R&D PUT THE HUMAN DIMENSION AT THE HEART OF OUR INSTITUTION!
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WHY VOTE FOR R&D?
R&D put the HUMAN dimension at the heart of its work.
R&D is always on the front line to defend the dignity and image of our public service
R&D consults you before negotiating
R&D is the leading inter-institutional trade union force
R&D has called on the best experts
R&D by your side
R&D was established within the European Commission in Brussels, with very limited resources but a strong belief in a fresh approach to staff representation.
Our strength has always been to put HUMAN beings at the heart of everything we do and to encourage direct, genuine dialogue with our staff!
Your support enabled us to build bridges between Brussels and other locations and institutions. New R&D sections emerged, which led to R&D Fédéral being established.
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Thanks to your support, R&D is the union that is present for staff in negotiations across all three institutions: the Commission, Parliament and Council. We also collaborate with other unions.
We are ideally placed to consistently defend your interests by mastering all the inter-institutional aspects of issues that arise!
Your voice is our strength, and we’re counting on you to renew the Local Staff Committee in 2025!
Voting is essential to ensure that your expectations and values are properly represented: the Staff Regulations require the establishment of a Staff Committee (article 9.3) so that the representatives you elect can defend your interests within the institution.
By taking part in the CLP elections, you become a key player among the electorate called upon to choose staff representatives, namely 27 pairs each made up of 1 full member and 1 deputy.
During the 2022-2025 mandate, your representatives defended your interests and negotiated with the administration on all the issues that concern you:
- – The new anti-harassment policy
- – EPSO and screening for CAs
- – Hybrid working
Your R&D representatives are very active in all relevant jointcommittees.
The diversity of R&D‘s membership is its greatest asset. Within 3 years, R&D membership doubled. Members join us to support our trade union, political and statutory actions.
Together we can build the world of tomorrow!
PROGRAMME 2025-2028
Dear colleagues,
You are the heart and soul of our institution! The excellence of your work has enabled Europe to overcome major challenges and crises. This excellence is recognised by citizens, Members of the European Parliament, and President von der Leyen.
As policy makers of the European Union, serving 450 million citizens, you are on the front line, and you must continuously adapt to a world in constant change.
Your resilience and the exceptional efforts put forth during the COVID-19 pandemic were recognised in a special report by the European Court of Auditors (cf. Renard Déchaîné – Special Report by the Court of Auditors, EU Institutions and COVID-19).
The quality of your work did not falter during this period. On the contrary, you exceeded your capabilities. You proved that, no matter where you work, the continuity of service remains optimal, despite a drastic reduction in staff and the proliferation of precarious jobs.
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Our President von der Leyen recognized in you this exceptional strength during the summit (quote from the President on teleworking). However, the institution does not have a real politics of change. The post-pandemic period has opened the door to a new era of working methods, with new needs emerging, such as flexibility, meaningful work, and well-being. Hybrid working has become the norm and has enabled a better work-life balance. According to the results of the November 2024 pulse survey (link), 90% of you felt that the flexible arrangements introduced by the institution (combining office work with remote work) facilitate your work, and for 87% of you, hybrid working has a positive impact on the balance between your private and professional lives. However, only 53% of you are satisfied with your physical environment at the office. This is mainly due to the implementation of the new building policy for dynamic collaborative spaces (DCS). In a recent communication, R&D urged the Commission to continue promoting flexible working to avoid any further disastrous reforms and to expand flexibility to include more days of teleworking away from the designated place of employment, which has been recognised as a source of well-being for the staff, some of whom are expatriates. This would also allow us to be physically closer to European citizens.
You are asked to do more with less amidst budgetary constraints and without real career prospects. R&D had already warned about the dangers of these cuts to staff working conditions and health (cf. 2014 Reform – “Substantial savings at the expense of staff” – Renouveau et Democratie) and presented an analysis of psychosocial risks (cf. Renard Déchaîné – Analysis of psychosocial risk factors within our institution). According to the 2023 Staff Survey, only 40% of you are satisfied with your professional future. There is also dissatisfaction regarding your mobility (35% satisfaction rate) and your career progression based on performance (37% satisfaction rate).
With the new legislative mandate of the von der Leyen Commission (2024-2029), new political guidelines have been decided, which will inevitably have a major impact on your work and working conditions, starting with the redistribution of posts from the DGs of central services to priority DGs in line with European ambition. These changes will once again call upon your strength and adaptability, but without real compensation in return. The stretch is nearing its breaking point!
