>> 22 December 2008
“SHIPWRECKED OF THE REFORM”: JUDGEMENT OF THE COURT GOES AGAINST “THE SHIPWRECKED”
The Court of Justice of the European Communities has pronounced its judgment in the case CENTENO (C-443/07 P).
The Court has dismissed the appeal.
This is a defeat not only for those “shipwrecked by the reform” but also for the whole staff which lost the legal battle which started about four years ago aiming to preserve equal treatment and non-discrimination. The Court didn’t take into account the Advocate General’s positive opinion.  will continue to support all the colleagues to find new ways to make up for the negative effects of the Kinnock reform. |
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>> 12 december 2008
The new appraisal and promotion system. Going from VERY BAD to EVEN WORSE?
As soon as Vice-President Kallas arrived in post, he was able to identify the damage done by the appraisal and promotion system that had been ushered in to a fanfare of trumpets by his predecessor, Vice-President Kinnock. Kinnock, as everyone will recall, had promised every one of us a transparent rapid-career system. Sadly, we have (every one of us) had to deal with appraisal problems arising out of promotion, an arbitrary and random dose of priority points meted out by Directors-General, thresholds that have slipped further and further out of reach despite the fact that we have increased our contributions – just when you thought you’d been promoted.
And was it not the same Mr Kallas who was so quick to commission a report from an external consultant, which merely confirmed what all officials already knew about the damage caused by the CDR?
So it was decided to alter the “Kinnock System” radically… |
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>> 12 december 2008
 LLIANCE : Parliamentary assistants: a small reform but major dangers.
In its rush to accept the Kinnock reforms of 2004, and in order to establish as quickly as possible the temporary staff of the political groups, the European Parliament forgot to make specific proposals to end the scandal of the careers of parliamentary assistants. Just before the European elections of 2009, the EP and the Commission propose a reform of the Staff Regulations in order to try and tidy things up. The ALLIANCE explains its position. |
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>> 1st December 2008
SHIPWRECKED BY THE REFORM: Judgement day is at hand
The judgement in the CENTENO case C-443/07 P will be handed down in the Court of Justice on Monday 22 December 2008 at 15:00.
believes in :
- Justice for all naufrages shipwrecked by the reform;
- Equal treatment and non-discrimination for staff;
- Fair employment conditions for everyone.
The Advocate General’s opinion of 4th September, included the recommendation that the Court of Justice should “quash the judgement of the Court of First Instance in the Case T058/05 … ” and whilst we are too old to believe in Santa Claus, we do believe in the professionalism and independence of the Court to rule upon the content of the case. Therefore we firmly believe in a favourable result. |
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>> 18 November 2008
Local Agents, Temporary Agents and Contractual Agents: PENSIONS EMERGENCY!
Following the Kinnock reform, reimbursement of pension contributions in cash is now forbidden and the only possibility now available is to transfer contributions into another pension scheme. This has set thousands of Temporary and Local Agents wondering what will happen to their pension contributions and rights, and how they will be transferred, if at all. believes that there is now an urgent need both to establish a pension scheme for all staff, and to reply to our colleagues’ legitimate questions. The Commission must take the initiative. |
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>> 04 November 2008
PAY INCREASE 2008 : Effective salary increase +2.15%
The Commission staff’s method for the annual adaptation of salaries and pensions for 2008 will result in a modest increase of only 3%, effective retroactively as of 1 July 2008. This is in stark contrast to the official Belgian inflation rate of 5.8% over the same period. Particularly high real wage losses suffered by civil servants of 8 reference Member States are having a dampening effect on our increase – they in turn are the result of excessive inflation in these countries (‘real wages’ being ‘nominal wages’ minus ‘inflation’). In addition, the pension contribution will increase by 0.65% as of 1 January 2009. An increase in the ‘special levy’ imposed by the Kinnock Reform of an average 0.2% of basic salary (this figure individually can rise as high as 0.4%) further reduces the net effect, as of January 2009, to a meagre 2.15%. |
