Welcome to the second edition of our 2026 Newsletter! In this edition, we focus on several key issues affecting your career prospects, working conditions, and fundamental rights as EU staff.
We open this edition with Generation 2004 meeting with Commissioner Serafin [1] on the Large Scale review, highlighting what is at stake for careers, workload and working conditions, and why transparency and meaningful staff involvement are essential.
We continue with structural barriers facing Contract Agents in internal competitions [2]. Generation 2004 continues to advocate for clearer procedures, more frequent competitions, and stronger guarantees for internal laureates.
We also cover the ongoing revision of sick-leave rules [3]. Although some proposed changes may bring improvements (such as a limited allowance for medical appointments), other elements raise concerns, including stricter procedural requirements and increased medical controls. Discussions with the administration are still ongoing.
Another important topic is the draft Decision on the mandatory use of private mobile phones [4]for professional contact during rest periods. Despite earlier feedback, the revised proposal still raises questions about privacy, proportionality, and data protection. We continue to follow developments closely.
We address the issue of freedom of speech [5]. The balance between staff obligations under the staff regulations and the fundamental right to freedom of expression remains unclear in practice. Greater legal certainty and clearer guidance are needed to avoid unnecessary ambiguity. For those who missed the conference on promotion/reclassification exercise [6], the recording and the presentation are now available. Don’t miss the upcoming conference on the AD5 Generalists/Graduates competition thanks to our collaboration with Yasemos Europeos. A study group 3 session [7] in English and a study group 4 session [8] in English and Spanish for the AD5 Generalists/Graduates competition are also available.
Enjoy the reading, and do not hesitate to contact us if we can assist you.
Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (\'Staff Regulations [9] (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 [10])
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 [11]: 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 [12] (‘indefinite’) and those with time-limited contracts [13], 3B [14]. CAs can belong to 4 different function groups (\'GF\') with different responsibilities and salaries [15].
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 [11]: 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 [16] (here is the cover e-mail [17]).
As a background you can see the report of the Commission to the Council regarding the recruitment of the contract agents in 2010 [18] (in French, COM(2011)802 final 23.11.2011).
Our articles on Contract Agents [19]
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