Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2002)213 - Amendment of the Staff Regulations of officials and the Conditions of Employment of other servants of the EC - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2002)213 - Amendment of the Staff Regulations of officials and the Conditions of Employment of other servants of the EC. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2002)213  |
| date | 24-04-2002 |
The Commission as an organisation must keep abreast of these developments, even though the expectations of European citizens have grown and its tasks have expanded significantly. Thus, its methods of financial control and management have remained virtually unchanged while the actual number of dossiers dealt with has increased tenfold in ten years, and the Staff Regulations that govern the working conditions of its staff have not been substantially amended since they were adopted in 1967.
Recognising this situation, the European Councils in Berlin and Cologne charged Mr Prodi and the Commission with the task of reforming the Commission. The White Paper adopted on 1 March 2000 (COM(2000)200) outlines the strategy to be followed and defines three main priorities:
* thorough modernisation of financial management, control and audit and establishment of a system based on a clear allocation of responsibilities, underpinning an obligation to be accountable;
* introduction of a new system of strategic planning involving activity-based management, the aim being to ensure constant coordination between the tasks to be carried out and the resources required;
* modernisation of staff policy in order to ensure judicious utilisation/training/management/motivation of a highly qualified staff with a view to carrying out priority tasks.
In connection with this third priority a series of policy guidelines were adopted by the Commission on 28 February 2001. On the basis of wide-ranging consultations, both internal - with departments and staff representatives - and with the other institutions, those guidelines were clarified and developed into concrete proposals.
Some of the proposals (e.g. amending the internal provisions on training policy and the staff appraisal and promotion system) can be implemented under the existing Staff Regulations. Others, however, require amendments to the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of other servants. This proposal for a Regulation sets out those amendments.
* Through the application of common rules, the Staff Regulations ensure that there is a single European civil service. Agencies should specifically be included in the scope of the Staff Regulations in order to strengthen cooperation between institutions and agencies on staff policy in the interests of the smooth running of the Communities and the efficient use of human resources.
* The Staff Regulations define all the rights and obligations of officials. Changes are required to incorporate advances and innovations in the working environment, in particular the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the culture of service to the citizen. Those rights and obligations must be clear and easily understood and allow precise criteria to be laid down and used by the Administration as a basis for its decisions. The following points must be clarified and simplified:
- Impartiality is a fundamental principle of public service that is recognised by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. A better definition is needed of the obligations of officials in situations in which there might be a conflict of interests.
- Experience gained in public or elected office can be useful for both the official and the institution, but clear rules must be laid down for members of staff seeking or attaining public office.
- Confidentiality is another principle essential to the proper functioning and the reputation of the Communities. This implies obligations for former officials, which need to be better defined.
- At the same time, the institutions are determined to comply with the principle of transparency of the European civil service and to pursue a policy of openness towards the public. In order to do so, the precise boundaries of professional secrecy must be mapped out.
- Freedom of expression is a basic right of all officials. The Staff Regulations must lay down clear rules on prior authorisation for publications connected with Community policies.
* The Commission plays a leading role in the Community policy of equal opportunities in the workplace, i.e. the fight against discrimination on grounds of gender, race, religion, disability, age or sexual orientation. As an employer, it must offer its staff at least an equivalent level of protection. The Staff Regulations should be amended to ensure full compliance with that principle, for example by granting (subject to certain conditions) members of staff in a recognised partnership or a confirmed stable partnership certain advantages originally reserved for married members of staff.
* A number of amendments confirm the importance of social welfare within staff policy. The Staff Regulations is to include an explicit reference to social welfare policy. New provisions on family-related leave, in particular parental leave (which sometimes involve formal recognition of arrangements that have developed in practice), the introduction of flexible working arrangements and the introduction (subject to certain conditions) of the right to work part time will help not only to reconcile work and private life, promote equal opportunities and protect the dignity of the individual but also to increase staff motivation (and therefore productivity) and make the conditions offered to candidates for recruitment more attractive.
* New provisions will permit the problems of sexual and psychological harassment to be dealt with more effectively.
* A careers system anchored in the Staff Regulations is the best way to preserve the independence of the European civil service and incorporate different working cultures. If accompanied by a new appraisal system, more rigorous than the present one, such a career system can promote cohesion and avoid the divisiveness that undue emphasis on individual results at the expense of teamwork creates. That principle must be maintained. However, the current career structure should be reviewed to take account of profound changes in patterns of employment and work: lifelong learning has become the norm everywhere in Europe; versatility is expected as job content changes rapidly; the division into four categories based on school education has lost its relevance as the use of informatics and other technologies has become more widespread. By reorganising the careers structure and facilitating movement between categories, the proposed amendments to the Staff Regulations are aimed at improved recognition of professional experience and lifelong learning. They will ensure better correlation between performance and remuneration by offering greater incentives for good performance. Within the system of appraisal, an amendment to the Staff Regulations is necessary to create a legal framework for the appraisal of Directors and Directors-General.
* Mobility has two objectives: to satisfy the institution's requirements in terms of efficiency and organisational adjustment to a changing environment and to meet the needs of officials as regards the interest of their work, personal fulfilment and career development. Mobility can involve a change of duties within a unit or transfer to another unit, directorate or directorate-general or even outside the institution. The European institutions recognise the importance of external mobility. An amendment to the Staff Regulations is required to improve the conditions for external mobility and modernise the conditions for the granting of leave on personal grounds. A further amendment is required to create a suitable framework for the separate and transparent publication of vacant posts to be filled by transfer or by promotion/appointment.
