2020 is fast approaching and with it are the Appraisal and Promotion exercises. It is crucial to understand these important administrative processes because they dictate how your career will progress.
Generation 2004 organises a conference to explain these two processes and offer tips on how to prepare your self-assessment and your one-on-one interview with your reporting officer. Continue reading 2020 Appraisal and Promotion exercises Conference
On 4 December 2018 a sweeping ruling of the European Court of Justice deemed Article 6 of Annex X of the staff regulations illegal. The said article, changed at the occasion of the 2014 Staff Regulations reform, reduced the annual leave of colleagues in Delegations to bring it in line with everyone else. The ruling was made on grounds of the health and safety of staff who, most times isolated in remote corners of the world, needs extra time to travel back home and rest with their family and friends. Continue reading 2020 Annual Leave in Delegations
Luxembourg staff has voted for a new Local Staff Committee (LSC) and the results of the elections have been published. Three lists were competing for the favour of voters: Generation 2004, Union Syndicale Luxembourg (USL) and a composite list made up by 6 entities, one of which (RS) is already a grouping of trade unions and staff associations (OSPs) naming themselves “Ensemble Luxembourg” (EL). Continue reading Luxembourg has elected a new Local Staff Committee
As you may know, Generation 2004 scored highest in the last Brussels local staff committee elections with 30% of votes. It was not only a big surprise to the administration, but foremost to the other trade unions. Despite the huge gain in votes and representativeness and due to preferential votes to smaller trade unions, G2004 did not obtain due number of seats in the Local Staff Committee Brussels (LSC). The new President Continue reading On the functioning of the Brussels LSC
On 1 July 2019, the Commission launched a new online booking tool called NEO. The goal is to help staff in booking their missions. In practice, NEO is the furthest thing from offering sustainable travel.
First things first. In theory, you see options of logging in and choosing between air and rail transport. In practice, the search function finds a considerable number of train stations, available for selection. However, for many, if not most of these train stations, NEO does not offer any rail connections whatsoever, which leaves us wondering why this is the case. Continue reading The new booking tool NEO – Sustainable travel?
Several rounds of bilateral discussions were held over the last few months between the Directors of the six Executive agencies (EAs) and the EC Trade Unions (TUs); and, between the Staff Committees (SCs) of the EAs and the EC TUs with the objective of paving the way for the introduction of the long-awaited social dialogue. On 19th June, representatives of all three groups of stakeholders (EAs Directors, EAs’ SCs; and, EC TUs) sat around the same table for the first time, although EAs’ SCs were invited only as observers and at the very last minute. Continue reading social dialogue in the Executive Agencies: State of play
You surely have already heard about acquired rights. All of us acquire one or the other right in the course of our professional life. For example, you acquire pension rights according to the accrual rate applying to you [1]. You also acquire the right to follow a certain career path on the event of your recruitment, which follows some selection procedure such as an open competition. This procedure determines, in which part of the EU “caste system” you end up. Your qualifications, experience and abilities only count to the extent that you fulfil some minimum criteria to gain admission to the respective selection procedure. It also will not matter that much what tasks you will carry out in the end. Possibilities for breaking out of your own caste are rather limited. Continue reading Acquired rights… and acquired disadvantages
The European Commission (EC) has approved a Communication on a modern and flexible workplace of the future. The Communication is based on more than two years of analysis, consultations and exchanges. The last report draws conclusions from these analyses and proposes a set of principles and recommendation for the future workplace in the EC. Continue reading Will the Commission ever become a ‘Workplace of the Future’?
On 9 October 2019, Commissioner Oettinger visited Luxembourg in order to talk to Mr Asselborn, Minister of Foreign Affairs Luxembourg, and discuss with him the follow-up of the Georgieva-Asselborn-Agreement[1] about the reallocation of 250 posts from Brussels to Luxembourg. The Commissioner took this opportunity to meet also the Board of the Local Staff Committee and representatives of OSPs in Luxembourg for a one-hour meeting before his meeting with Mr Asselborn. Continue reading Commissioner Oettinger visited Luxembourg
As mostly every year (yes, we still remember the great salary freeze brought upon us by the 2014 staff regulations reform and a bunch of irresponsible bankers) December is a good pay month. In this month, we all get the adjustment of the nominal net remuneration of European officials in Brussels and Luxembourg, calculated according to the method to maintain a parallel development of purchasing power with the national civil servants in the Member States. Continue reading 2019 pay rise: 2.0% + 0.3%
