R&D alongside AST/SC colleagues!
R&D has always been alongside AST-SC colleagues, denouncing the restrictions imposed by the Staff Regulations on their career progression, the discrimination suffered by the impossibility of accessing a procedure similar to certification for AST colleagues, the limiting on grades which may be filled by internal competitions, etc.
These aspects have an impact on the difficulties encountered by all the institutions in recruiting new AST-SC colleagues, as these posts are, in the first place, affected by the gradual deterioration in the attractiveness of our European civil service, as the Commission has now also recognised.
However, despite our efforts, almost nothing has been done since 2014 to demonstrate to AST-SC colleagues that the institution is aware of the difficulties these colleagues are facing.
It is not enough to recall at all times the limits imposed by the Staff Regulations of which these colleagues are fully aware. The same imagination capability demonstrated by the Commission in other cases must be used.
In addition, it is time to accompany with concrete facts the political commitments for a genuine modernisation of human resources by giving a concrete response not only to the increasing demotivation of AST-SC colleagues but also to the recruitment difficulties in this category.
Moreover, a credible exercise aimed at a genuine modernisation of human resources cannot be managed based on the lobbying capacity of each category and/or through more or less credible surveys by highlighting the number of responses received, in order to establish priorities, thereby clearly penalising AST-SC colleagues due to their relatively limited number.
More promotion possibilities for AST/SC it is now!
Pending a comprehensive reflection on the measures that can be taken to meet the demands of our AST-SC colleagues, what can be done in the immediate future should not be overlooked.
In particular, the limitations resulting from the Staff Regulations have been encroached by DG HR’s unnecessarily restrictive approach to the quotas made available each year for the promotions of AST-SC colleagues.
Already in the past, the staff representation has stressed the unreasonable and purely bureaucratic nature of DG HR’s approach.
In the context of the ongoing promotion exercise, we regret to note that this unfair situation continues for our AST/SC colleagues.
R&D urges Directors-General to request additional quotas for more deserving AST-SC colleagues through exceptional requests and the Appointing Authority to analyse these requests with the utmost sympathy.
R&D will make every effort to support these requests in the statutory bodies.
It should be remembered that, like the requests to increase the quotas for the reclassification possibilities of our CA colleagues, the budgetary impact of these measures is relatively modest.
It is sufficient to devote to these efforts a more than negligible part of the savings that the Commission intends to achieve through its new building policy.
R&D still and always listening to all staff
In line with its commitment to listen to and to stand by all staff, R&D will present in future communications its proposals to meet the expectations of each category and/or group of colleagues.
Please do not hesitate to share with us any difficulties you have encountered and your suggestions regarding the real priorities to be established for a modernisation of human resources management and organisational behaviour so that together we can put in place a Human Management strategy based on trust, recognition of expertise and actual work done.
Cristiano Sebastiani,
President