A EU Tribunal ruling that affects promotions and careers of all AST and AD grades?


In the Anagnostu Case (F-72/11) the Tribunal stipulated that the Commission has incorrectly applied the rules concerning the promotions rates imposed by the Staff Regulations.  Indeed, DG HR has for years applied arbitrary promotion rates, which have been sys­tematically and unlawfully imposed on the Joint Promotion Committee since 2004. R&D members decisively contributed to the collective action, which follows exactly the position R&D has been advocating for years in the Joint Promotion Committee as well as through communications to the staff and letters to both the Commission and the Administration (see Promotion exercise and quotas). R&D remains convinced that this is  serious problem that affects considerably the staff of ALL  grades and categories and will continue to act in close collaboration with other Trade Unions and the Central Staff Committee in order to undertake all collective, necessary and urgent actions to bring the issue yet again to the awareness of the College.


JRC Ispra and "Dieselgate"


"...In 2011, scientists with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy, reported that average on-road emissions of tested diesel vehicles exceed allowed limits by up to 14 times1."
Read the full article (Nature)
On the same topic:
Article from the Italian press (Corriere della Sera)

Article from VareseNews

Article from El Mundo 

In our opinion this underlines once again the importance of the independence of our laboratories at the JRC.

R&D analysis of the FP7 ex-post evaluation


The DG of the JRC Mr Sucha has invited staff representatives and Trade Unions to comment on the findings of the “Ex-post evaluation of the direct actions of the Joint Research Centre under the seventh framework programme 2007-2013” (Cunningham Report).

Despite an extremely tight deadline (four working days..) R&D has analysed the report and formulated a series of 10 Priority Actions, which had been proposed to the Management in occasion of today’s Directoire Meeting.


Although we are aware such a work would require a larger and longer consultation, we accepted the challenge launched by the DG. Thanks to the work already anticipated by the thematic R&D groups, and thanks to the joint effort of the R&D committee, we believe that the analysis made and the action proposed are in line with our hearts and brains.
Times are difficult and courage and leadership are scarce and limited resources in the JRC.
R&D embraces its societal responsibility as trade union carrying the Renewal and Development in its name. Based on these two principles, we proactively promote a culture open to change and innovation, while protecting at the same time staff individual rights in all relevant areas.
Please participate in this process and make your voices heard!

Hearsay regarding transfer of activities

R&D is concerned about the poor management of the proposed re-organisation of some laboratories, e.g. in IHCP, IES and IRMM.  Read our letter to our Director General at this page.
Announcements in a chatroom cannot substitute real dialogue in the light of major changes dramatically affecting many of our colleagues!

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Mr Sucha's reply of 17th September.


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NEW!!!!!! 

Our new letter of 24th September on the subject.

Visit of VP Georgieva to Ispra

As you may already know, the Commission Vice-President Ms Kristalina Georgieva visited the Ispra site last Friday. During her visit, the VP met a delegation of the Local Staff Committee, which some elected members of R&D were also part of.

As staff representatives we explained to the VP that, following the outcome of the Staff Satisfaction Survey, particular attention should be given to “career” and “well-being”.

The LSC President raised the need to reduce staff frustration – or, in other words, to increase staff motivation – by exploiting all the possibilities that may be implemented at neutral budget (such as Flexitime, Teleworking and Mobility). He also brought to her attention the need to increase efficiency by the provision of more flexible and accessible IT tools in order to avoid that budget savings will negatively affect the quality of the work of JRC staff.

Specifically, the LSC delegation put forward several concrete ideas to the VP. As the JRC is a very complex DG spread over six sites, having staff naturally predisposed towards innovation, it may provide an ideal environment to become a social and organisational test-bed for the whole Commission to promote innovative and creative solutions in favour of improved well-being and productivity. The LSC delegation advanced two proposals: the “Mobility Market” (i.e., easier staff mobility as a normal practice by means of new rules and tools) and the provision of tools such as cloud storage or Connected to be made available and accessible to all staff anytime/everywhere. The LSC President stressed that too often (cyber)security, safety and data protection are used as insurmountable excuses to block otherwise desirable initiatives: flexibility requires an assumption of responsibility, and sometimes it's much more convenient to simply apply rules in a very restrictive way. This overly strict interpretation of rules often brings to inadequate implementation of IT tools causing inaccessibility - or difficult/limited access - from locations other than a desktop Commission PC.

In addition, the LSC President advanced the request to support – under the umbrella of the Fit@work programme the VP launched earlier in May – the construction of a new multipurpose Sports Hall to replace the current very inadequate and obsolete tensostructure. 
It was also mentioned that, following an explicit request of our Director General, the LSC is collecting ideas to increase the Ispra site attractiveness - feel free to send us your own ideas: our staff representatives will bring them to the attention of the LSC!

Overall, also thanks to the very constructive dialogue of your staff representatives, we believe that the VP left Ispra with a good impression of the JRC, its staff, and its activities.




Whirlpool July and August 2015


Whirlpool special events on 18 July 2015
and promotions over July and August



STAFF SURVEY 2014: ALARMING RESULTS


The "Staff Satisfaction Survey 2014" results are more than worrying and confirm the profound demotivation of the colleagues and the deterioration of the atmosphere within the services. The message sent by the staff is crystal clear and unambiguous: our institution must completely change its methods and practices.

R&D invites you to know more and discuss the results on

Monday 08 June 2015

12.45 -14.30

IHCP room – 101/1302

Videolink with Brussels and other sites

During the conference Mr Jerome Maybon (Executive Partner at Agility-Board) will provide his analysis of the Staff Survey 2014.