Ethics and integrity: Barroso-Kroes cases, parachuting, Article 42 (c), Junior Professional Programme, attempts to dismantle the Legal Service and the DGT… in short too many bad examples of mismanagement!
Confidence undermined
As confirmed by President Juncker when he took office: the mission of the “Last Chance Commission” was primarily to “restore the trust of citizens”.
On the contrary, the “Barroso-Kroes” affairs as well as the array of “parachuting” even at the highest level of our administration have been widely reported by the media and have aroused very strong reactions from the public and the press, imposed the intervention of the European Ombudsman and provoked real political crises with the European Parliament.
Far from contributing to “restoring the trust of citizens”, these affairs have tarnished the image and the values of our civil service, called into question the credibility of appointment procedures, and casted doubt on the ability or even the political will of our institution to oppose them.
In response to these erring ways, R&D has always been the first trade union and, in some respects, the only one leading the fight to restore the truth and defend the respectability, ethics and integrity of our staff.
The basic principles of the public service tainted
Similarly, while the “Last Chance Commission” had to give a new impetus to a better organization and management of its services, the staff witnessed a gradual loss of speed and a growing lack of transparency in the actions of our administration, which seemed to progressively lose sight of the basic principles of our public service.
It is sufficient in this respect to mention
- the attempted forced retirement of the most experienced colleagues through improper use of Article 42 (c) of the Staff Regulations that R&D has blocked until now by requesting interim measures which were granted by the President of the Civil Service Tribunal and confirmed by the President of the Court of Justice who dismissed the Commission’s appeal (see file)
- the launch of the “Junior Professionals Programme” alias “buddies first” (see file) (or “‘jobs for the boys’)”
- attempts to dismantle services essential for the functioning of our institution: the Legal Service (see leaflet) and the DGT (see leaflet) to which R & D formally opposes.
