Brussels, 4 March 2002
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'REFORM':
the work of the Staff Regulations Committee - I Brussels, 4 March 2002 |
| The Staff Regulations
Committee, a joint inter-institutional body
tasked with giving an opinion on the proposed amendment
to the Staff Regulations covering European officials (the
‘Reform’ project) began its work on 19
February. A summary of its initial discussions is set out
below. The positions of staff representatives on the Staff Regulations Committee Sadly, there is no common line. The Commission Administration and staff representatives belonging to Union Syndicale, who blindly support the Administration, have had to take on board the extremely critical positions adopted by representatives of the European Parliament, the Court of Justice and the Council. In common with some representatives of the Administrations of other Institutions, staff representatives are aware of the dangers associated with the systematic destruction of our Regulations. How the discussions went: The Committee commenced discussions with the ‘remuneration’ package on the basis of a note distributed during the meeting, and containing the following matters: method and level of remuneration, family allowances, other allowances, the annual trip and transfer. Discussion focused on ‘technical improvements’.
The new rules provide for the removal of the all inclusive 16% transfer payment modified by the corrective coefficient, but allowing for transfers in duly justified cases (on the one hand only for dependent children of school age, and on the other, regular payments made to someone arising out of legal obligations), but with a maximum ceiling of 16% in the event of cumul. Clearly, a divorced official with two school-age children and dependent parents cannot transfer more than a single person: that would be obvious discrimination. The R&D staff representative supported by representatives from other Institutions then proposed removing the single 16% ceiling, which objectively runs counter to the interests of officials. However, our proposal was rejected by the Commission Administration, and by the union that supports it, on the grounds of frequently repeated argument that ‘we mustn’t disturb the balance of the reform’.
The pension package contains many measures that are opposed to staff interests, and many of us proposed numerous amendments. But in vain: the Administration and the union that supports it systematically opposed them despite the fact that the Administrations of other Institutions are in favour of our suggestions. Clearly, ‘we mustn’t disturb the balance of the reform’. The lack of a coherent, solidaristic approach among Commission staff representatives enabled the Commission Administration to win hands down, even though we had a chance to pass staff-friendly amendments that were often supported by Administrations in other Institutions. At least they are less prepared to follow the Commission blindly. The future of the pensions scheme will now depend entirely on the member states. Every five years, they will decide on the contributions rate (which can even in certain conditions be changed every year), and even on retirement age. The member states have already run up an actuarial debt of at least €14bn with the pension scheme. Do you really believe that they will be happy to pay up when the day comes, or is it more likely that they will be tempted to make us work till we’re 70, or even longer? Conclusions It is already obvious that the only raison d’être for reform of the Staff Regulations is, on the one hand, a concern on the part of the Commission to dodge criticism of its management by deflecting responsibility for its mistakes onto officials and the Staff Regulations, and on the other, an ideological desire to ‘smash’ the European public service (a device that some people have found for weakening a demanding conception of European integration). The Commission is more interesting in ‘selling’ its ‘Reform’ to member states and to public opinion (by claiming that once it is approved, all the problems that the Santer Commission had to deal with will disappear by waving a magic want) than in improving the technical content, or correcting the lacunae and aberrations in its over-hastily conceived ‘Reform’ project. R&D will continue to make every effort to restore the climate of collaboration and trade union unity that is essential if we are to respond to the widely-canvassed attacks that the Council, relying on this wretched proposal to ‘reform’ the Staff Regulations, will carry out with a view to destroying the independence, competence and permanence of the European public service, and thereby reduce the role of the Commission. The Executive Committee
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102 7/12 |
Membres du Comité Exécutif: Ianniello Franco, Adurno Giuseppe, Zorbas Gerassimos, Ravagli Alessandra, Uguccioni Bruno, Docherty Michael, Vassila-Souyoul Erica, Bochu Claude, Drevet Jean-François, Napolitano Raffaele, Crespinet Alain, Sybren Singelsma, Paul Frank, Panarisi Edi, Sperling Christiane, Domingos Dias. |
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