internal competitions for ast/sc...but when?
Still almost no news on the internal competitions for AST/SC colleagues. This matter is key for the career development of colleagues belonging to this function group. Dead calm sea in the offices of DG HR, as usual… Stress is only created at the other side of the fence.
On 22 November 2022 DG HR published 6 internal competitions. Among them, there was one for AST2 (Notice of Internal Competition 2022 (europa.eu). In normal circumstances, this would have been something to celebrate – the reality is that the “big bang” did not have a “deep impact”, but a limited one.
Another missed opportunity to show empathy towards the AST/SC staff… As long as the criteria for eligibility do not change, there will be no opportunities for the AST/SC. For the moment, the candidate must have spent at least the last 6 full consecutive months prior to the deadline for applications as an AST official, which means that only the very few remaining AST1 colleagues (a rare species, most probably working in a Cabinet), together with some temporary and contractual agents, would be eligible to apply.
Eight years have elapsed since the creation of the function group AST/SC, and only minimal steps have been made in the direction of giving solutions to a function group with no career prospects and no possibility to grow, and which has been kindly ignored by the administration and the strategy gurus in DG HR with the arguments that the function group has “just” been created, that only a very limited number of colleagues are impacted (1% of the staff), and that only now they will start thinking how to redefine their roles and responsibilities. This inaction has caused and is still causing frustration, and colleagues feel unfairly treated, as it is obvious that AST/SC colleagues do much more and are asked to do much more than what they are supposed to do, while the number of AST colleagues is declining in a clear phasing out exercise which started in 2014.
TAO The independents has followed very closely the file in the last years, and has helped the AST/SC colleagues to fight for their rights to have career development. The Communication “A new Human Resources Strategy for the Commission” adopted in April 2022 explicitly mentioned consider giving AST/SC access to AST internal competitions as one of the actions DG HR would carry out. The moment has come to honour its pledge.
The only information we have been given by DG HR is that other competitions will be organised, including, during the first half of 2023, an AST internal competition that will be open to AST/SC colleagues as well. Now, well entered in the month of March, we have no further news or details, despite the overriding interest on this matter among AST/SC colleagues.
We will keep staying tuned!
