States using EU pay dispute to own advantage, says union boss - Main contents

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - With a potent cocktail of strikes and legal action set to ring in the New Year, a senior union official has suggested national governments are using the EU pay dispute to divert attention from Europe's current economic woes.

"Member states can't solve the financial crisis, which is the real problem," the Council of Ministers' top delegate to the FFPE trade union, Renzo Carpenito, told EUobserver on Tuesday (22 December). "The pay dispute is a good dossier to improve their image."

"We regret that certain member states have created a media storm out of the issue," added the union official, a day before EU governments - who pay for the EU budget - are set to rubber-stamp a 1.85 percent pay rise for EU civil servants.

Member state ambassadors agreed on the figure at a meeting last Friday, rejecting a request by the European Commission for a 3.7 percent rise, as governments across the union are forced to introduce unpopular wage freezes for workers in their own public services.

EU environment ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday (22 December), already signed off on one part of the pay deal concerning EU staff pension contributions.

Union officials have indicated that they have no intention of accepting the reduced sum however, arguing that it breaches a 2004 pay agreement reached with member states.

Under the pay formula, EU salaries are calculated using a basket of civil servant salaries in eight rich member states, also taking into account the cost of living in Brussels.

Senior EU officials representing almost 45,000 employees and contractors in the EU's various institutions and agencies said they will "look into" legal action if member states go ahead as expected with the reduced rise.

With the commission making up the bulk of the EU staff numbers with around 33,700 employees, a lot depends on whether it will support plans to take the issue to the European Court of Justice.

"The commission has to take the case, otherwise they are brushing aside their institutional obligations," said Mr Carpenito.

Commission statements on Tuesday suggest the institution intends to push ahead with the issue without delay. "The commission will consider its legal options to make sure that the situation is correct and legality is respected," said spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio.

EU service devoid of northerners?

While he agrees on the importance of following the 2004 pay agreement, Mr Carpenito adds that the nature of EU institutional work merits the attractive salaries, which frequently dwarf those seen in member states.

The added complexities of living overseas, the difficulty of the "concours" entry exam, together with the multilingual capabilities of EU employees, means they are entitled to the generous pay packages, he argues.

"We would have no EU public service without the attractive salaries," he said, adding that talented citizens in the richer northern states such as Germany or the UK may now think twice before heading down to Brussels for a career change.

As EU employees wend their way home for Christmas, the salary storm looks set to blow into next year, with European Parliament union representatives indicating they will strike at some point during incoming commissioner hearings, scheduled for mid-January.

Last week saw Council and Court of Justice officials down their tools in a sign of disapproval over the reduced pay rise. A similar case in 1972 reached the European courts and ended in victory for the commission.