Brussels, 6 May 2002
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Staff
Regulations Reform: The Council Gets Down To Work Brussels, 6 May 2002 |
| After the Staff Regulations Committee delivered an
opinion that was favourable to the majority (US staff
representatives having voted with Administration
representatives), the Commission lodged before the
Council its plan to recast the Staff Regulations in the
hope of reaching an agreement before the end of the Greek
Presidency in June 2003. Following Mr Kinnock’s
presentation to the General Affairs Council on 15 April,
COREPER heard Mr Reichenbach on the same subject on 30
April. The reactions of the member states will only come as a surprise to those who trust Mr Kinnock, and to the union (US) and its shadow (SFE) that pay him homage: - once they understood the budgetary benefits that the linear career gives to a slow-down in officials’ careers, most delegations came down in favour of the linear career; - none of the member states feel ‘bound’ by the outcome of the ‘negotiations’ between the Commission and the trade unions; several delegations have repeatedly made it clear that it is important for the Council "to be able to handle its own discussion","independently of consultations that have already taken place". The COREPER report makes no reference to the ‘draft agreement’ signed by Mr Kinnock and US/SFE): indeed, it appears not to have been referred to, even by the Commission. The follow-up is easy to predict: although the Council can only negotiate on the revised sections of the Staff Regulations (remember, Mr Kinnock wanted to submit the entire Regulations to the Council in December, before R&D, the other trade unions in the Alliance and the Legal Service stopped him getting away with it), he can still introduce cuts that will undermine both salaries (because the automatic steps will disappear) and pensions (something that has long been in the Council’s sights). The accommodating attitude adopted by the US and the SFE has consigned all staff to a weak position in a ‘reform’ process that would never have come to this if all staff representatives had found a common line that served the interests of all staff. R&D will naturally be calling on staff to mobilise against the Council. The same call will no doubt be articulated by the unions that have supported Mr Kinnock’s reform, and which will therefore ‘forget’ that they have been jointly responsible for this situation. However, we believe that any demonstration of trade union unity, however late in the day, serves the interests of staff. The Executive Committee |
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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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