Brussels, 27/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - The legal affairs committee of the European Parliament adopted, by 19 votes to 3 and 2 abstentions, the report by Dagmar Roth-Behrendt (S&D, Germany) on a whole series of proposals by the Commission aimed at saving one billion euro in administrative costs by 2020. “It is vital to strike a balance between savings and the need to ensure that the institutions can perform their tasks and duties in accordance with their obligations and powers under the Treaties”, the rapporteur states. She went on to say that there cannot be staff reductions across the board in all institutions without taking responsibilities into account and a possible new workload. The institutions themselves ought, she states, to be able to decide how to make the necessary savings as everyone, and especially the member states, need European institutions that work well and effectively.
MEPs want a new method for adjusting staff salaries and pensions reflecting the development of nominal salaries in all member states and no longer the real changes in some of them. They also support an increase in the “solidarity contribution”, a tax on officials' salaries.
The legal affairs committee backed the Commission's proposal to bring in a minimum number of working hours per week - fixed at 40 - and to increase the retirement age from 53 to 65 and that of early retirement from 55 to 58. MEPs also want contractual agents to be able to be recruited for a maximum of five years, and not for six years as the Commission would like.
MEPs also advocate that a 12 month period should have expired before former senior officials are able to carry out lobbying activities at their former institution on matters under their responsibility during the last three years of employment there, and for there to be a control on possible conflict of interest when any new officials are appointed.
Shared views. On Thursday, the commissioner for administrative matters, Maros Sefcovic, welcomed the Commission vote explaining: “I welcome the report and its generally balanced approach. The broad political support that it has received seems particularly encouraging to me. Discussion between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission may thus have a sound base, which should allow proposals to be rapidly adopted after the summer.”
The Greens, however, voted against, reproaching the report for not adjusting the higher range of salaries to economic reality, with the introduction of an incremental increase in levy as the salaries rise. “With pressure on public spending throughout Europe, it is clear that European officials can no longer be spared from economic reality”, explained Vice-President Daniel Cohn-Bendit. The introduction of an incremental tax increase would ensure, he added, that “European officials with the highest salaries contribute in a context of joint effort to adjust the EU budget to changes in the European fiscal landscape”. (CG/transl.jl)