) Contract Agent petition: let’s make some noise! Petition No 0117/2021 has been on the go since 2021 and needs your input to keep moving! Let’s make a push in this, a brand new year, to get as many signatures as possible! The issues listed are as relevant today as they were when the petition was first opened: there has been no meaningful improvement. Please don’t let this action disappear through lack of support, we need momentum! This petition is open to everyone everywhere: let’s show our solidarity! Please register at the EP website and sign the petition there. Share this petition anywhere you can, we need to get those numbers up!
Continue reading Please take action: European Parliament petition in support of Contract Agents
Echoes of unhappiness
*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. Participation in these competitions can be done in parallel to the certification: use all your options!*
