Brussels, 5 May 2026
Note to the attention of Ms Céline Gauer
Director-General of DG ENER
Subject: Ensuring steadfast support from DG ENER to Fusion for Energy (F4E)
We wish first of all to convey our warm congratulations on your appointment as Director-General of DG ENER.
We take this opportunity to express the expectations of F4E staff regarding your nomination. It is our sincere hope that your arrival will herald a stronger and more visible commitment from DG ENER — a commitment that F4E urgently requires.
We trust that this renewed engagement will reflect the increased political attention recently shown by the College — an attention we had called for and which we warmly welcome.
In this respect, we greatly appreciated Commissioner Serafin’s positive response to our request that the Commission’s Chief Confidential Counsellor provide direct support to F4E colleagues by visiting them in person — as part of her very first mission to a regulatory agency or Joint Undertaking — as well as the recent visits to F4E by Vice-President Ribera and Commissioner Jørgensen.
For the avoidance of doubt, this is not a call for greater supervision of F4E, but an invitation to constructive engagement in the context of shared institutional responsibility.
I. Staff Commitment to ITER and F4E’s Strategic Role
It is important to reaffirm that F4E staff are fully aware of ITER’s fundamental role as an indispensable step in demonstrating the feasibility of fusion energy, and remain fully committed to contributing to its success.
Staff members and their representatives are equally aware of their responsibility to meet the expectations placed on this project worldwide.
Defending ITER’s central importance and advocating for F4E’s strategic role in European fusion research are not contradictory objectives. On the contrary, F4E’s role is indispensable in:
- · supporting the accelerated technological and industrial progress that fusion development requires; and
- · strengthening European industry’s capacity to translate scientific advances into concrete results on the path toward fusion power.
We therefore rely on you to promote — including vis-à-vis other Commission services — the need to fully recognise, preserve and leverage the intangible assets accumulated by F4E through ITER and Broader Approach projects, reinforced by the expertise of its highly specialised staff, in support of a coherent European fusion strategy.
II. A Clear Strategic Vision
We urge you to advocate that F4E be endowed with the mandate, resources and instruments required to operate as a credible, effective bridge:
- · between research and industry; and
- · between ITER, the Broader Approach, and the future fusion demonstration power plant (DEMO).
III. The Need for Steadfast Commission and DG ENER Support
We are equally conscious that, for F4E and its staff to assume their rightful role, the organisation must first emerge from a structural crisis — a situation we cannot accept as normalised.
As repeatedly stated in previous communications ( link ), it is essential that F4E can rely on the Commission’s consistent and unequivocal support within the strengthened governance framework for Agencies and Joint Undertakings.
In this context, closer and more visible engagement from DG ENER is essential, notably in supporting the newly appointed Head of the Administration Department.
Such support is indispensable if F4E is to overcome the long-standing difficulties reflected in successive staff surveys — difficulties recently highlighted again by the latest consultation results.
IV. Urgent Action Required also in Light of European Parliament Concerns
In this respect, we call upon you and your services to ensure that the longstanding issues repeatedly identified — and confirmed by all staff consultations — are now addressed effectively and without further delay.
These concerns were recently reiterated by the European Parliament in its resolution of 29 April in the framework of the 2024 discharge procedure (link) , notably regarding staff well-being, recruitment, gender balance and the handling of psychosocial risks.
“Staff well-being, recruitment and gender balance
31. Takes note of the perceived dissatisfaction among staff within the European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy, as revealed by a recent staff survey and its implications for staff well-being; stresses that members of staff should be able to work in a physically and psychologically safe environment; further underlines the importance of retaining institutional knowledge; in this regard, notes with regret the continued high reliance of the Joint Undertaking on external service providers; calls on the Joint Undertaking to promptly take measures to address these issues;
(…) Repeats its deep concern regarding the following shortcomings in human resources management identified within the European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy:
(a) the recent Pulse Survey among staff revealed the perception of existing widespread interpersonal conflicts (77% of respondents), psychological violence (9.9% of respondents), sexual harassment (7.3% of respondents), and physical violence (4.7% of respondents); calls on the Joint Undertaking to take seriously into consideration the results of the survey and to follow up promptly with concrete actions to address the situation; highlights the importance of the well-being of staff.”
Given the seriousness of these findings, DG ENER cannot limit its role as parent Directorate-General to formal procedures such as the appointment of the Director. Persistent challenges of this magnitude require proactive governance.
Instances where DG ENER has appeared to distance itself from F4E have raised legitimate concern among staff. Yet, in the face of a crisis of this persistence, inaction is no longer an option.
The Commission’s reinforced governance framework for Joint Undertakings, already delivering positive results elsewhere, must now be fully reflected in DG ENER’s relationship with F4E.
Accordingly, it is crucial that F4E management — with DG ENER’s active support — implement visible, credible and effective remedial measures.
Years of unaddressed findings, erosion of trust in management, insufficient protection mechanisms for victims, and repeated dismissal of staff concerns as isolated cannot be met merely with statements of intent or additional action plans. As underlined by the European Parliament, action must now be rapid, decisive and objectively verifiable.
On the one hand, strong and visible political support from the Commission and operational backing from DG ENER are indispensable, since it is clear that F4E alone cannot resolve such deeply rooted issues.
On the other hand, as the principal trade union organisation in the European civil service, we remain committed to pairing our critical assessments with constructive proposals. Following the latest staff survey, we have presented to the F4E Director and Governing Board a comprehensive action plan, developed with specialist expertise and drawing on best practice in organisational governance and well-being ( link ).
V. Conclusion
The aforementioned decision by Commissioner Serafin concerning the Chief Confidential Counsellor, together with the recent visits of Vice-President Ribera and Commissioner Jørgensen to F4E, has sent a strong and encouraging political signal — one that we had called for and that F4E staff and their representatives have duly appreciated.
These efforts should now be pursued and further strengthened through sustained engagement and support from DG ENER.
Beyond individual responsibilities, what is at stake is the institutional credibility of F4E, the credibility of the Commission, and confidence in F4E’s capacity to fulfil its mandate — particularly regarding ITER — and to play its part in the European fusion strategy.
Once again, please accept our sincere congratulations on your appointment. We remain available for a meeting at your earliest convenience to discuss these matters in detail, and reiterate our commitment to contributing constructively through social dialogue, both within F4E and at Commission level.
Cristiano SEBASTIANI,
President
Copy:
Mr M. Gil Tertre, Head of Cabinet Vice-President Ribera
Mr G. Radziejewski, Head of Cabinet; Ms A. Carrero, Member of Cabinet of Commissioner Serafin
Mr Martin Engell-Rossen, Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Jørgensen.
Ms L. Naesager, Chief confidential Counsellor
Ms I. Juhansone, Secretary-General; Mr P. Leardini, Deputy Secretary-General
Ms D. Juul-Joergensen, Director-General DG TRADE
M. S. Quest Director-General, Ch. Roques Deputy Director-General, Ch. Linder Director HR.F, Ms M. Silva Mendes Head of Unit DG HR
Mr J. Panek, Director “Nuclear energy, safety, and ITER Mr M. Coppola DG ENER
M. M. Huebel, Commission’ representative in the F4E’ Governing Board
M. M. Lachaise, Director Fusion for Energy (F4E)
Staff