LSC elections in Ispra and Seville - Oooops! R&D did it again!

LSC elections in Ispra and Seville 

Oooops! R&D did it again!
                   

For an unprecedented 4th time in a row,  R&D was again the most voted Trade Union in the Local Staff Committee (LSC) elections in Ispra and Seville (17/11/24 – 4/12/24).

AnotherR&Dimension and Seville Voice registered together almost 43% of all votes!

The staff sent once again a clear message of appreciation, trust and confidence to our candidates, recognising their work, seriousness, transparency and dedication in addressing staff issues 

THANK YOU! We thank those who supported us, and we will appreciate even more, if those who didn’t vote for us share with us their concerns. No matter these reasons, our battles will continue!
 

These results consolidate the role of Federal R&D as the leading Trade Union
in the Social Dialogue of the European civil service!

The guidelines for new ways of working, anti-harassment, and missions were discussed at the highest level and implemented in the past three years. We have made sure that the Ispra and Seville site-specific issues were considered and supported the physical visits of the Central Staff Committee to these sites. We have worked in detail regarding the access to the Italian Health system and the understanding of the local coefficient, incl. urgent measures to mitigate the negative impact on staff.  In Seville, R&D has underlined its support via the Seville Voice list towards developing the new building and establishing an own Local Staff Committee, which would put this site in the same conditions as the others. The collaboration of R&D colleagues in the Local and Central Staff Committees asserted staff interests towards the administration, avoiding that unreasonable, detrimental to staff, decisions were taken.

We are all the more proud that these results have been achieved without renouncing the common values that constitute the basis for action of all R&D sections. Federal R&D , the first union at the level of all institutions is above all a community of values!

R&D has not worked in isolation! For R&D it has never been a matter of boasting of being the leading Trade Union by dividing the staff representation: we have always JOINED FORCES with all Unions based on an attitude of mutual respect.

Hence, the R&D sections in the different Local Staff Committees extend their sincere gratitude to the colleagues from JRC Ispra and Seville for this remarkable success, which came notwithstanding the challenging timing and political circumstances. In the light of budget constraints, ever increasing workloads and new priorities in the Commission, it is important that we all stand together. These results will add to the ones from the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions, the European Economical and Social Committee and many other Institutions confirming the highest positioning of R&D as the leading trade union of the European Institutions!

Standing up for one set of Staff Regulations for all institutions and places of employment, protecting the rights of the colleagues, the equality of treatment, the transparency of procedures, fighting against abuses, preventing the erosion of the service ... always at the heart of the R&D action.

For R&D, standing up for a scingle set of Staff Regulations and protecting the values on which our civil service is based have never been, are not, and will never be an empty slogan! In all negotiations, we highlight the best practices of each institution and demand equal treatment of colleagues regardless of their institution or place of employment.

Within each institution and in all places of employment, we demand transparency of procedures, we oppose abuses and "parachuting" .... we defend the rights of colleagues by also offering the help of a pool of specialized lawyers to guide, help and serve you better.

Solidarity always at the heart of R&D action       

Solidarity being the foundation of our joint action, we do not spare our efforts to assist and defend our colleagues in precarious situations, without ever making deceptive promises, nor playing demagoguery.

Cristiano SEBASTIANI,
President

LSC Elections - make your voice heard!

From 18^th - 20^th of November, all the statutory staff will be invited to vote for the new composition of the Ispra/Seville Local Staff Committee (LSC). The LSC has a fundamental role in the defence of staff rights and plays a key part in the verification of the correct application of the Staff Regulations and other local provisions. Please find here a guide how the LSC elections work.

R&D Ispra will be present as list 5 - anotheR&Dimension.

It is of paramount importance to have a strong and reliable Staff Committee. For that reason we are asking to renew your trust in us and support our guidance of the Local Staff Committee that we have had during the last three-year mandate, thanks also to the concrete work of the elected members of anotheR&Dimension. Please find below the list of our candidates and a summary of our programme. A more detailed programme is available here.

