Ispra and Seville local staff committee elections
From 18th to 20th November, members of the new Local Staff Committee (LSC) for Ispra & Seville will be elected. Candidates from Generation 2004 are calling on all eligible staff to make their voices heard – because every vote counts and it is crucial to shape our F.U.T.U.R.E. workplace.
WHY IS YOUR VOTE IMPORTANT?
Electing a (local) staff committee is the right of each staff member employed in the Commission in Ispra and Seville, thus your right – irrespective of your employment status as AST/SC, AST or AD official, as temporary or contract agent.
Your voice truly matters! By electing the right staff representatives, you ensure that your rights and interests are effectively defended, both at local level, i.e. the LSC Ispra/Seville, as well as in the Central Staff Committee (CSC) where all Commission staff is represented.
Therefore, Generation 2004 firmly encourages you to cast your vote. Your participation is vital to ensuring a swift and effective election process (with no need to extend the voting deadline).
You can read our Political Manifesto here.
Meet our candidates (link to our poster)
(The link is only accessible through the Commission internal network)
You are invited to get to know us (the candidates whose photo has a green play button also have a video message for you):
I joined the JRC in Ispra in 2008 first as a CA and later as an AD. I work to replace animal use in research and regulatory assessments with human-relevant non-animal models. Replacing animal use in science is important not only from an ethical perspective but also to improve human health as we are not 70 Kg rats 🙂
I have been a staff representative in the Local Staff Committee in Ispra/Seville for the past 7 years and in the Central Staff Committee in the last 3 years. During this time, I took the roles of Vice-Chair of the Early Childhood Local Joint Committee (COGEPE), Vice-Chair of the Housings Joint Committee (CPA) and member of the Joint Committee for Social Actions (COPAS). In 2024, I was elected Chair of the Ispra/Seville section of Generation 2004, the largest trade union of the Commission. I am also the President of the Parents Association of the European School of Varese.
I have been working on matters of high relevance to you such as access to childcare services, JRC clubs, European School and transport service, hybrid working conditions, harassment, access to the Italian health insurance card, etc. and I would like to continue supporting you on these and other issues for the next three years.
I strive for following a healthy philosophy of life and for improving my self-awareness. I practice the DeRose Method and apply a series of technical and behavioural tools like breathing techniques, meditation, mindfulness, good human relationships, good nourishment and stress management to develop a range of soft skills and attributes that make me an excellent candidate as a staff representative.
I hope I can count on your support and your vote! On 18-20 November, please vote Generation 2004!
I have been working for the EU for 13 years, in Brussels, Luxembourg and Ispra. In my career so far, I have been through all contractual statuses in various EU institutions, and I have experienced the different working conditions, procedures and work relations first-hand.
I am an Administrative assistant to the Director in Directorate S in Ispra. In my position, I have developed a lot of important network connections, which will certainly be an advantage in exercising my mandate.
My deep passion for languages often translates into good contacts with people. I like travelling, reading, nature and outdoor activities. I care deeply for animal well-being. I am a committed environmentalist.
I am empathetic by nature and it is very important for me to always stand up for my colleagues, defending their rights and helping them voice their concerns and needs. I am running in the current elections because I strongly believe that by joining forces we can achieve having our voices heard, and together, work for positive changes to be implemented. Fair career opportunities and career growth, transparency and equal treatment, well-being and work-life balance, respect of individual rights and needs, staff empowerment – let’s work together to promote these crucial values and strengthen our JRC Community in Ispra and Seville!
An economist by training, I joined the Commission in 2007, working first in DG Enterprise – now DG Growth – as Country Desk Officer for Ireland and Romania, and from 2012 to 2021 in the JRC on issues related to sustainability, green growth, transparency in policy-making and better regulation. Since 2021, I am a Permanent Selection Board Member on behalf of the Staff Representation. In that role have participated in numerous internal and open competitions as jury member and vice-chair. I have also been a member of the local and central staff committees for several years. Being committed to fairness, equality and professionalism, I have served on the Promotion Committee in numerous promotion exercises with a view to ensure that appeals are being assessed scrupulously, diligently and based on objective criteria. I have also contributed to proposals to reform staff representation so that Seville can have its own Staff Committee. In the Local Staff Committee, I have worked to improve working conditions at the Ispra site by supporting measures to protect the mensa, to green the Ispra site and to ensure that all staff have full access to affordable health care. As I speak several languages, I am very much in favour of a multilingual Commission and a Commission that lives up to its self-imposed standards of personnel management.
Peter Petrik, BE, ADI have joined the Commission in 2007. I have been with DG REGIO in Brussels for 15 years before moving to JRC in Ispra in the summer of 2022. I enjoyed a varied career in audit, human resources and programme management and currently lead a team responsible for financial initiation and verification in JRC.R.8.
I am a proud father of two six-year-olds who just enthusiastically started the primary cycle in the Italian section of the European School in Varese. I recharge my batteries in the gym and by the lake. I also like travelling, skiing, cruising and reading.
The Ispra site is inherently attractive based on its wonderful location and small-town charm. A perfect place to raise a family. However, in terms of career prospects, professional development, mobility or job satisfaction, there is room for improvement. I would like to be part of the team working to make Ispra a desirable place to be.
I have been a Contract Agent at the JRC since 2023, and I am currently employed as a Data Scientist at the European Center of Algorithmic Transparency. My background in Software Engineering and Psychology allows me to combine different perspectives when analyzing situations and solving problems. In my free time, I enjoy practicing various community-based social sports, including the soccer, skiing, and climbing.
