Brussels, 18/07/2000 (Agence Europe) - Vice-President Kinnock presented the press on Tuesday with an initial assessment of the implementation of the White Paper for the administrative reform of the European Commission, for which he said he was very satisfied, despite delays and the concerns of a part of the staff. "The intense period of activity of these past few months" has enabled us to "conduct in-depth work in order to convert the ideas of the White Paper into specific proposals (…) The reform has manifestly begun", Neil Kinnock declared, highlighting the implementation of three thrusts of the reform:
Reforming the rules and financial control. The Commission has begun to set up the new control structures (internal auditing service, auditing monitoring committee, central financial service). It has, moreover, adopted the proposal aimed at separating internal auditing from financial control. The overall proposal of reshaping the financial regulation will be presented next week. For Neil Kinnock, the complexity of the matter excuses the delay in adopting this proposal.
Moving to an activity-based management: based on the Commission's political priorities: "unless there are unforeseen delays, the Commission will be able to begin introducing activity-based management next year, as proposed by the White Paper". Six steering Directorates General "have set up the necessary computer systems, and, next week, the Commission will take the decision allowing for the creation of the necessary job of strategic planning and programming."
Reform of staff policy: most of the proposals "will be made this autumn and in 2001". The Commission has proceeded with the redeployment of staff that Neil Kinnock qualifies - in well-chosen words, as the subject is sensitive within the Administration - as "cautious, although substantial (529 last year, 250 decided last week). In addition, next week the Commission will adopt an administrative code of conduct intended for the personnel.
The steering group - which brings together several Commissioners under the direction of President Prodi - will hand in its report next week. Its work is linked to the "activity-based" management and to staff policy. It aims, "for the first time in the Commission's history, to proceed with an evaluation of missions carried out by the institution, the staff it has at its disposal to accomplish these missions and the allocation of this personnel to the different services". Wide-sweeping programme aimed at "reducing the gap between available resources and missions handed to the Commission" and which will serve the Commission as basis for its discussions with the Council and Parliament on the tasks it can accomplish, on additional personnel it may require, and, "possibly", activities that "should be reduced or interrupted if resources are inadequate".
Furthermore, the Vice-President assured the press that "the dialogue with other European institutions has now been established". In answer to questions, he said that he had heard few criticisms on the part of Member States, other than some requests (which are said to have been turned down point blank) on the nationality that a senior official for such or such a task should have. Neil Kinnock also threw the ball into the Council's court by raising the question of comitology: committees, formed at the request of Member States, are useful, but the Vice-President wondered about the risk of their "proliferation". We must keep, he said, those that provide real added value and employ taxpayers' money wisely.
Neil Kinnock acknowledges some "manifestations of uncertainty on the part of the staff", which, however, he believes only concern a minority, which is not the opinion of the trade union Renewal and Democracy: EUROPE will report on its reaction tomorrow.