You will remember the call launched by Generation 2004 on the 10th anniversary of the 2004 staff regulations reform (see here [2] p. 1 and here [3] p. 3) for all unions and staff associations (OSPs) to come together in a conference which would analyse in a holistic manner the post-2004 problem and ideally come out with a set of proposals intended to improve the situation and career perspectives of post-2004 colleagues.
As requested by the other OSPs, Generation 2004 had accepted to give up the unilateral initiative of organising this conference and instead organise it jointly with all OSPs acting in unison.
After almost seven months of discussion and preparation which was not always easy, the inter-OSP conference was organised over 16-17 November entitled 2004-2014: 10 years of inequality and injustice at the
The conference, which can be defined as a success, tackled the post- 2004 issue from the perspective of Contract Agents (see more here [4]) and permanent officials respectively.
As regards permanent officials, whilst we will not go into detail here and yet concerning the outcome of the conference – in order not to preclude the issuance of a common communication by all OSPs over the coming days – all parties broadly concurred on the following points:
- at this point, ALL OSPs recognise unequivocally the existence of a serious problem concerning the non-convergence of pre and post – 2004 careers;
- the Commission should as soon as possible conduct a serious and independent analysis quantifying the extent of the problem;
- the Commission should without delay embark upon a set of corrective measures intended to address the situation;
- there are a number of potential measures which are both financially, legally and statutorily viable if there is the sincere political will of the Commission to address the problem.
OSPs are currently finalising a common communication summing up the results of the conference which will be subsequently presented to the Commission before the end of the year. It is now time for all OSPs to pass from words to concrete actions!
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Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (\'Staff Regulations [5] (SR)\') are rules stating:
• fundamental conditions of service
• basic rights, duties and obligations of staff.
The SR have been reformed x 2 (so far):
• 2004 (Kinnock White paper)
• 2014 (Regulation 1023/2013 [6])
For a summary of stated intentions and real outcomes of those two reforms check out: European Court of Auditors, 2019, Special report no 15/2019 [7]: Implementation of the 2014 staff reform package at the Commission – Big savings but not without consequences for staff
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Contract Agents (CAs) were created by the 2004 Staff Regulations Reform. There are two types of CA: those with unlimited contracts, 3A [8] (‘indefinite’) and those with time-limited contracts [9], 3B [10]. CAs can belong to 4 different function groups (\'GF\') with different responsibilities and salaries [11].
As the use of contract staff becomes increasingly common, there has been a corresponding increase in the diversity of status and pay of the Commission’s workforce. For example, GFIV contract staff meeting the same minimum recruitment requirements (education and experience) as junior administrators may earn 28 % less. (European Court of Auditors, 2019, Special report no 15/2019 [7]: Implementation of the 2014 staff reform package at the Commission – Big savings but not without consequences for staff, point 61, page 34)
We have a working group dedicated to the dossier, and in December 2012 we addressed the first of many letters (\'notes\') about Contract Agents to Human Resources of all Institutions and agencies [12] (here is the cover e-mail [13]).
As a background you can see the report of the Commission to the Council regarding the recruitment of the contract agents in 2010 [14] (in French, COM(2011)802 final 23.11.2011).
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