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>> 04 November 2008
SHIPWRECKED BY THE REFORM: information meeting
Following the opinion of the Advocate General on the appeal CENTENO-MEDIAVILLA ‘v’ The Commission (Case T58/05) , has invited you to an information meeting to discuss the situation for those colleagues recruited following the introduction vc
The meeting took place on NOVEMBer 7th, 2008. M. IANNIELLO, President of and Me LEVI, Lawyer for the Centeno Group were there to answer your questions |
For more information:
Video (intranet)
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>> 17 October 2008
CHANGE OF CATEGORY: INFORMS YOU
Following the opinion of the General Advocate on the appeal CENTENO-MEDIAVILLA ‘v’ The Commission (Case T58/05) and following the recent court decision for SERANO (Case T47/05), has organised a meeting to discuss the situation in relation to change of grade following an internal concours. |
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Video (intranet):
Original En
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>> 30 September 2008
Compensatory payment for Pre-2004 Transcategorial staff
While our top management has been spending its time ‘looking for simple solutions for motivating staff’ [sic], has at last been able to find the beginning of a solution to the problems of hundreds of colleagues who are in danger of losing hundreds of euros following their move to categories before 2004. Our Administration has taken four long years to identify the legal void, and has now come up with a new legal basis. But the new Regulation and the incomprehensible transitional provisions continue to leave staff, including some of the team negotiating the reform, confused and demotivated. |
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>> 30 September 2008
selection procedure for two OLAF directors
OLAF made public the request of the Director-General of OLAF to the Commission to mandate IDOC to carry-out an administrative enquiry into allegations concerning the selection procedure for two OLAF directors. This request of Mr. Brüner was at that moment the end of a saga around the selection procedure of 2 directors at OLAF. A saga which in fact already started with the note of to Mr. Barroso in the summer of 2006, predicting the outcome, and which came into the public domain from January 2007 through several newspaper articles and a number of parliamentary questions. |
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>> 23 September 2008
“Report Madelin” on the modernization of human resources in the Commission
Following the release of the conclusions of the Holmquist – Verrue – Madelin Working Party, staff representatives have reacted unanimously both on the substance and method of this report. Indeed, the conditions conducive to a genuine debate on a new reform are not met and all the trade unions and staff associations firmly refuse any new reform of our staff regulations. We are convinced that neither the staff nor the institution are in a position to carry out a new reform. Such an initiative risks creating more confusion amongst our colleagues and within the services, as well as weakening the Commission. Indeed, it would jeopardize the Commission’s position in the interinstitutional architecture and its role in building Europe. |
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>> 4 September 2008
Shipwrecked by the reform: Opinion of the Advocate General
The Advocate General today gave a positive opinion on the Appeal before the Court of Justice on the Centeno case (C-443/07) – the case of the so called ‘naufrages’ – those colleagues shipwrecked by the reform who have been recruited to grades more junior than those stated in their notices of competition. |
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>> 3 July 2008
Modernisation of the Commission’s Human Resources
OPEN LETTER to Mr President BARROSO, Mr Vice-President KALLAS
Next week’s Commission meeting features an agenda point with the misguided title ‘Modernisation of the Commission’s Human Resources’. This document, which has never been subject to the compulsory social dialogue with staff representatives, and which has only been received by us through informal channels, poses dangerous threats to the survival of a competent, permanent and independent public service (and therefore of our Institution).
Four years after the damaging Kinnock reforms, administration, human resources and staff unions are still smoothing out as far as possible the damaging effects of the new staff regulation. Now, the dogma by which the ‘Holmquist-Madelin-Verrue_Report’ is guided represents another major attack on the consistency, dignity and efficiency of the European Civil service.