The Staff Committees ensure the application of the Staff Regulations. Voting for their composition is a right and a duty of each one of us; don't miss the chance to make your voice heard!

ISPRA SALARY ADJUSTMENT 2024

 ISPRA SALARY ADJUSTMENT 2024

We would like to clarify some aspects of the annual salary adjustment that have been circulating recently, following the publication of the Eurostat Report.

Firstly, it should be noted that the basic salary grid (TBA) for staff has increased by 8.5% over the past year (to July 2024), in accordance with the "méthode" set out in the Staff Regulations, with an intermediate adjustment of 3% in January 2024 and the balance in July 2024.

Most unfortunately, for Ispra however, we will not see an increase in the net salary received due to the effect of the correction coefficient, which has decreased from 0,95 to 0,869 over the last year.

 
Based on the available official data, a working group has been established within R&D to analyse the circumstances that has led to such a significant decrease in our correction coefficient this year and the aspects that have had the most significant impact on its calculation. Some initial reflections and suggested actions are reported below:

• The weight attributed to housing prices in different countries/locations contributes  greatly to the results of the calculations. In particular the rental prices have decreased significantly in Varese compared to Brussels over the last year.
• Additionally, some of the data comes from the survey (family budget survey) that is normally proposed to staff every 5-7 years. The last survey for Varese dates back to 2016, and for this reason it is no longer current, and does not take into account the effects of the post COVID-19 pandemic and the recent period of high inflation. Eurostat had in previous reports stated its intention to perform a new survey within 2024, which it unfortunately has not implemented.

We are currently planning the following actions: 

• We will request a review of the data currently used for the calculation of the 2024 correction coefficient.
  
• We will request a new survey to be conducted promptly, so that the determination of the next correction coefficient is more in line with our reality, and request that these surveys are performed at more frequent intervals.
• We will explore further “intersindacale” administrative actions.

We are also planning to organize a more detailed information session to discuss with you the results of our analysis and have an open exchange with staff. We remind you that this issue will be discussed during the upcoming plenary sessions of the LSC (Local Staff Committee) and the CSC (Central Staff Committee) with full involvement of all the staff representatives, to ensure that this important topic is given due attention.

The Executive Committee R&D Ispra

ONLINE TRAINING - WRITTEN TEST FOR EPSO OPEN COMPETITIONS - 17 & 22 OCTOBER 2024

REGISTER: 

Our trainings are FREE for all R&D members and those who wish to join our trade union! 

If you are not already a member, you can join by filling out this online form:

R&D ISPRA BECOME A MEMBER

To participate in the sessions, it is mandatory to complete the Google Form below: 

  EPSO COMPETITIONS - COURSE ON WRITTEN TESTS - OCTOBER 2024

 Deadline for registration: 16/10/2024 at 5.30 pm 

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 if you register via the link above

LOGIN LINK WILL BE PROVIDED ONCE YOUR REGISTRATION IS CONFIRMED

ON EACH TRAINING DAY BEFORE NOON

ONLINE TRAINING FOR EPSO OPEN COMPETITIONS/CAST| PRE-SELECTION TESTS - CBT - 3, 8, 10 & 15 October 2024 - at 16:30

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Intermediate salary update for Ispra-based staff

 Recently another trade union sent a message containing information regarding the intermediate salary update in June. The explanation of the adjustment calculation and the method was well explained.

Unfortunately, the net effect on the pay slip for staff based in Ispra in June will be - 0.1% (retroactive to January 2024 : - 0.6%),  because of the highlighted increase of 3% in the salary grid is more than neutralized by the nominal reduction of the coefficient corrector for Varese of 3% (from 0.95 to 0.92).

From our understanding, the situation for salary adjustment at the end of this year will be probably more positive.

The R&D Ispra Executive Committee

JSIS - The Article 72(3) and how it must be applied by the PMO: For R&D fairness and solidarity are not just empty words!