* The quality of the European public administration must be maintained so as to permit it to perform its task in accordance with the Treaties. As in the past, the Staff Regulations must provide the Communities with staff of the highest calibre in terms of independence, competence, productivity and integrity, recruited on the widest possible geographical basis within the Union. This involves offering candidates sufficiently attractive pecuniary conditions. A recent study has shown that the remuneration of European officials in Brussels is comparable overall with that of expatriate officials of the Member States and with that of comparable staff in international organisations, but lower than that of staff working in multinational companies. Competition on the labour market is stiff. Steps must be taken to ensure that the situation does not deteriorate to the detriment of the European civil service. One of the proposed amendments is aimed at ensuring the competitiveness of the European institutions and maintaining the overall level of remuneration by incorporating into the Staff Regulations a standing method for the annual adjustment of salaries and so guarantee, in a manner similar to that of the Method of adjustment that expires in 2003, that the purchasing power of officials develops in parallel with that of national civil servants.
* Independently of the level of remuneration, amendments are required to modernise and rationalise the system of allowances. For the most part, they involve simplifying the rules and making them more transparent. In just a few cases, however, they involve the abandonment of outmoded provisions. The reimbursement of travel and mission expenses will be more in line with real costs and will be simpler to administer. The education allowance will be aligned more closely on actual expenditure. The reform of family allowances will improve the situation of families and will address in particular the problems faced by parents of young children. Weightings to be applied to that part of the salary that may be transferred to the country of origin are no longer those for the capital, but those for the country as a whole, and only in limited cases involving legal commitments.
* The major amendment involving pensions is the introduction into the Staff Regulations of an objective and systematic auditing procedure based on the strictest standards, the aim being to ensure the short-term and long-term actuarial balance of the scheme and enable pensions to be fully financed from the contributions of all the parties concerned. Other amendments are aimed at modernising the retirement, invalidity and survivor's pensions and, in particular, apply specific weightings, i.e. distinct from those applied to the remuneration of staff in active service, and at ensuring greater neutrality for the transfer of pension rights.
* The Commission must abide by its own recommendations to the Member States, particularly as regards early retirement. However, at the Commission and within the European institutions generally, the problem of early departure does not arise in the same way as it does in the Member States. At the Commission, the number of officials taking early retirement is very small, an average of only ten per year over the past ten years. The problem, therefore, is not to discourage early retirement; if anything it is almost the opposite: the European institutions' early-retirement scheme is not working. The provisions of the Staff Regulations on which it is based are over 30 years old and should be revised. The proposed amendments to the Staff Regulations are intended to modernise the scheme, bring it more closely into line with Community rules on the free movement of labour, correct certain inconsistencies and introduce more flexibility.
* Professional incompetence is not a common problem in the European institutions. Occasionally, however, some members of staff do not attain the level of performance expected of them, for a variety of reasons: lack of motivation, problems in adjusting to new tasks or working methods, etc. Procedures have been defined to detect, manage and remedy problems of professional incompetence in a preventive and positive way, the principal objective being to offer the members of staff concerned an opportunity and the means to regain an adequate level of performance. A new legal framework is proposed to deal with those officials who cannot achieve the expected level of performance.
* The new provisions to improve working conditions, job satisfaction, ways of addressing professional incompetence, and staff management will have a positive impact on absenteeism. A further amendment to the Staff Regulations is, at the same time, expected to simplify procedures for monitoring absenteeism.
* The current disciplinary arrangements have a number of shortcomings: the composition of the disciplinary board varies in each case, procedures are too lengthy, administrative procedures (in particular procedures for administrative investigations) have changed but have not been consolidated and the creation of the Anti-fraud Office (OLAF) has introduced a new dimension not covered by the Staff Regulations. Amendments to the Staff Regulations are proposed to: rationalise the way disciplinary proceedings are opened and conducted; stabilise the membership of disciplinary boards; and adjust the rules on the suspension of officials.
* The amendments provide for a new legal framework and new statutory guarantees for the legal protection of all officials who report misconduct and serious wrongdoing within the service.
* Amendments are necessary to harmonise the provisions applicable to officials in the scientific and technical services. Similarly, provisions on the staff of the Unified External Service must be adapted and clarified.
* The Conditions of Employment of other servants must be amended to harmonise them with the new provisions applicable to officials. A special amendment of the Conditions of Employment of other servants is required to improve the provisions on unemployment applicable to members of the temporary staff on termination of their service.
* One of the purposes of the Conditions of Employment of other servants is to provide a system for the replacement and support of permanent officials. The Conditions must clearly define the duties of non-permanent staff. A new type of servant needs to be introduced, namely contract staff. They will eventually replace staff in Category D and will be employed at all levels in Commission Offices and Representations, in Delegations and Agencies and in the executive agencies and other bodies created by specific legal act. After two fixed-term contracts, contract staff may be given a contract of indefinite duration. These arrangements should also make it possible to simplify the various types of contract used at present. It will continue to be possible to employ temporary staff in permanent posts.
Finally, provision is made for transitional arrangements to enable the new measures and rules to be applied gradually and to guarantee established rights.