2021 News Items

27 December 2021 - AMFIE Standing Order From

An AMFIE Standing Order form was made available to ease the payment of the GAC-EPA annual contribution of 30 CHF. For details see the GAC-EPA page.

26 December 2021 - Update of Retirees Address List

The Retirees Email Addresses listing has been updated with the latest information.

12 November 2021 - Update of Retirees Address List

The Retirees Email Addresses listing has been updated with the latest information.

09 November 2021 - Bulletin 61 and Information about the Elections

The latest bulletin of the GAC-EPA,  Bulletin 61, is now available. Please also read the letter of the GAC-EPA concerning the election for the partial renewal of the GAC-EPA Committee and for the Auditor for the years 2022 and 2023 

9 September 2021 - GAC-EPA: Call for Candidates 

GAC-EPA is an organisation that informs and defends the interests of CERN and ESO pensioners. Its committee has even a delegate in the CERN Pension Fund Governing Board. Hence, that it is important for the ESO pensioners as well to have a representative in that GAC-EPA committee speaks for itself. A formally elected representative of the ESO pensioners is also important to interact with ESO management. Many of you are already a GAC-EPA member, and the ones who are not yet, should really consider to become a GAC-EPA member. To become a member please fill out the electronic registration form . Please don't forget the standing order for your bank too).

GAC-EPA committee members are elected for a period of 2 years. Erik Allaert's 2-year period as ESO's GAC-EPA representative will soon come to an end. Elections for the period 2022-2023 are being organised. Erik is a candidate for a second period, but that should not hold other ESO GAC-EPA members off from applying too. You will receive postal mail with all necessary information, but as nowadays this can take some time to arrive, the draft electronic versions are already made available:

If you'd have questions about what it entails to be ESO's GAC-EPA representative, please contact Erik Allaert.

24 August 2021 - Guidelines for Voluntary Work and Emeriti released.

On initiative from GAC-EPA, and taking only some of our feedback into account, ESO has published two documents that provide the management framework for retired ESO staff members. For details see the page Rights and Duties.

16 August 2021 - Picture of Pensioners get-together 

Some pictures of the recent get-together of the ESO Pensioners in Haag a.d. Amper have been uploaded onto the Social Events page (password protected). The acknowledgement goes to Gero for making these pictures available.

2 August 2021 - Update of Retirees Address List

The Retirees Email Addresses listing  has been updated with the latest information. 

1 August 2021 - ESO Pensioners get-together postponed until next week, 8 August

Due to the unfavorable weather predictions for today the ESO pensioners get-together is postponed until next week Sunday, 8 August. So, please all keep fingers crossed for better weather next week and to meet, same time, same place, in Haag on Sunday, 8th August, 3 pm. 

27 July 2021 - ESO Pensioners get-together Sunday, 1st August

Thanks to the intiative of Anne Fishburn, after two years the ESO pensioners will again have their summer meeting in the beer garden at Haag an der Amper.  The get-together is planned for  Sunday, 1st August from 15:00. In case of really bad weather this can be postponed a week until 8th August. (on this day the veteran motorbikes will be there!).

For those of you who are not familiar with this location you can check it out at 

http://www.schlossallee-haag.de
Freisinger Str. 1, 85410 Haag an der Amper

29 June 2021 - ISA Newletter - Issue June 2021

The next issue of the ISA Newsletter (June 2021) is now available. In this issue you will find an interview of the International Staff Committee with Erik Allaert (current ESO GAC-EPA Representative), Martin Cullum (former ESO GAC-EPA representative and current ESO pensioners’ representative in the Health Working Group) and Rein Warmels (webmaster of the ESO pensioners’ website and involved in various voluntary activities at ESO).

26 June 2021 - Bulletin 60 of the GAC-EPA

The latest bulletin of the GAC-EPA,  Bulletin 60, is now available.

6 May 2021 - Introduction of the ESO Health Insurance System (EHIS)

EHIS, ESO Health Insurance System, is the newly installed health insurance scheme established by ESO to safeguard its members of personnel and their families against the financial consequences of illness, accidents, maternity and childbirth by providing reimbursement of expenses arising from medical care and childbirth.

The aim of the EHIS is that the annual reviews for the coverage, fund and contributions to the CIGNA health insurance system are formalized. The roles which are contributing to the annual reviews are defined. In a review board, both, the ESO administrative members and the members of the international staff association participate and the review board can make annual recommendations.