Moreover, the advent of artificial intelligence, as a daily support tool, could pose new risks if they were not detected in advance, and if this new tool had not been discussed in social dialogue prior to its daily use.
The horizon looks uncertain, with a complex global situation. In the mission letter from Commissioner Serafin, the President calls for a modern public administration, aiming for the Commission to become a truly inclusive and sustainable workplace, improving the geographic balance of staff, ensuring that the new policy on combating all forms of harassment contributes to a safe and respectful workplace, and making the Commission an attractive employer, capable of attracting new talent and retaining existing ones.
Now more than ever, R&D is aware of this turning point in our daily lives. And it is together with you, as always, that R&D will intervene and act to ensure that everyone finds their place within our Institution.
For R&D, making the Commission an attractive and modern employer is not an empty slogan but a commitment. The commitment to stand by your side and the side of new generations and future colleagues.
- Putting HUMAN dimension at the centre of our institution, at the heart of management, and at the heart of all reflection before making decisions that will change your daily life – that is our commitment!
- Ensuring the sustainability of hybrid working, by expanding the number of teleworking days away from the place of employment – that is our commitment!
- Establishing a diversity policy in a multicultural world – that is our commitment!
- Improving career prospects for ALL – that is our commitment!
- Ensuring a real policy on quality of life and working conditions – that is our commitment!
We are 54 colleagues, women and men, who have committed to representing you on the Brussels Local Staff Committee. Like you, we come from all walks of life, which is why we understand you and will defend you, as we live what you live.
We are committed to keeping you informed of all our actions and consulting you on every decision that will affect your daily life.
Together, we carry this programme, which will evolve throughout our mandate from 2025 to 2028
Is the Commission an Attractive and Modern Employer?
The attractiveness of an institution is measured by the trust its staff places in its employer, the pride of working for it, the working conditions, and the recognition of European Union values in daily actions.
You have voiced your opinions by responding to the Staff Survey. The attractiveness block of this survey includes 5 themes:
- The Commission as a place of work
- The purpose and goals of the organisation
- Well-being & work-life balance
- Inclusion & Equity
- Work arrangement.
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R&D has closely examined the results!
Your responses confirm the warning signals R&D raised in its 2021 analysis of psychosocial risk factors.
R&D has called for putting the HUMAN dimension at the centre of our institution and for the “Culture of Trust” to be effectively implemented.
Despite all the challenges, and throughout the pandemic, you remained resilient and continued serving nearly 450 million European citizens.
R&D has used its VOICE to defend the excellence of your work, the ethics, and the image of our public service!
R&D fully supports the vision outlined in Commissioner Serafin’s mission letter, which aims to ensure “that Europe can rely on a modern and efficient public administration to implement the Commission’s political priorities and make a difference in the daily lives of Europeans.”
Over the last three years, R&D has:
- Been on the front line to protect the image of EU staff and the European public service, proposing and obtaining the establishment of an interinstitutional ethics Committee following the Barroso affair.
- Been a key player in the implementation and monitoring of hybrid working, ensuring equal treatment across services and considering individual situations such as illness and special conditions for working abroad.
- Exposed the lack of attractiveness of our public service following successive reforms, which created geographical imbalances and underrepresentation of certain nationalities.
- Called for the arrangement of workspace to respect individual circumstances.
- Called for colleagues with disabilities to be able to work in an optimal work environment.
Over the last three years, we have honoured our commitments, but much remains to be done…
R&D is committed to:
- Defending the ethics and image of the European Union.
- Supporting hybrid working and firmly rejecting any attempt to return to the past.
- Ensuring that flexible working becomes a structural and permanent measure, an integral part of the staff policy, and a key element of a new modern human resources management based on a true “culture of trust”.
- Implementing the new decision against all forms of harassment and discrimination that we negotiated.
- Requesting Commissioner Serafin to ensure that the Commission leads by example, drawing on best practices from Member States and other EU institutions, especially regarding remote working abroad.
- Remaining vigilant about new workspaces.
Together, we are building the attractiveness of our institution so that new generations are eager to join us
Health is the pillar of our Being, and R&D has made it a priority
The richness of our discussions at various conferences has allowed us to focus our interventions towards the administration.
We have also studied the results of the Staff Survey, particularly those relating to the work environment, which reflect the health of the institution and its attractiveness. The diagnosis is mixed; the institution must do better!
R&D will never pretend to be an apprentice sorcerer, as its strength lies in the thorough analyses it conducts and its close collaboration with internationally renowned experts.
