Training Guide from R&D!

R&D is pleased to announce that the guide “How to prepare for and succeed in the European Union competitions and selections” is now available.
This new publication is a 230 page genuine teaching manual – available in French and English – to guide and support the candidates at every stage of the competition and selection procedures, in line with the new EPSO procedures.
In addition to information about the skills required to participate in selections and competitions, the new guide includes original and unpublished exercises and examples.
What is the price of the new guide ? € 0 !
This guide is free to all our members and future members.
This extraordinary effort, also from a financial point of view, fits into R&D's policy of giving priority to training.
Indeed, historically, R&D has always fought for recruitment procedures within the European institutions that are transparent, objective and ensure equal treatment and access to all candidates.
That’s why, from its very inception in 1992, R&D offers colleagues a preparation to the selection tests and provides them with a syllabus, including practical exercises. Thanks to it, thousands of colleagues were able to train for and eventually join the European civil services.

A very big “thank you” to OIB services
For R&D, priority should always be given to internal services of the institution: who else than our colleagues from the OIB printshops could better guide us in designing and printing this guide so we can make a high quality technical document available to you!
We thank them for their exemplary availability, the quality of their collaboration and their professionalism: they deserve all our gratitude!

EPSO Open Competitions: a unique opportunity offered by R&D!

ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE PART IN AN OPEN COMPETITION?
R&D OFFERS YOU A UNIQUE TRAINING OPPORTUNITY… DON'T MISS OUT!

Thanks to us, today you can get the most comprehensive solution for your training needs, consisting of:

·       A free copy of our new book: "How to prepare for and succeed in European Union Tests and Selection Processes" (230 pages, EN or FR)
·       Free admittance to our training course held by Anne Draime (26-27 February) to be professionally prepared for open competitions.
This training includes a specific module dedicated to the AST/SC selections published recently
·       30% discount on the purchase of online training packages with Arboreus

How can you benefit from this unique opportunity?

Step ①
Are you already member of R&D? If so, go directly to Step ②
If not, please subscribe online to R&D, it's easy and inexpensive (find out for yourself)
and also helps us to offer the best assistance to all of you.

Step ②
Come to our secretariat (bdg. 63) to collect your free copy of our book
and get your discount code for Arboreus training Packages


Pension contribution rate 2014

The 2014 pension contribution rate has been published

The new rate is 10,1%, less than the rate actually in force (10,3%).

As this pension contribution is deducted from our base salary, it means that our net salary will increase slightly.



It will be applied retroactively from the month of July 2014 and we should recover the 5 x 0,2% overpaid contribution in our December 2014 salary slip.



This will come on top of the net effect of the 2011-2012-2013 pension contribution rate changes that we announced in an earlier message:

- the 2011 contribution rate decreases from 11,6% to 11,0%

- the 2012 contribution rate decreases from 10,6% to 10,0%

- the 2013 contribution rate increases from 10,3% to 10,9%



As a reminder, we will also recover the +0,3% correction coefficient increase backdated to July 2014

Election of the new Local Staff Committee 2015-2018

At this link you may find our request  - addressed to the President of the Local Staff Committee - for the the launch of the General Assembly. With this letter we also express ourselves in favour to  the use of the electronic voting system.


Latest news on the Correction Coefficient

The final value of the Varese 2014 Correction Coefficient can be disclosed!
It will increase from 92.8% to 93.1%.
This is a very small increase, but we are better off than our colleagues that fall upon the Rome CC which fall from 104.4 % to 100.4%.
Similarly, the coefficient for the Italian pensioners decreases from 97.9% to 94.5% (however, for the pensioners a lower limit of 100% applies).
The Varese CC didn’t decrease thanks to the revision of a past price survey that turned more favourable to us.
The +0,3% adjustment will be applied retroactively to our salaries since July 2014 and will be paid with our December salary slip.
This will come on top of the pension contribution rate adjustment  (see link to our website), also to be paid in December.
Finally, the General Court of the European Union will deliver its sentence on our appeal against the 2010 Varese Correction Coefficient next week the11th.

Unhappy with your bank...? R&D may help you!

