Brussels, 11 November 2025

Note for the attention of

Mr. Piotr Serafin, Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration

Mrs Catherine Day, Special adviser of Commissioner Serafin and Chair of the High-Level Group

Subject: Large Scale Review – Article published on Euractiv

As we stated in our letter to you dated of 6 October which to date remains still unanswered, the Large-Scale Review exercise is raising a number of questions and even concerns among staff.

On the one hand, with the present (second letter) we would like to reiterate our request for the active involvement and participation of the staff representatives in all stages, workstreams and groups established to carry out the Large-Scale Review.  The measures currently envisaged by DG HR are clearly insufficient and confirm the disregard for genuine social dialogue, which should not be replaced by a mere sharing of information.

On the other hand, these concerns are all the more founded, given that, in the past, a similar exercise presented as an effort to “modernise” our institution resulted in a disastrous reform of our Staff Regulations. Its consequences are still being felt by staff today and have seriously undermined the attractiveness of our civil service.

In this regard, we have taken note of the oral assurances given by Mr Quest during his participation in the last plenary meeting of the Central Staff Committee (CSC) that there would be no further reform of the Staff Regulations. However, we note that there is, at this stage, no formal and written guarantee provided directly by the Commission, that this review is carried out within the framework of the current Staff Regulations.

Furthermore, staff are deeply concerned by the recent article published on Euractiv reporting comments attributed to Ms Catherine Day questioning the very permanence of our civil service and, by extension, its independence. Such an article raises serious concerns, as it appears to indicate a possible reopening of the Staff Regulations, contrary to the assurances previously given by DG HR.

It seems very inappropriate that the Chair of the High-Level Group has made such public comments before even the start of the process. It is therefore of paramount importance that the Commission requests Ms Day to publicly clarify whether the statements are accurate and, if they are not, to request the publication of a corrigendum on this topic.

Above all, it is up to Ms Day to immediately and unequivocally confirm to staff that the comments quoted in the article do not reflect, in any possible way, her thoughts, intentions or priorities in the context of her mandate as Chair of the Large-Scale Review High-Level Group.

Furthermore, as Ms Day is your Special Adviser, we ask whether you, on behalf of the Commission, can formally confirm that such a vision of the future of our civil service is totally unacceptable, that doesn’t correspond to the priorities of our institution, and that it cannot represent a possible and acceptable outcome of the Large-Scale Review.

If we truly want this exercise to contribute to improving the organisation and functioning of our institution, we must be very clear about the framework within which it is conducted by firmly establishing the outcomes that the Commission must already rule out as unacceptable and contrary to the founding principles of our European civil service.

We therefore call on the Commission to urgently convene a dedicated social dialogue meeting with staff representatives to discuss these matters and agree on next steps. We also expect the Commission to present a clear and coherent vision and roadmap for the Large-Scale Review, ensuring that all actions are guided by defined objectives rather than isolated statements or ad-hoc initiatives.

C. Sebastiani / R.Trujillo	M. Válková	N. Mavraganis	G. Vlandas / H. Conefrey
Alliance (signed)	Generation 2004 (signed)	USF (signed)	RS- U4U/USHU (signed)

Copy:

Mrs Ursula von der Leyen, President

Mr Björn Seibert, Head of Cabinet of the President

Mr Grzegorz Radziejewski, Head of Cabinet; Mrs Ana Carrero Yubero, Member of Cabinet Serafin

Mr Stephen Quest, Director-General; Mr Christian Roques, Deputy Director-General; Mr Christian Linder, Director HR. F; Mr Laurent  Duluc Deputy Head of Unit HR. F4- DG HR

Commission & Executive Agencies Staff