Brussels, 21/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 20 March, the Council of Ministers of the EU formally requested an examination of whether the conditions have been met to apply the provisions of the exception clause of Article 10 of annex XI of the Staff Regulations with regard to the remuneration and pensions of EU civil servants for 2012. Readers may recall that in its 2010 ruling, the Court of Justice of the EU stated that this clause is the only option to depart from the traditional method of setting civil servants' remuneration levels. In its request, the Council points out that the interpretation of the exception clause is currently the subject of a procedure before the Court of Justice. It argues that the social and economic situation within the EU remains of concern and therefore calls on the Commission, in line with Article 241 of the TFEU, to closely monitor developments in the economic and social situation in order to present a report, on the basis of Article 10 of annex XI to the Staff Regulations, determining, in the light of the objective data provided by the Commission on this issue, whether there is a serious and sudden deterioration of the economic and social situation within the EU and, if so, to present appropriate and timely proposals to allow the European Parliament and Council to examine them and adopt them before the end of 2012. (LC/transl.fl)