You will find the following topics in this edition:
– Promotion exercise 2025
– Mobility contribution
– Certification exercise
– Carry – over of leave
PROMOTION EXERCISE 2025
Union Syndicale congratulates all colleagues who were promoted this year! Your success is a well-earned recognition of your dedication to our institution and to the European project we all serve.
An increase in promotions thanks to collective action
Union Syndicale welcomes the increase in the number of promotions in 2025. This positive development is a direct outcome of the recent Court case brought by several of our colleagues and supported by Union Syndicale.
This year, there were 24 additional promotions in grades AST 7, AD 12 and AD 13. Five promotions were also cascaded down from the unused AD12 promotions. Collective action does make a difference!
We note the low number of promotions in grade AD 12. Only 6 of the 29 promotion possibilities were unlocked for 17 promotable colleagues. This raises concerns about why the Administration does not comply fully with the rules and about the dangerous precedent that this establishes.
Union Syndicale calls for the creation of more Senior Administrator posts to open up genuine career prospects beyond grade AD 12. We highlighted this issue in our previous Flash, and will continue to do so until there is real progress in this area.
We also ask for the cascading down of all unused promotion possibilities. For 2025 alone, at least 23 promotion possibilities could have been allocated to lower grades – instead of only 5.
So, the good news for some conceals distress for others.
Union Syndicale calls on the Administration to devote attention to colleagues in function groups AST/SC and GF1, who need proper career perspectives – namely additional promotion grades and a chance to qualify for higher function groups. GFI colleagues should finally be allowed to participate in internal competitions, too.
Union Syndicale will continue to fight for a system that rewards commitment and competence, and for a promotion system that is simpler, fairer and more transparent.
MOBILITY CONTRIBUTION
Our current mobility contribution system is outdated.
Many colleagues in lower grades are significantly impacted by rising transportation costs, in particular those who cannot afford to live in Brussels and who have to commute to the office 5 times a week. Union Syndicale raised this issue in its Flash in April this year. In addition, we placed the topic on the agenda of both the Staff Committee and in our exchanges with the Administration. However, disappointingly, the Administration has so far rejected any proposals for the adjustment that is needed.
In response, Union Syndicale has sent a letter to our Secretary-General to draw her attention to this matter and urge the Administration to align the flat-rate contribution with inflation and substantially increase the amount paid to colleagues on lower salaries. Our institution has a duty of care towards those colleagues in the lowest grades who are obliged to come to the office to perform their tasks.
CERTIFICATION EXERCISE
The new Certification exercise was launched with a call for applications dated 29 September 2025. A first information session took place online on 9 October.
Union Syndicale is supporting its members in the whole process. If you are interested, please send a message to union.syndicale@consilium.europa.eu.
CARRY-OVER OF LEAVE
You are allowed to carry over only 12 days of annual leave to the following year, with the cut-off date being 31 December. We recommend checking your leave balance in advance to ensure you don’t have more than 12 days remaining.
If you need to carry over more than 12 days, you must submit a request in SYSPER. Please note that in such cases only a few exceptional circumstances are considered, including long-term sick leave or situations where you were unable to take your leave due to service requirements. In the case of service-related reasons, you will need confirmation from both your line manager and your Director. Be sure to obtain this confirmation before submitting your request.
The Administration does not consider maternity, parental and family leave as valid reasons for the carry-over of annual leave. Union Syndicale is convinced there is no legal basis for this rule and we continue to ask the Administration to accept these types of absence as a valid reason for the carry-over of unused leave days.
If you are concerned, please feel free to contact us for advice and legal assistance.
YOU ARE WELCOME TO JOIN US
The strength of our union and the resources it has for defending the staff’s interests depend solely on the number of our members and the energy, ideas and input of its active members. If you think what we do is useful, share our opinions and wish to make your contribution to our work, you are welcome to join Union Syndicale!
Feel free to contact us at:
union.syndicale@consilium.europa.eu
