Staff Regulations Reform

Oops … the Commission did it again! Illegal request on private phones

Data Protection, Health, New HR strategy, Newsletter – 2024-04-29, Staff Regulations Reform, Teleworking, Working conditions Print This Post

It’s not even a month since the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) ordered the Commission to suspend illegal personal data flows and we see another such order coming.

Last December, the Commission launched a ‘business continuity’ exercise asking most colleagues (if not all, it was never clear) to provide their private mobile phone numbers to create Signal private messenger groups where they could be contacted for work matters. Continue reading Oops … the Commission did it again! Illegal request on private phones →

From culture of trust to control freak

Data Protection, Health, New HR strategy, Newsletter - 2024-04-11, Open Plan Office, Staff Regulations Reform, Teleworking, Working conditions Print This Post

*Update 27.02.2025: the question of whether managers can/should  use Teams/Skype or other status as an indication of your presence/availability has been raised repeatedly, particularly given that you might have a different status on each platform. Check out question 14 of the flexible working FAQs for written confirmation that this is not their intended use and that status is not a reliable indicator of presence or non-presence.* Continue reading From culture of trust to control freak →

Housing prices in Luxembourg – the state takes action for renters

Cost of living Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Newsletter - 2022-09-15, Staff Regulations Reform Print This Post

*Update 03.07.2025 here’s an updated list of available state aid in Luxembourg and an older checklist: use what you’re entitled to!*

Original article: In the absence of any real action on the issue of Luxembourg housing costs from the EU institutions, assistance is now available from the Luxembourgish state for those on lower incomes (for Luxembourg(!)[1]) who are renting. The subsidy is between €200 and €400 per month, depending on take-home pay and how many children there are in your household. Looking at our salary scales, and depending on individual circumstances, this might help staff in all function groups and categories, but particularly our contract agent (CA), assistant (AST) and secretaries and clerks (AST/SC) colleagues. Continue reading Housing prices in Luxembourg – the state takes action for renters →

Housing prices in Luxembourg – the Commission is fully committed to doing nothing

Cost of living Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Newsletter - 2022-09-15, Staff Regulations Reform Print This Post

*Update 12.04.2024 confirms it will continue to rely on state aid for accommodation in Luxembourg here is a list of that aid.* Original article:  Colleagues in Luxembourg are well aware of the housing situation there: prices are so high that an increasing number of colleagues are unable to afford accommodation in or close to the city of Luxembourg. Generation 2004 has raised this point repeatedly and so we were very eager to see what (if any) measures the Commission might propose in its report to the Parliament and the Council on the application of the salary method (document COM(2022) 180 final). Calling this report a disappointment would be an understatement: dear Commissioner Hahn, if you don’t want to do anything for the colleagues in Luxembourg, just say so and don’t put up smokescreens. That would at least be an honest statement, instead of the current beating around the bush. Continue reading Housing prices in Luxembourg – the Commission is fully committed to doing nothing →

Time for the Commission to focus on inclusion: cancer survivors

disability and special needs, Health, Leave, Newsletter - 2022-07-08, Staff Regulations Reform, Working conditions, workplace bullying and harassment Print This Post

Generation 2004 strongly supports colleagues in the EU institutions affected by cancer, just as we support colleagues with any important issue impacting their physical and/or mental health. As the Commission has been in the process of revising its HR strategy for almost 2 years now, it is high time to put in place a new policy to better cater for the needs of cancer survivors and their families and the needs of all colleagues whose complex situations are not well covered by the current patchwork of rules [1]. Continue reading Time for the Commission to focus on inclusion: cancer survivors →

Housing costs in Luxembourg: recognition?

Cost of living Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Newsletter - 2021-12-16, Staff Regulations Reform Print This Post

*update 01.04.2022 Corporate Management Board meeting of 30 March 2022 – Flash note: ‘12 actions are being proposed to increase the attractiveness of Luxembourg as place of employment’*

Colleagues in Luxembourg are facing today (well … for over a decade really) house prices that are in no way comparable to those in Brussels, although they receive the same salaries. In the words of DG HR: “This […] has been subject to criticism by some staff members whose place of employment is Luxembourg, who have argued that it does not properly reflect differences in the cost of living between Brussels and Luxembourg.” Continue reading Housing costs in Luxembourg: recognition? →

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! →

Medical reservation = discrimination against persons with disabilities (long read)

disability and special needs, Health, Newsletter - 2021-09-20, Staff Regulations Reform Print This Post

*Update 23.10.2024 please check the disability section in our list of resources, if there’s anything you’d like to add there, get in touch.**Update 29.11.2023, we sent a note to Ms Ingestad on this topic but forgot to upload it here. Here it is now.*

Original article: The medical reservation rules and their implementation:  how well do they fit with the prohibition of discrimination against persons with disabilities and the current HR drive for diversity and inclusion [1]?

The pre-recruitment medical: excluding those with disabilities?

Continue reading Medical reservation = discrimination against persons with disabilities (long read) →

Stated aims and reality: AST/SC

Junior Professionals Programme, Newsletter - 2020-07-01, Secretaries and clerks, Staff Regulations Reform 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 Stated aims and reality: AST/SC →