Brussels, 16/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - Eight so-called “net contributor” countries - the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland and Denmark - stated in a letter that they are very concerned by the costs of European civil servants' pensions, which are expected to double by 2045, to reach around €2.5 billion a year. Currently, the spending stands at around €1.2 billion (a civil servant receives 60% of his end of career salary).
These EU member states explain in a letter published in The Daily Telegraph that the Commission is proposing a 26% rise in spending to pay European civil servants during the next multiannual financial framework 2014-2020. These eight countries consider this rise unacceptable in a period in which budget cuts are taking place in member states.
They suggest that as a means of reducing the pensions bill, European civil servants should pay higher contributions into the system (up to 50%, as opposed to the current 11.6%).
The European Commission pointed out that it had proposed reducing the EU's administrative spending by 5% over a five-year period but that this effort was not enough in the eyes of net contributor countries. The Commission points out that it had proposed reforming the status of European civil servants but that negotiations had been blocked at a Council level. Most of the delegations considered that the reform completely fails to take into account the context of austerity and economic and financial crisis.
Richard Ashworth MEP, the leader of the British Conservatives explained, “We are continually insisting that the Commission should spend less - but spend it better. Sadly, as we see here, the default position is to spend more and spend it worse”. He added that, “there can be no justification under the sun for Europe to ramp up its spending on bureaucracy”. (LC/trans.fl)