I am interested in joining the Local Staff Committee (LSC) because I believe that collective action empowers us to express our needs and aspirations for the future. By working together, we can bring positive change. I would also like to represent Contract Agents and our specific needs in the LSC.
Pilade Tonini, IT, ASTI am Pilade Tonini, Italian, AST, and I work as team leader in the infrastructure unit. I have a family with two children and I like spending my time at home cooking and playing piano.
I am a member of the Ispra Seville Local Staff Committee, and current Vice-Chair of the Joint Committee for Hygiene and Safety at Work
I believe that the values of Generation 2004 are crucial for all staff, in particular Equal treatment, meaning equal recognition for comparable responsibilities and tasks, regardless of the category and the date of recruitment, and fair and equal access to career opportunities. In my activity in the H&S Committee, I have worked on pushing the administration towards a viable solution for a new Ispra Canteen in place of the very old and unsafe one, and have opened discussions to improve the functioning of the medical service and the safety office, and about work related stress. I have also worked in the actions of Generation 2004 and other unions aimed to obtain a fair and equal access of all the staff to the Italian national health scheme.
If elected, my objective is to go on working in the field of modernisation of the Ispra Site and to staff health and safety issues.
I am an economist with a background in financial and environmental economics. I have joined the JRC in 2007, and here I have mainly been working on financial stability, protection of bank depositors, and on the nexus between finance and environmental sustainability. Outside of work, I enjoy sailing and spending time on the sea.
I have been a staff representative for the last three years, during which I contributed to the work of the Local Staff Committee (LSC) Ispra/Seville by serving in several joint committees and working groups.
In the past, staff representation provided me support, and this experience in the LSC has been very interesting and rewarding, allowing me to give back something.
I believe all staff members deserve equal protection and opportunities, and I would like the chance to build on what I learned over the past three years to continue providing support for colleagues in Ispra and Seville over the next mandate.
Filipe Batista, PT, ADI joined the European Commission, Joint Research Centre, in Ispra back in 2010. For more than 14 years now, I worked for this organisation as a researcher under many different contract types: grantholder, external service provider, contract agent and, since 2020, official. For this reason, I know well what each contract entails, and what it feels and takes to fight for one’s place within this organisation.
After all these years, it is the first time I apply to be part of the Local Staff Committee. I want to keep focusing primarily on my job, but also to have the chance to lend my experience to the staff representation when it really matters. I will stand by my core personal values and beliefs in integrity, freedom, critical thinking and merit in both science and profession. As public servants, our true masters are European citizens and tax payers. In this sense, I plan to help empower staff not for their own sake, but to better serve the public with unbiased scientific evidence.
Professionally, I am project leader at the Territorial Development unit (B.3) of the JRC, with training (Bsc, Msc and PhD) in geography and Geographical Information Science. Outside work, my main commitment is to keep my family happy and raise my daughter to become a strong and sovereign individual.
Aris Tsois, GR, ADMy background is in computer engineering and in particular data science topics. After completing my PhD on optimization of data warehouses I joined JRC in 2005 and worked in several Units on data analysis and data analytics projects. For several years I lead the ConTraffic team, a group of about 10 data scientists. Currently I am working in the unit T.5 on Text and Data Mining in the Data Analysis and Robust Statistics group.
My commitment to the JRC extends beyond my technical work. For six years, I have been an active member of the Ispra/Seville Local Staff Committee, working for a more equitable and fulfilling workplace. Additionally, I have contributed as a member of both the COPAS and CPA Joint Committees, where I focused on staff welfare. I am deeply passionate about discovering and implementing effective strategies to enhance working conditions and staff satisfaction. My goal is to foster an environment of fairness and equality, ensuring that every member of staff has the opportunity to thrive.
Coming from the industry, I joined the European Commission / JRC-Ispra in 2013, as a Project Leader in the Nuclear Decommissioning and Radioactive Waste Management programme of our site.
As a member of Generation 2004 for a few years now, I have decided to engage further by running for the Local Staff Committee this year. Generation 2004 is a dynamic and open union that represents staff across all categories and origins.
As a father of three, with two kids in nursery and primary at the European School, I know what work-life balance and access to the national health care entails and what still needs to be improved at Ispra.
Career development and mobility are other major areas where the staff representatives should advocate for enhancements to benefit all staff categories and grades. With Generation 2004 List n°4, we have a strong, diverse and committed team for JRC Ispra and Sevilla.
Cast your vote for us on Nov. 18-20!
In 2005 I joined the Commission at the JRC Ispra, changing from university research to regulatory science and policy support, and here I still am in JRC.F, currently working as Advanced Materials Governance team leader. I have a background in physics and physical chemistry, and I love science as much as policy support: being at the interface of the two fields and trying to connect them.
I like to discover places and things, traveling to remote and not-so-remote places and art from all stages of human history, including music, literature, performing and fine arts.
If elected for the Local Staff Committee I would like to
- Work for equal and adequate career perspectives of all staff. I think that the career should depend on qualification and excellence and on nothing else.
- Fight for reasonable administrative procedures, comprehensible management decisions and an efficient working environment.
- Work for adequate support of JRC clubs so that they can provide a well-balanced and rich culture programme from which staff can benefit in their leisure time.
Our priorities for these elections aim to shape and defend our F. U. T. U. R. E. as Commission staff: 
We strongly believe these priorities are crucial to ensure transparency and professionalisation and to help addressing the upcoming challenges in terms of career, working environment and our rights. That is why we are fully committed to putting all our efforts to ensure equal treatment for all staff!
