Brussels, 26/07/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission says it is 1,254 official short to accomplish its tasks and intends finding these positions within two years through internal reforms (dropping certain activities, fallout from its administrative reform, early-pension plan) as well as by taking on 717 new officials. Otherwise, it would be forced to abandon a certain number of activities, for which precise examples are supplied. The European Commission adopted these conclusions on Wednesday. They are the result of the work of the "Peer Group", group of Commissioners chaired by Romano Prodi and instructed to monitor the evaluation of tasks and resources in Commission personnel.
"The Peer Group reached the same conclusions as the Committee of Independent Experts: there is a gap between tasks and resources, the Commission needs large resources", declared President Prodi when presenting the conclusions to the press accompanied by Vice-President Neil Kinnock. The Commission, he stressed, mainly needs additional positions in the following fields: external relations (especially enlargement), the management and control of the Structural Funds, the internal market, the quality of life (public health, food safety, environment) and Justice and Home Affairs.
"Two-thirds of the positions will be found within the Commission itself", Romano Prodi assured his audience. The Commission intends taking gaining 222 positions by abandoning some of its activities (information and communication programmes of several Directorates General, participation n fairs and exhibitions, secondments to personnel representatives…)
The administrative reform (improving management methods) would release a further 315 positions. Finally, 600 officials should leave on early retirement between 2001 and 2002 - at their request and after the Commission has accepted. Part of the positions freed will not be replaced. According to Commission calculations, these departures will allow for 342 positions to be abolished, which will compensate for the new positions being requested by the Commission.
At the same time as its "internal efforts", the Commission is indeed going to ask the two branches of the budgetary authority, Council and Parliament, to grant it an additional 717 positions for 2001 and 2002. The President stressed that, thanks to early-retirements, "717 will be asked for, but 312 will be refunded: thus the net creation of positions will be 375".
"The Commission has assumed its political responsibilities by precisely presenting the consequences of not increasing the number of positions, the Council and Parliament must now assume their responsibilities" Vice-President Neil Kinnock warned. The Commission's communication is accompanied by a list of activities that "could be abandoned" if the Commission does not secure the positions required, including notably: the LIFE programme (environmental protection), the Daphne programme for combating violence against women, the organisation of the cereals market, the SAVE and ALTENER programmes (energy)… