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Temporary Agents

Junior Professionals Programme – JPP

JPP Decision

On 13 December 2022, the College has adopted the JP​P Decision​, with the following main novelties to the programme: 

  • duration of the Temporary Agent contract offered to the Junior Professionals (JPs) upon selection will be 3 years, 
  • ​eligibility criteria will include candidates from​​ Executive Agencies,
  • clarified rules for accounting the PhD as professional experience,
  • strengthened preselection process.

JPP Pilot

Agents Temporaires

Pension rights in the event of a change of Agency

Does starting to work for a new post-reform agency in 2014 mean that temporary agents who started their careers before reform will be subject to the Union’s new system of pension rights?

This question is not without interest. Indeed, remember that, in the context of the last reform of the Staff Regulations, the legislator increased the retirement age and consequently reduced the percentage of annuities accumulated over the career. The new temporary agent thus contributes 1.8%/year (instead of the pre-reform 2% of 2004 and the 1.9% of the intermediate period).

We thought that the problem had been settled since the Torné judgment (T-127/17 delivered on 14 December 2018) and that the Commission would comply with the interpretation endorsed by the Tribunal. This is not the case.

One case, we hope, will have the merit of clarifying this aspect. Several agencies have shown their support for the agents by intervening voluntarily.

One of our members recently submitted an action for annulment against the decision of its AHCC to apply the new pension scheme to it. The debate mainly concerns the notion of “entry into service” within the meaning of the provisions of the RAA. This notion is indeed key in the context of the assessment of the transitional measures established during the 2014 reform.

Is it an entry into service within the Union or is it an entry into a particular institution or agency? The latter hypothesis would result in a different starting point being taken into account when, as in the case of the member currently in dispute, a staff member agrees to be transferred from one agency to another as part of the implementation of the provisions promoting inter-agency mobility.

This is a crucial temporal factor in the analysis of pension rights: should pension rights be considered to revolve around any new contract irrespective of the question of contribution to the Union’s pension system? Should we therefore exclude any element of continuity when a temporary agent continues his career in another agency, uninterruptedly, without taking account of his entry into service within the Union itself?

Neither the Staff Regulations nor the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants expressly define the concept of entry into service, a matter which the Tribunal already addressed in Case T-127/17. However, the Tribunal laid down the principle that that concept must be interpreted in the light of the objectives pursued by the rules of the Union concerned, that is to say, those relating to pension rights.

The Commission endeavours to refuse to transpose the lessons of the Torné judgment to temporary staff who analyse this concept of entry into service in the context of the assessment of the rules on recruitment and hide behind budgetary imperatives.

No consideration whatsoever can justify different treatment of a member of staff who, however, like his fellow official, has begun to contribute continuously to the Union’s pension scheme as soon as he signs his first contract in the service of an institution.

We are following this case closely and will keep you informed of the conclusions of the Tribunal.

Staff policy for temporary staff

Meeting the needs of the institution without calling into question the permanent nature of the public service and the interests of temporary or contractual staff !The Commission’s administration proposes to the staff representatives a review of the GIP Temporary Agents (TA) with a twofold concern: to better define their usage while meeting the needs of the services, which also meets our concern.On this last point, all the DGs, consulted, have just given their full agreement. In contrast, the discussions with staff representatives stalled somewhat at first because of their reluctance to conclude this issue with the current Commission.U4U considers that this new GIP must be included in the overall policy for contract and temporary staff, including clear and predictable internal competition rules:
reduce the number of contract staff by providing to the most deserving more rewarding TA career opportunities that recognize their work and their skills;
respond quickly to the need of the services when the reserve lists do not allow it, for lack of laureates, or when specialized skills are lacking;
use temporary staff on contractual terms that are more in line with the tasks to be performed;
avoid situations of professional under-classification;
be compatible with the strengthening of a permanent civil service.In the short or medium term, a new policy of non-permanent staff (TA, CA) combining the interest of the service and of the staff needs to be defined, as is the case with EUIPO in Alicante:
contract employees are hired only from function group 3,
function groups 2 are replaced by AST / SC,
all non-permanent staff (CA or TA) benefit from contracts of up to 10 years during which they may pass several general or internal competitions, or even for some to be extended,
Those who are neither prolonged nor winners of competitions, leave the institution but with the right to a minimum pension,
In this way, it avoids the turnover that hinders the services, preserving the interest of the staff in the perspective of a permanent civil service composed mainly of civil servants.Political consultation at the level of the competent commissioner is foreseen in the short term, allowing the implementation of this DGE before the new Commission takes office.11/09/2019