The Article 72(3) and how it must be applied by the PMO:
For R&D fairness and solidarity are not just empty words! 

The Article 72(3) is one of the best “hidden secrets” of the Staff Regulations, but also one of the aspects that demon¬strates the solidarity dimension of our Staff Regulations. 

A dimension that is all too often neglected in the implementation of the statutory provisions! 

Indeed, Article 72(3) provides for an additional “special reimbursement” by the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme (JSIS) when individual affiliates face very high medical expenses. In particular, Article 72(3) reads:

‘Where the total expenditure not reimbursed for any period of twelve months exceeds half the official's basic monthly salary or pension special reimbursement shall be allowed by the appointing authority, account being taken of the family circumstances of the person concerned, in manner provided in the rules referred to in paragraph 1.’

As it can be immediately understood, this is a very important article because it can provide additional financial support when a colleague has medical problems that involve very high costs, which is a major additional, sometimes dramatic, problem for the lowest paid colleagues.

On an almost daily basis, we come across colleagues who are indeed faced with large financial expenses and don’t really know that they may be entitled to apply for a special reimbursement.

And the Paymaster’s Office (PMO) is unwilling to provide affiliates with an automated system that automatically calculates the amount of money an individual is responsible for over the last twelve months.

It is left to individual colleagues to calculate their own expenses, to compare them with their basic salary and to decide whether or not to submit the “special reimbursement request”

For R&D, this is unacceptable, both because the PMO would easily have the tools to automatically calculate the “rolling 12-month expenditure not-reimbursed by JSIS” of each JSIS affiliate at any given time, and also because the colleagues with very high medical expenses are often not in a position to make such calculations.

R&D requests that PMO include in each individual's JSIS page an automated calculation of the rolling 12-month expenditure for medical expenses, as referred to in Art. 72(3)

R&D will continue to push for the introduction of a screen in each affiliate's personal space in JSIS (or PMO Mobile) that automatically calculates the sum of the personal expenses over the last twelve months. In this way, colleagues could easily check whether they are eligible or not.

How can someone apply for a “special reimbursement”?

If an individual Affiliate estimates that he/she has incurred medical expenses that exceed half of the basic salary, then the Affil¬iate can submit the dedicated application form1. 2 . The special reimbursement rate will then be as follows3

•  a 90% reimbursement of the amount exceeding half your basic salary if you are a member and no one else is insured under your name; for example, if you are single and have no children;
•  a 100% reimbursement of the amount exceeding half your basic salary if there is at least one other person insured in your name, such as your spouse.

When applying Article 72 (3), in order not to penalise colleagues working in the countries with low salary correction coefficients, the PMO must consider the salary actually paid, taking into account the correction coefficients

In this respect, the Court of Justice has already clarified that the basic salary to be taken into account when applying Article 72 (3) is the salary actually paid, taking into account the correction coefficient: 4
 

‘(…) 15. ’15 It follows from the foregoing that to assess correctly the extent of the financial burden placed on an official who is seeking a special reimbursement, the living conditions of the place of his employment must be taken into account and consequently the special reimbursement provided tor in Article 71 (3) of the Staff Regulations must be calculated, not solely in accordance with the salary referred to in Article 66, but on the basis of the real salary adjusted by the weighting provided for in Article 64 whose purpose is precisely to take account of the living conditions in the place of employment.” 

This is a very important aspect to consider in order to ensure fairness and solidarity!

To give an example, if a colleague works in Croatia (where the correction coefficient is 84.8%) and has a basic monthly salary of 3000 €, what this colleague actually earns each month is not 3000 € but 2544 €.
Thus, according to the abovementioned case law, Article 72(3) must be applicable to this colleague if the medical expenses for the past 12 months would be higher than 2544/2=1272 € and not if the medical expenses for the past 12 months are higher than 1500 € without applying the salary correction coefficient.

