Often "the devil is in the details" and
the issue of this message is definitely a detail. However we consider the wrong
priority setting by the management as the devil in this case and we fear that
it is just the tip of the iceberg. We received many complaints about a proliferation of the number of reserved
private parking places for some privileged colleagues. Since a specific parking
place is even in a restricted/pedestrian zone we have sent a note
to the President of the road safety committee and asked him - since safety is
at stake - to not allow private parking anymore in this zone and to check
already granted permissions. We also have written that only in exceptional
cases cars could be allowed in these zones, but without parking rights unless
for colleagues with a reduced mobility. Further to that we insisted to apply
the principle of equal treatment of all staff and that for parking areas the
same rules should apply in Brussels as well as in Ispra. Since it was not
safety related, we kept the following reflection out of our note: How is it
possible that on one hand the JRC is involved in many positive initiatives like
the commitment for EMAS registration and the recent
sustainable mobility event, but that on the other hand a less sustainable car
is parked in front of the Institute for Environment and Sustainability? We
believe that this is a strong but wrong signal and not a good image for the
JRC.