Please consult the document Governance of the ESO Health Insurance Scheme (EHIS) for the details of the EHIS.

26 April 2021 - Update of Retirees Address List

The Retirees Email Addresses listing  has been updated with the latest information. 

10 April 2021 - On-line Registration for the Pensioners' Maling List

The Newcomers page is not protected by a password anymore and hence basis information about the ESO Pensioners group and the GAC-EPA is all public. Also, an on-line registration form for signing up for the Pensioners' Maling list is  now available.

31 March 2021 - Update of Retirees Address List

The Retirees Email Addresses listing has been updated with the latest information. 

22 March 2021: New version of the document Leaving ESO

A new version (Version 2021) of the document ESO Leaving: A guide for International Staff Members, has been made available by the HR Deparrtment. It is available via the Documents page.

23 February 2021 - ESO Brochure: ESO's Benefits to Society

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a testament to research, innovation, and collaboration in Europe with a far reaching and invaluable impact on society. The new publication “ESO’s Benefits to Society” explores ESO’s contributions to its Member States across five areas: science and engineering, economy and innovation, talent development, education and outreach, and international collaboration and policy. The small PDF version of the brochure can be downloaded here.

ESO/ePOD will not sell this brochure in printed form, but intends instead to send hardcopies to 'various key stakeholders', including ESO committees. ESO/ePOD has agreed to send a paper copy also to the ESO pensioners who explicitly express their interest in this.

So could the ones who think they can make good use of this brochure in its hardcopy form please send an email to Erik Allaert before 10 March 2020? He will collect the names and forward the list to the ePOD contact person.

Please note that this requires your actual postal address to be registered in our ESO Pensioners' database (password needed). If that would have changed recently, please inform Erik accordingly.

12 February 2021 - Invitation for Meeting about AMFIE on Wednesday 24 Feb. 2021

The International Staff Committee would like to draw your attention to an information meeting at ESO by AMFIE which is jointly organised with the ESO administration.

AMFIE is a financial cooperative association of international civil servants and offers services that might be of interest to ESO current and former staff, especially retirees. Given AMFIE's focus on staff affiliated to intergovernmental organizations, the International Staff Committee supports informing you about their financial services.

The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 24 February 2021, starting at 13:30 CET / 9:30 CLST, on which occasion Mr. Svend Booth from AMFIE will make a presentation. This presentation will be delivered on-line on the following link. (please take it from attached):

Link to join the AMFIE presentation

Participants who wish to have a private conversation with Mr. Svend Booth are invited to contact him directly;(svend.booth@amfie.org  or +39/346 9884218) or AMFIE's Secretariat in Luxembourg (+352/42 36 61 1 or amfie@amfie.org). Mr Booth is available on 24 February 2021 from 14:30 until 17:00 CET / 10:30 until 13:00 CLST.

Request for documentation

If you would like to receive AMFIE's brochure on its services and products before the presentation, please complete the documentation request form by clicking here.

Disclaimer: We emphasize that the International Staff Committee, as well as ESO, only offers AMFIE the opportunity to present itself to you and does not endorse this service provider or any of their services or products. The decision to become a member of AMFIE and the use of their services is at the sole discretion and responsibility of the individual staff member.

4 February 2021 - Covid-19 Test Centre at MUC Airport 

The following information may be useful, in particupar for people living in the München-Nord area.

Various testing options for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 are available at Munich Airport. They can be used by travelers and all other persons. You just need to schedule in advance in the "Scheduling and registration for the citizen testing" option. 

There is also a "Test & Fly" Center at MUC that offers all kinds of tests (including antibody rapid tests) for all kinds of prices.

For more information please check the MUC Aiport Web site

12 January 2021 - Registration for vaccination in Bavaria

This messege is intended for retired staff living in Bavaria.

Bavaria has now an online web page (https://impfzentren.bayern/citizen/) to register for a COVID 19 vaccination appointment in the vaccination center nearest to your place. By filling out the form you will be put into a waiting list and be contacted as soon as there is a free slot.

Also please note that as of next Monday 18th Jan it is compulsory to wear FFP2 masks in public transportation and shops.

4 January 2021 - Update of Retirees Address List

The Retirees Email Addresses listing has been updated with the latest information.