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With the help of these experts, R&D has called for:
- Revising the harassment decision from 2016, when the Commission adopted a Zero Tolerance policy but recognised only one case. R&D secured the creation of the creation of the post of Chief Confidential Counselor (CCC).
- Recognising psychosocial pathologies as occupational diseases.
- Establishing professional risk assessments.
Over the last three years, R&D has:
- Been the only union actively involved in primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of psychosocial risks, including harassment and burnout.
- Defended individual cases and achieved positive outcomes for all recognised harassment cases, some of which have been publicised.
- Presented an analysis of psychosocial risks and provided proposals.
- Called for strengthening the medical service, including the recruitment of occupational physicians, ergonomists, etc.
- Firmly negotiated the hybrid working decision, requesting:
- Consideration of personal requests for full-time teleworking, including remote work abroad.
- The establishment of a joint committee.
- The right to disconnect.
- Specific training for managers.
- Been radical in shaping new workspaces to ensure:
- The adaptability of spaces according to tasks and occupations.
- Workstations for people with disabilities or health issues are suited to their needs.
- Staff are consulted and must participate in the arrangement of their workspace.
- Demanded the PMA (Parental Medical Allowance) for ALL.
- Presented an analysis of supplementary insurance policies with our partners.
To achieve these results, R&D has:
- Been on the front line during social negotiations for all these matters.
- Appointed its representatives to joint committees, including key positions such as at the CPPT.
- Participated in all the work of the Local and Central Staff Committees.
We have kept our commitments, but much remains to be done…
R&D is committed to:
- Continuing to follow up on ongoing cases.
- Remaining a key player in the prevention of psychosocial risks by presenting a new prevention policy to Commissioner Serafin and to following the action plan on harassment.
- Requesting the necessary resources, including external support, for the proper functioning of the Chief Confidential Counselor service.
- Requesting a detailed study, including a risk assessment, on the implementation of AI.
- Remaining vigilant about new workspaces.
- Requesting the update of reimbursement limits for medical expenses, which have become outdated and no longer guarantee the reimbursement rate set by the Staff Regulations.
Together, we safeguard our health and that of future generations
Your professional future, and that of new generations, is a cornerstone of R&D’s programme!
Although you are ready to make extra efforts when necessary (94% in the Staff Survey 2023) and despite President von der Leyen recognising your commitment, expertise, and professionalism in every intervention, your career development is one of the alarming points in the Staff Survey.
For R&D, every staff member is entitled to genuine career prospects.
R&D has always placed equal opportunities, particularly intergenerational equality, at the heart of its demands!
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Over the last three years, R&D has worked rigorously and explored all possibilities to ensure equal treatment and real career prospects for ALL.
To achieve these results, R&D has:
- Worked tirelessly within the local and central staff committees and joint committees.
- Been a pioneer in organising internal competitions for all grades (AD, AST, AST-SC, CA), particularly when the Commission was not following the lead of other institutions:
- R&D achieved unprecedented results, such as the first-ever internal competition open to AST-SC staff.
- Conducted a thorough analysis of thousands of individual cases during promotion and reclassification exercises.
- Supported colleagues in their appeals against their supervisor’s evaluation or non-promotion.
- Been the main union behind the application and effective monitoring of the reclassification exercise and the implementation of Article 13 within the OIB, PMO, etc.
- Closely monitored the correct and fair execution of the certification exercise.
- Continued dialogue with the administration to improve the working and career conditions of staff in delegations, including recognition of work outside working hours, non-recognition of on-call duties, etc.
Furthermore, mindful of your environment and well-being at work, R&D has:
- Led negotiations on the new decision on working hours and hybrid working.
- Continued social dialogue on diversity and inclusion policies for all.
- Initiated the revision of the anti-harassment policy.
Over the past three years, we have honoured our commitments, but there is still much to be done.
R&D is committed to:
- Continuing to fight for ongoing cases
- Requesting:
- An increase in internal competitions, particularly for staff categories that have been left behind, including competitions from AST to AD and from AST-SC to AST (for example, for higher AD and AST grades)
- A genuine mobility policy that includes training adapted to future needs
- A genuine policy for skills and career development tailored to each staff category
- Proper recognition of qualifications and responsibilities for individual tasks for all, including temporary staff and contract agents, by adapting their job descriptions.
- Remaining in close collaboration with all staff categories and professions (translators, close protection officers, educators, etc.) in order to effectively address each person’s issues and ensure the best working conditions for everyone.
Together we are building our future and that of future generations