Conclusion

Disregarding the salary actually paid when applying Article 72(3), denies the solidarity and fairness at the heart of this Article, creates a situation of unequal treatment between colleagues from different places of employment and it is detrimental to those colleagues working in Member States already penalised by a salary correction coefficient below 100%.

If you are in any doubt as to how Article 72 (3) should be applied to your case, or if you are faced with decisions by the PMO that do not seem right to you, please do not hesitate to contact us for assistance from our team of specialists and Lawyers.

R&D is always at your side!
 

Cristiano Sebastiani,
Chairman
——————————————
1.  In English: https://myintracomm.ec.europa.eu/staff/Documents/health/demande-rembspecial-en.pdf
2.  In French: https://myintracomm.ec.europa.eu/staff/Documents/health/demande-rembspecial-fr.pdf
3. https://myintracomm.ec.europa.eu/staff/EN/health/reimbursement/special-rules/Pages/special-reimbursement.aspx
4. Affaire 115/83 :  eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:61983CJ0115

ONLINE TRAINING FOR THE EPSO OPEN AND INTERNAL COMPETITIONS | CASE STUDY & ORAL TEST

Looking to the FUTURE of the European Schools System drawing lessons from the problems of the PRESENT

The recording of the conference is available here : Renouveau & Démocratie - Antonio Cenini - Looking to the FUTURE of the European Schools System... (youtube.com)

As announced at the conference, we are committed to passing on the hundreds of questions and also the comments posted in the chat during the conference that you have sent us and that we were not yet able to address to the appropriate interlocutors, and to making sure that all the answers are provided.

The conclusions of the first Teachers’ forum held in Parma from 8 to 12 April, with the representatives of the 27 Member States of the European School System, the European Commission, the representatives of students, parents and the teachers of the European Schools who will set up the first “European Teachers' Forum”, are available here : TEACHERS' FORUM 8-9 APRILE 2024 | Scuola Per L'Europa (scuolaperleuropa.eu)

As announced, we will be happy to provide you with the final versions of the Action Plan and the Parma Declaration as soon as they are available. 

We are also delighted to confirm that Mr Antonio Cenini has agreed to be our guest at a second follow-up conference to be held in June before the end of the Italian Presidency, in order to pass on any unresolved issues to the Cypriot Presidency to the Cypriot presidency of the Governing Board of the European Schools.   

In this respect, we invite you to keep sending us your questions and issues using this FORM

For any further information, please contact our colleagues responsible for this file:  

Aleksander Kedra : Aleksander.KEDRA@ec.europa.eu  Marco Pino : Marco.PINO@ec.europa.eu

Thank you very much again for your trust and support!

Cristiano Sebastiani,

Chairman

ONLINE TRAINING FOR THE EPSO OPEN COMPETITION | PRE-SELECTION TESTS - CBT at 4.30 PM

PRE-SELECTION TESTS

 REGISTER:
Our training are FREE for all R&D members and those who wish to join our trade union!
If you are not already a member, you can join by filling out this online form:
R&D ISPRA BECOME A MEMBER

To participate in the sessions, it is mandatory to complete the Google Form below:

CBT TESTS - EPSO OPEN COMPETITIONS


 Deadline for registration: 22/04/2024 at 08.00 am

Please note that your registration will be confirmed only if you register via the link above

Online Training Sessions for the AST3 (COM/AST3/2024) internal competitions open to AST-SC | MCQ FORMAT ON KNOWLEDGE OF EU POLICIES AND INSTITUTIONS

MCQ FORMAT ON KNOWLEDGE OF EU POLICIES AND INSTITUTIONS

Online Training  Sessions for the AST3 (COM/AST3/2024)  internal competitions open to AST-SC |

There is no doubt that AST-SC colleagues are constantly being let down by our institution's staff policy and this is no longer acceptable!

Enough is enough! AST-SC colleagues have always been treated as “Children of a lesser God”, by our administration, whether in terms of promotions or opportunities for career advancement through internal competitions.

