As explained in our previous article, the Commission is drafting a Decision that requires all staff to provide their private mobile to be contacted during their rest time. 

Our article, published in September 2025 triggered comments from the administration, claiming that they would prove us wrong by providing updated information. No information was provided, but we still acknowledged what could seem like an intention to correct course by the administration, by informing you in October 2025 of a possible update on the situation. 

Several months later, right before Christmas, HR came finally with a “revised” version of the draft Decision. To our deep disappointment, the text was in essence the same: 

• Staff are forced to provide a private mobile phone number to be contacted.

• The Commission may use that private mobile phone number for: 

1. alerting of immediate security threats and measures in Commission buildings (current situation, but currently it is voluntary) 
2. business continuity when Commission means of communication do not work (we wonder in how many cases the sophisticated Commission networks won’t work but our humble mobile phones will) 
3. (the key point) to reach staff members or request them to work from 19.00 to 8.00 (‘disconnection period’), in case of emergency, pre-agreement and when the nature of their work or tasks require availability. 

• Emergency is defined as any “action that cannot wait until the next working day.” 

Currently, the Decision on hybrid working makes possible to contact staff during disconnection period but not on their private mobile phone. One could receive an email in Outlook, but unless you agreed to beforehand, nobody can expect you to read it at weekends. Also ‘emergency’ is not defined. 

The new draft Decision would force staff to surrender their privacy via their private mobile phones to be contacted during their weekends, holidays, etc. and just because somebody decided that they cannot wait until tomorrow for printing an email. 

Of course, this is to be done only in exceptional circumstances, but we already know how exceptional circumstances can turn into regular ones. Such situations will only multiply with shortage of staff to cover the basic service needs. 

We have already warned how the Commission – the Guardian of the Treaties – has abused staff privacy without any legal basis. How can we believe that it will be better once it is not only legal, but also compulsory? 

HR and the SG presented to Generation 2004 and the other Unions in January this ‘new’ draft, explaining that this is the best text that we can expect. According to HR, their proposal is the least intrusive option to achieve their goal. By just discussing a bit, it became clear that less intrusive options such as providing a corporate mobile phone or at least an eSim were discarded for budgetary reasons (and not for intrusiveness reasons). 

HR was not interested either in introducing mitigation measures to prevent or at least monitor abuses, suggesting that unions should do it. 

After the discussion, HR hinted that they might consider the following improvements: 

• An evaluation period a few months after the implementation of the Decision and a revision clause after 2-3 years. 
• Improvement in data retention (in the current draft, your phone number is kept until you leave the Commission). 
• Improve the definition of ‘emergency’ taking Belgian law as inspiration, which consider as urgent only those actions that cannot wait until the next working period without entailing serious consequences. 
• Clarify what can be expected from a diligent official. 
• Consider alternative means of communication instead of just and only your private mobile phone. 

Recently, DIGIT informed some colleagues that “On 30 January, the Commission’s central infrastructure managing mobile devices was targeted by a cyber-attack, which may have resulted in access to staff names and mobile numbers”. This time “No compromise of mobile devices was detected” according to DIGIT. Will the Commission provide new phone numbers to compromised colleagues if their forced numbers are compromised? Will the Commission contact banks, insurances, means providers, friends, family… to inform them of the new phone number? 

At the moment of drafting this article, we have not yet received the promised reworked draft Decision, so we can only hope that common sense will prevail, and that our next article on this topic will praise the administration for a considerate Decision.