If you are unhappy with your current bank, we may be able to provide you with a very interesting time-limited offer!
Until 18th December FINECO, in addition to the advantages already available to all Ispra-based colleagues (zero monthly costs for current accounts) and to their public time-limited campaign (50€ to new customers who open a new bank account and credit their salary), is offering R&D members an exclusive additional advantage: a gift box "Un dolce risveglio" for 2 persons.
Changing bank account, thereby getting better service and conditions, is easier than you may imagine: FINECO representatives are available every Wednesday from 16.00 to 17.30 at the main entrance building (room 105, first floor). Alternatively, you may contact our secretariat to receive more information and arrange an appointment to know more about what's on offer.
If you haven't done so already, why not pass by our secretariat and collect your R&D membership card in order to fully benefit from all the advantages dedicated to you. And more are coming soon…!

Click here to find more details

Post-2004 10 years after...

Ten years after the entry into force of the Kinnock reform, we have now full access to data allowing us to perform an indisputable analysis of the real consequences on the careers of colleagues recruited after 2004.
It would be unfair to deny the harmful effects of the 2004 reform on colleagues recruited after 2004 as the Commission is doing, or even worse to exploit their expectations for the benefit of cabinet members like it has happened during the recent scandalous internal competitions!

What does the famous Article 6 say?
The former Staff Regulations provided for the drafting by the Commission of an annual report to ensure "the equivalence between the average career progression in the career structure in force before 1 May 2004 and progression of the average career in the career structure in force after 1 May 2004". 
The latest version of this report, which presents a comparison of two completely closed career structures, concluded that "administrators with experience tend to earn less, while secretaries / clerks earn quite more."
The comparison was made from the career of officials who retired before 1 May 2004 and those who were recruited after 1 May 2004: in other words, it compares two populations who have never met.
Staff regulations in force from 1 January 2014 actually do not mention this report anymore. Anyway a new version of the report would show nothing new compared to the previous report, except that blocking AD and AST careers (supported by a union claiming to defend post-2004 staff and imposed as part of the 2014 Reform) will instead penalize the same post-2004 staff and make the equivalence of careers even more illusory.
Under these conditions, it was therefore too easy for DG HR to confirm its analysis and deny the obvious problems of our post-2004 colleagues which R&D, for its part, has always denounced.

Why do post-2004 colleagues rightly feel that their career is not equivalent to that of colleagues recruited before 1 May 2004?
The reason is simple: we compare our careers with the ones of those who were recruited before 1 May 2004 and are still working. This comparison is totally absent in the abovementioned report. 
R&D can, however, provide hereafter an answer to all colleagues who do not understand the refusal of DG HR to recognize a difference between the two career structures, which seems indisputable.

On which basis did R&D compare the two career structures?
R&D has chosen two indicators to compare the career structures of PRE and POST-2004.

- What is the current grade, after 10 years of career, of colleagues recruited between 1 May 2003 and 30 April 2004 (PRE-2004) and colleagues recruited between 1 May 2004 and 30 April 2005 (POST-2004)?

- What is the current grade of colleagues between 40 and 43 years old, recruited before 1 May 2004 (PRE-2004), and recruited after 1 May 2004 (POST-2004)?

These indicators are not intended to estimate, as did the Commission, the difference, down to the euro, between typical average careers yet largely hypothetical.
These indicators allow, on the other hand, to evaluate on an actual basis, firstly, the career difference between populations recruited one year apart (before and after the reform) and, secondly, the career difference, at a particular age, between populations recruited under two different Staff regulations.
And the results are quite different from those obtained in the Commission's report!

Current grade, after 10 years of career, of colleagues recruited between 1 May 2003 and 30 April 2004 (PRE-2004) and colleagues recruited between 1 May 2004 and 30 April 2005 (POST-2004) 




Current grade of colleagues between 40 and 43 years old, recruited before 1 May 2004 (PRE-2004), and recruited after 1 May 2004 (POST-2004) 





In keeping with its policy, R&D conducted and will keep on conducting comprehensive analyses and proposing legally founded initiatives.  
R&D is not only interested in one single issue - the career of a minority - but is involved in all aspects of professional life of ALL staff: career, evaluation, promotion, pensions, statutory rights, working conditions at the office and any other aspect relevant to our professional life.

R&D welcomes the commitments made by President Juncker, putting fairness at the heart of his action and showing the desire for a more inclusive staff policy as expressed by Vice-President Georgieva, which will be permitted by the resources freed by many upcoming retirements.
At the same time, following the same principles that have always driven its action, R&D will always keep on defending the post-2004 colleagues in all contexts.