Obituaries

"Le chef d'unité "Politique Sociale", au nom du Directeur gènèral du Personnel et de l'Administration a le regret de vous informer du décès, survenu à XXX le JJ/MM/AAAA de Monsieur/Madame XXX. [...] La Commission, et plus particulièrement les collègues de la Direction Générale XX, présentent leurs condoléances à la famille."

Twice a week on average, we receive in our mail an A5 leaflet announcing the death of a colleague. At the family's request, a message is circulated to remember a dear colleague... I personally think it is a lot of rubbish. You usually get the leaflet the day before the ceremony so you cannot physically make the arrangements for it. And I don't really understand why it has to be circulated to the whole EC. We do have a level of mobility within the Commission, but twice a week is becoming really morbid...

I could not help smiling once when a newcomer freaked out on the mortality rate of officials. Was it because of the asbestos in the Berlaymont??? Well she did not know that the leaflets include pensioners... who left long long time ago.

I read on our internal newspaper somebody actually complaining about this mascarade, highlighting also the cost incurred to the internal mail service. So I dared ask to our postman! Well he was hesitating... while it is very unpleasant, it was a guaranty of work for them.