Other documents about internal seminar on Human Ressources:
Staff motivation Epso development HR scenario Note |
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>> 3 June 2008
TAKE YOUR SEATS PLEASE – R&D’S BUS TO JUSTICE IS ABOUT TO SET OFF.
is organising bus transport for all colleagues wishing to travel to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg on 19 June 2008 to attend the hearing of the Centeno group case on grading on recruitment, equal treatment and non-discrimination. |
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>> 27 May 2008
SHIPWRECKED BY THE REFORM
Case CENTENO ‘v’ Commission
Seeking equality of treatment and non-discrimination for staffThe CENTENO case was submitted to the Court of First Instance on 3 February 2005
Case reference: T-58/05: CENTENO Mediavilla et al ‘v’ Commission OJ C 93, 16.04.2005, p. 38
The case contests the grading upon recruitment of laureates from competitions published in the Official Journal before 1 May 2004, but who were recruited after this date. These people were not recruited to the grades published in the notices of competition, but to much lower, more junior grades. The Case was presented as a group of 17 individual cases, each argued separately, with common pleadings. |
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>> 22 May 2008
CDR: Our experts are at your disposal to help you with the new CDR
You can:
• discuss your individual case
• help you decide whether to make an appeal against the attribution of priority points by your DG
• help you formulate such an appeal
The services of the Help Desk are free of charge, and accessible to all Commission colleagues!!! |
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>> 14 May 2008
LOCAL AGENTS’ Pensions:
19 years after the promises still no pension fund for Local Agents
Even before receiving the precise data’s on the consequences of the new method, a trade union majority hands the RELEX an excuse for burying for ever the ambitious pension plan for Local Agents (LAs) and equal treatment for Local Agents in terms of salary adaptation. has changed neither its position nor its commitments towards Local Agents, and will continue the fight with the support of the overwhelming majority of Local Agents. Further to its request, and Alliance will meet Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner on May 19th 2008. |
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>> 11 April 2008
PROMOTION TRESHOLDS 2008 FORECASTS
With negotiations over, what is happening this year? and the other trade unions, albeit opposing DG ADMIN’s new system, obtained a number of important concessions by vice President Kallas, for the current CDR exercise. This is in particular the case for colleagues in grades AD10, AD8, AST5/C, AST4/C, AST3/C and AST3/D. DG ADMIN finally published estimates for the thresholds which apply for 2008 promotions. These thresholds are PROVISIONAL and will be fixed only by the promotion Committees, in October 2008. |
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>> 3 March 2008
CDR 2008
SURVIVAL HANDBOOKThe CDR 2008 has just been started. As a result of mobilisation against a too hasty introduction of a REC not tested, without guarantees for the personnel and in absence of a real will to bring of transparency to this new model. submitted a positive proposal for REC, transparency, and even improved in relation with that of the European Parliament which was the basis for our proposal in agreement with our electoral promises. Thanks to the firm negotiations with our administration, which did not want to follow the example of Parliament, we succeeded in saving time for reflection and a new system will come back into force only next year. |
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>> 27 February 2008
RELEX- EXTERNAL SERVICE
A REFERENDUM FOR MORE DEMOCRACYOfficials and other Commission agents working in third countries will be invited to elect their representatives on the Outside the Union Staff Committee in 2008. The electoral system currently in force gives 100% of the seats to a single list. This means that most staff are not represented, and R&D, together with the other trade unions of the Alliance and the FFPE, believe that the time has come to change the system and allow more staff to express their views. A referendum of all Outside the Union staff should be organised with a view to adopting a new, more democratic procedure. |
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>> 12 February 2008
2008 PROMOTION THRESHOLDS
PREVISIONS
!!!rough first estimates – R&D calculation – indicative!!!
ADMIN to publish official estimates later
The last CDR exercise before introduction of a new evaluation/promotion system has started.
assists you with preparing for the current evaluation/promotion exercise 2008 (2007 performance).
!!!! Attention caveat!!!!! The following thresholds are purely indicative. They reflect best estimates in February 2008, depending partly on the outcome of the negotiation of a new CDR system. ADMIN has not yet published any ‘indicative thresholds’ as was the case in the past. Definitive threshold will be fixed only by the promotion Committees in October 2008.
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