R&D has always been a vocal opponent of this scandalous practice :

R&D alongside AST/SC colleagues! – Renou¬veau & Démocratie (renouveau-democratie.eu)  
All we are saying … is give AST-SCs a chance – Renouveau & Démocratie (renouveau-democratie.eu)

As the leading Trade Union of European civil service, we have always used the best practices also of other institu¬tions to fight the bad practices of the Commission and to reject any unreasonable decision of our administration, namely  to pretend that the Staff Regulations did not permit the organisation internal competitions for AST-SC. R&D immediately supported the petition organised by our colleagues in TAO-AFI, members of the Alliance to which we be¬long, asking for internal competitions to be organised for AST-SC colleagues. 

With the aim of countering the administration’s arguments and proving that they had no basis, R&D presented the ‘good practices’ that our R&D’s sections in other institutions had negotiated, namely at the Committee of the Re¬gions, the European Council, the European Parliament, etc., which had actually organised such internal competitions for AST-SC under the same Staff Regulations.
A FIRST step in the right direction, but there's still a lot for AST-SC colleagues to do !

We are pleased to say that we have won the FIRST a battle here and that our advocacy has tipped the scales, as the administra¬tion has finally announced that the FIRST internal competition will be held to allow AST-SC colleagues to access the AST career path, which has just been published :

NOTICE OF INTERNAL COMPETITION - EN  (europa.eu)
AVIS DE CONCOURS INTERNE  - FR (europa.eu)

True to its commitments, R&D will make a special effort to offer you the best possible training to maximise your chances of succeeding in these competitive exams. And without asking you to pay outrageous prices, because we never treat our colleagues as clients.

These internal competitions open to AST-SC colleagues will be very challenging for you. It is therefore time to start your preparation right away!
In particular, we are convinced that no external consultant will be able to grasp the challenges of CBT on European knowledge better than very experienced and/or former colleagues.

Thinking of you, our trainer Maria Glowacz - de Chevilly and colleague Blandine Pellistrandi are launching new sessions on EU Knowledge including a new set of 100 MCQ in an interactive exercise format of 4 separate sessions in EN and FR (each session will consist of 50 questions).
 
These sessions will allow you to assess your knowledge of the European construction, the main policies and the decision-making procedures.

It will also be an opportunity to discuss the usual tips and tricks and the methodology to use in order to prepare in the most efficient way.

If you want to check where you are in your preparation, please:

OUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF THE ISPRA SITE

OUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF THE ISPRA SITE

  Ispra, 19 February 2024    

NOTE TO THE ATTENTION OF COMMISSIONER MS ILIANA IVANOVA

Subject: Our vision for the future of the Ispra site

Dear Ms Ivanova,

We would like to thank you for your visit to the Ispra site in December and for your recognition of our important work, which has been very much appreciated by the staff.

R&D, which is the most representative Trade Union at Ispra (and the leading one within the European Institutions), wishes to elaborate in more detail some proposals for the future of our site, which had been mentioned during your meeting with the Local Staff Committee.

As you could witness yourself, the Ispra site provides a welcoming and productive working environment, with excellent facilities and opportunities. In our opinion, the Ispra site has a huge untapped potential that, if fully exploited, could make it even more important and strategic for the whole Commission.

Ispra is the third largest Commission site, located at the geographical heart of the European Union, and close to major international airports (Milan Malpensa and Linate). The presence of a European School in Varese is also invaluable and is central to the attractiveness of the site.

Ispra is the principal site of the JRC and hosts services of DG HR, PMO and OIB (limited to the management of social services – crèche and garderie, the clubhouse and canteen).

The Ispra site also hosts a very advanced crisis management infrastructure and can provide increased resilience through decentralisation and geo-distribution of vital Commission services, thus guaranteeing business continuity in case of extreme events impeding their normal functioning at other locations.

