In the framework of the position of the Brussels Local Staff Committee (LSC) approved in March 2018 regarding the future mobility in the Brussels-Capital region, based on a request by Generation 2004, a separate chapter dedicated to EC Representations was added. Staff in the Commission Representations falls under the competence of the LSC, thus the Commission should assure equal treatment of colleagues regardless of their place of work. In many Representations parking spaces are very limited, therefore, the LSC called upon the inclusion of the Representation colleagues into the reimbursement scheme for the public transport cost to come to work and to provide all Representations with service bikes.
We are happy that from now on DG COMM provides statutory staff working in the Representations (officials, temporary staff , Contract Agents, local agents and DGT colleagues) with the possibility of applying for a 50% contribution towards the costs of public transportation used for commuting to and from work (here is the respective document [1]) .
Generation 2004 has also insisted on providing staff members in Representations with service bikes. As a result, service bicycles, familiar already in Brussels and Luxembourg have also been offered to interested Representations. It should allow colleagues to commute from the office to meetings or events in other buildings or sites in different parts of the capitals or regional capitals. If needed, also budget for helmets, locks or other necessary equipment can be provided.
In total 22 Representations showed interest in purchasing service bicycles and the first 18 bicycles have been purchased by 8 Representations (Athens, Sofia, Riga, Bucharest, Prague, Dublin, Bratislava and Tallinn).
Another 29 bicycles will be ordered by the remaining Representations very soon, so there will be 47 new service bicycles in the Reps as of spring 2019.
DG COMM envisages to assess the results of this action later this year (including a reflection on the possibility of adding other types of bicycles such as electric bicycles to the fleet in the future.
For more questions please consult the FAQ on the public transport reimbursement scheme [2].
Please share with us [3] your first experiences and possible suggestions.
toolTips('.classtoolTips23','Contract Agents (CAs) were created by the 2004 staff regulations Reform. There are two types of CA: those with unlimited contracts, 3A [4] (‘indefinite’) and those with time-limited contracts [5], 3B [6]. CAs can belong to 4 different function groups (\'GF\') with different responsibilities and salaries [7].
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 [8]: 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 [9] (here is the cover e-mail [10]).
As a background you can see the report of the Commission to the Council regarding the recruitment of the contract agents in 2010 [11] (in French, COM(2011)802 final 23.11.2011).
Our articles on Contract Agents [12]
'); toolTips('.classtoolTips25','These are officials, temporary agents (TAs), contract agents (CAs), and special advisers. This excludes other staff working for the Commission such as persons employed under private law contracts, experts on secondment from national civil services (SNEs), trainees, and external experts. (Practical guide to staff ethics and conduct [13])
'); toolTips('.classtoolTips47','Trade union or staff association (OSP) [Organisation syndicale et professionnelle]');