The Commission has today adopted a Report to the Council and the Parliament which provides a check of the equivalence between “old” and “new” career structures in the European Institutions.

The report, prepared by DG HR, compares four types of careers corresponding to the main profiles recruited before and after the Staff Regulation reform in 2004: clerical officers including secretaries (ex-C category), assistants (ex-B), junior administrators with no experience, and experienced administrators. The main conclusions of the report are as follows:

• experienced administrators have equivalent career structures only if they are recruited at Grade AD7 in the new scale.
• career perspectives for junior administrators are less attractive in the new scheme than in the old one; they can only reach an equivalent level of salaries and qualify for full pension rights if they work longer.
• careers of technical and administrative assistants are broadly equivalent under the old and new Staff Regulations.
• clerical officers have clearly benefited from the new career system, with new officials earning significantly more in the new system than in the old one, which materialises at a later stage of the career.

The report also analyses the effects of the transitional measures laid down in Annex XIII to the Staff Regulations. The main findings in this regard are:

• all officials recruited before 1 May 2004 have benefited from a salary increase higher than they would have received if no change had been made to the Staff Regulations. This is particularly true for ex-B and C-grade officials.
• Annex XIII has had some paradoxical effects on staff holding management positions and high grades, with the salary scale being occasionally disconnected with the position held.

The report is sent to the Council and the Parliament today and will be presented in the Council Working Group on Staff Regulations on 8 April. DG HR will also discuss the findings with various stakeholders including Staff Representatives, the Administrations of the other Institutions, and the HR community of the Commission.