Brussels, 8 November 2017

 

Note to the attention of M. Julien Guerrier

Director of  Easme

 

Subject:  R&D would like to thank you for your first decisions that are going in the right direction

 

Back in June, we congratulated you for your appointment as new Director of the Agency.

That nomination, as you know, came at a rather crucial time for the future of a still young agency.

Indeed, when having to face major dysfunctions in the management of EASME, we came across denial of reality and complete lack of willingness to establish a real social dialogue, which would have allowed a proper appraisal of the problems detected and the bringing up and implementation of valuable solutions.

Under these conditions, we had no choice but to seize the senior management of parent DGs and the College, namely the Commissioner for Human Resources (

Concerns of EASME’s staff,  Unsustainable situation within EASME…

).

Similarly, we have asked IDOC and OLAF to check for any irregularities that have come to our attention and we await the results of the ongoing investigations.

Subsequently, while congratulating you on your appointment, we had encouraged to make in-depth corrections to EASME’s management methods.

We thus noted with satisfaction that, upon your appointment, you have praised, inter alia:

– more transparency,

– increased involvement of the staff in the life of the Agency and

–  more social dialogue both with the EASME Staff Committee and the trade unions.

We, as R&D, could not agree more on those principles and encourage you to act promptly in order to re-establish a healthy work environment based on trust and mutual respect between the management and the staff.

 

After few months…where do we stand?

R&D does not content itself with mere promises. R&D thinks that it is now necessary to follow up the commitments made.

Again, we note with satisfaction that most of these principles have already started being implemented with an unusual speed.

In particular, since the beginning of your mandate, you have:

– fostered transparency by directly communicating to and with the staff also allowing it, on a weekly basis, to participate to the management meetings;

– encouraged the staff to take part in the shaping of the Agency by creating a sounding board;

– developed a positive climate by encouraging staff to follow training sessions and further evolve and by granting second chances to colleagues;

– initiated an “open door” policy by being always available to meet the staff, directly and with no filter in between;

– improved the working conditions by implementing more flexibility;

– reinforced the link and cooperation with the parent DGs and central services with a focus on preparing the next MFF;

– opened up staff working horizons with a view to enable it to contribute to the future of the Europe Group, to the sessions on industrial policy strategy, etc.)

 

These efforts need to be maintained

We are aware that change does not happen overnight and that innovative thinking will find resistance, even – and probably mostly – within your own services.

That being said, it seems, nonetheless, that EASME is on the right path to ultimately increase staff well-being.

For our side, we will of course remain vigilant and keep listening to the reactions of our EASME colleagues who want this process to continue and even to grow.

R&D is confident that these changes will eventually have a beneficial impact that should allow everyone to find both collective and personal happiness.

Ever since the beginning, the objective of our actions and denunciations about the serious anomalies that we observed, was that the EASME Agency could get rid of the image of a service filled with tensions and conflicts where the principles of our Staff Regulations are neglected and its application procedures flouted, to become an example of good practice that can be extended to other executive agencies.

 

The role of the staff representation

In this process, we are pleased to note that you seem to appreciate and also recognize the role of the Commission staff representatives, whereas until now they were considered, by the EASME Agency HR department, as persona non grata.

We must not forget that a few months ago, this department had managed to prohibit an R&D representative to assist an EASME colleague facing a layoff proposal.

We hence encourage you to continue along these lines and already look forward to meeting you on 19th November along with other trade unions to further strengthen our fruitful collaboration.

 

Cristiano Sebastiani

President

 

 

CC:

Mr. G. OETTINGER, Commissioner  – Budget & Human Resources

Mrs. E. BIE?KOWSKA, Commissioner – Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs

Mr. M. Pellegrini EASME

Mrs N. MARTINEZ-PARAMO HR Departement EASME

Mrs. I. SOUKA, MM. C. LEVASSEUR, C. ROQUES, DG HR

M. N. Ilett OLAF

Mrs K. Williams IDOC

Mrs. L. EVANS, DG GROW

MM. R-J. SMITS (DG RTD), D. CALLEJA CRESPO (DG ENV), J. DELBEKE (DG CLIMA), D. RISTORI (DG ENER), R. VIOLA (DG CONNECT), J. AGUIAR MACHADO (DG MARE)

EASME staff

European Commission and all executives agencies staff