Brussels, 29/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is preparing to adopt its White Paper on Wednesday on its Internal Reform retaining the general guideline of the project published in January. Some aspects, however, are said to have been modified along lines sought by the trade unions.
While waiting to see this new form, the trade unions seem more than skeptical as to the substance and form of January's draft, as well as over the holding of consultations. In concrete terms, two points of the White Paper, on the Statute of the personnel, received special attention on the part of trade unions and staff - and they are two points on which the Commission has altered its position.
Firstly, a draft resolution by six Commission trade unions and adopted on 15 February at the General Assembly of the personnel asks for the "single nature of the Statute for all Community institutions" to be maintained. The Commission was suggesting replacing the Statute applicable to officials of all Institutions by a "lighter framework regulation" then with each of the institutions fleshing out this framework regulation. In its final version, the White Paper drops this proposal.
The resolution also called for "comprehensive negotiations (to be opened) on all possible proposals for altering the Statute. The trade unions are particularly concerned at the proposal of abolishing the grades of officials to arrive at a single classification chart: "it is a populist idea, an American-type discourse", said Pierre Blanchard, of the Union Syndicale, for whom the "Commission has never had the courage to sit around the table to render careers more flexible as it does not have the necessary money". The President of FFPE, Loek Rijnoudt, for his part, considers that this idea could be studied, but "we already know, since the General Affairs Council of 14 February, that a change in the career system means for the Council a drop in the budget allocated to remuneration", in which case, "Kinnock can keep his proposal in his pocket". There will be global negotiations, the method of pay will only be reviewed in a comprehensive package of proposals on the Statute of officials, Commission sources state.
The trade union criticisms have a general character. The resolution of 15 February criticises the "lack of political vision", the "superficial analyses" and the "contradictions" of the action plan and the consultation paper presented in January. Generally speaking, on different aspects - human resources, budget based on activities, reform of the financial control - trade unions denounce the imprecision of the proposals. FFPE denounces the fact that there were "consultations but no dialogue". The Union syndicale criticises "the pretence of consultation, rapid, general, undertaken in the presence of their hierarchy with people other than trade unions". For its part, the Commission highlights the holding of very many meetings with the personnel and "thirty hours of talks with trade unions since mid-January". In addition, explains the spokesperson for Commissioner Kinnock, "the White Paper is a document of proposals, not a final text, and there will be dialogue with the trade unions on these different aspects"