The very first AD competition also open to AST staff: a clear victory for R&D
In its “MyIntracomm” article of 24 March 20261 , and more than 12 months after the initial announcement by Stephen Quest2 3 , DG HR announced the launching of an internal AD7 competition and stated that “this will be the very first AD competition to be open also to AST staff”.
This is more than an administrative announcement. It is a long-overdue confirmation that R&D was right from the start.
Once again, the administration is finally implementing what it had long rejected, dismissed, resisted or treated as legally impossible. Just as with the internal AST competition opened to AST/SC colleagues, there was never anything in the Staff Regulations preventing internal competitions from allowing real career progression across categories and recognising the merit, skills and experience of our colleagues.
For years, R&D had to endure condescending remarks and pseudo-legal objections suggesting that such demands were unrealistic, inadmissible, or contrary to the Statute. We were told that, despite our recognised legal expertise and our experience in Staff Regulations negotiations, we were somehow asking for something impossible.
It is now proven that it had been wrongly claimed that the 2004 reform had put an end to this type of competition.
It is now proven that it had been wrongly claimed that the inclusion in the Staff Regulations of the certification procedure explicitly precluded the possibility of organising cross-category internal AD competitions open to AST staff. We have for over 20 years replied that this alleged incompatibility had no legal basis in the Staff Regulations and that absolutely nothing in the Staff Regulations prevented the possibility of offering our AST colleagues this dual career development avenue.
As the leading trade union in the European civil service, R&D was in no way discouraged by these responses and was able to cite concrete examples from other institutions that had already organised cross-category internal competitions.
The facts now speak for themselves.
Where there is political will, an appropriate legal solution can be identified.
The legal and practical bases were in place. What was missing was not legality, but political will.
What was supposedly legally impossible has now been delivered by the Commission.
This is yet another demonstration that the alleged rigidity of the Staff Regulations is too often used as a convenient excuse for inaction. In reality, when the administration wants to act, it can. And in this case, it should have acted much earlier.
Wrongly claiming that the Staff Regulations would prevent measures that are in fact fully feasible and justified is not only socially unacceptable, because it deprives staff of legitimate rights or opportunities, but also politically irresponsible, as it provides opponents of the civil service with arguments to call for a new Reform.
Because enabling real career development is not a luxury. It is a matter of fairness, credibility and respect for colleagues. And it is clearly what staff have been demanding for years, as repeatedly confirmed by staff surveys.
But the cross-category nature of this competition is not the only breakthrough.
The recent “MyIntracomm” article points two other important and very welcome novelties:
1. A new cloud-based testing platform
The move to a browser-based testing system was another long-standing R&D demand, and we welcome the fact that DG HR has finally acted on it.
This change is particularly important given the long record of technical failures affecting EPSO and DG HR procedures. Candidates deserve a system that works. That should be a minimum requirement, not an innovation.
2. Cognitive reasoning tests: goodbye Talent Screener, hello anonymity
For years, R&D has been denouncing the Talent Screener as opaque, subjective and vulnerable to inconsistent marking.
Replacing it with a fully anonymous cognitive assessment is not just an improvement. It is a necessary correction.
Unlike the Talent Screener, which was assessed by human evaluators behind closed doors, the new reasoning tests offer anonymity, equal treatment and objective marking. If the Commission wants to be credibleabout restoring trust in internal competitions, this reform is not optional. It is essential.
A first opening — but not yet a full correction
Let us be clear: opening this AD7 competition to AST staff is a significant step forward.
But it is also an implicit admission that the rigid AD/AST division — just like the AST/SC structure — has failed to provide fair, motivating and credible career paths.
This pilot must not remain an isolated exception or a communication exercise.
If the administration truly wants to “break down silos”, then this initiative must become the starting point for a real system of structural, transparent and fair internal mobility. Anything less would fall short of what colleagues have waited for 25 years to see restored.
R&D’s commitment: free training for all candidates
As always, Renouveau & Démocratie will stand by colleagues.
We will provide all necessary preparation and training entirely free of charge, so that every candidate — whatever their function group or background — can compete on an equal footing.
Because fairness is not a slogan.
It is a commitment.
It is a method.
It is a fight that R&D will continue to lead and win.
Cristiano SEBASTIANI,
President
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1 First-ever AD7 internal competition open to AST staff to launch