As you know, the JRC mission is to provide scientific evidence to policy making. In doing so, we collaborate intensely with colleagues from policy DGs. We believe that this collaboration would be strengthened through direct interaction with our partners, by the establishment of local proximity teams (“antennae”) of other DGs at Ispra. This would furthermore strengthen the entire policy making process within the Commission. The fact that the Ispra site has its ownpremises should facilitate the availability of the necessary space and support to colleagues coming to Ispra from other DGs for short – or even long – periods.

The presence of several Commission services at the Ispra site would also facilitate voluntary mobility of staff between different DGs and entities, making it possible to implement, also at Ispra, the recent HR strategy to increase mobility and diversity across the Commission and making it a natural part of career development. This is a shared goal for staff and the Institution, which we fully support.

An enabling factor for the success of our proposal could consist in the creation of a dedicated entity for the management of the conventional (non-nuclear related) infrastructure which is currently managed by the JRC itself. In other words, an office that could eventually take care of the infrastructure of all JRC sites (a possible acronym for this entity could be OIR, i.e., Office Infrastructure Recherche). A new Office would offer a standardised service to all entities presenton the Ispra site, including the new DG proximity teams.

This new infrastructure management of the Ispra site would be aligned with the way it is managed in Luxembourg and Brussels. Indeed, recently DG COMM has transferred out the management of its infrastructure (to OIB) as it was a distraction from its core mission - similarly, the JRC would become fitter and stronger, purely focusing on its role to provide scientific, evidence-based support to EU policies. This could also offer, at no additional cost, more stable employment conditions to Contractual Agents working on infrastructure, whose current contracts with the JRC are limited to 6 years, whereas they could be indeterminate contracts if they were to be concluded with an Office.

We would be enthusiastic to see our site rebranded as an EU Research and Policy Hub, beyond simply being identified with the JRC, and we count on your support to make this vision possible. Of course, we are available to further elaborate our proposal and discuss with you our ideas in the best interest of the Ispra site and the Commission as a whole.

Yours Sincerely,

Cristiano Sebastiani                      Gianfranco Selvagio
President, R&D Brussels                  President, R&D Ispra

Cc: Secretary-General - Ms Ilze Juhansone, Director-General JRC - Mr Stephen Quest

 ARES : Note Commissioner Ivanova_Our vision for the future of Ispra site

LUNCH TIME INFORMATIVE MEETINGS : PENSION RIGHTS / SUPPLEMENTARY HEALTH INSURANCE

 LUNCH TIME INFORMATIVE MEETINGS

R&D Ispra and SEPS Italia invite you to participate in a series of informative meetings focused on two important topics that often lead to requests for guidance.

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SUPPLEMENTARY HEALTH INSURANCE

Thursday, 22^nd February 2024 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

Hybrid Webinar

JRC – Bldg. 36 Room 004 Amphitheatre or join the conference via Teams  

Click here to join the meeting

 The conference will cover several topics among which:

• Brief explanation on how the JSIS reimbursement works
• How to assess if such insurance is necessary?
• Presentation of one of the available insurance policies: HospiSafe selected by Afiliatys

The conference will be held in English – You will be able to intervene also in Italian and French.

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PENSION RIGHTS
Newcomers / Colleagues close to retirement

Thursday, 1^st February 2024 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

 Hybrid Webinar

JRC – Bldg. 36 Room 004 Amphitheatre or join the conference via Teams  

The conference will cover several topics among which:

• Transfer in/Transfer out of pension rights
• Retirement/Early retirement: How and when to proceed
• How to use the “calculette” 
• Accumulation of pension rights Commission/Member States
• Accessing IT tools after end of service for pensioners
  

The conference will be held in English – You will be able to intervene also in Italian and French.

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If you wish more info, you can contact our secretariat by phone: 0332 78 9645 or by e-mail: 
JRC-RD-ISPRA@ec.europa.eu

The Executive Committee of R&D Ispra   
The Coordination Team of SEPS Italia -  seps.italia@gmail.com

 Both meetings serve the purpose of disseminating information and all the official documentation can be accessed on the Myintracomm platform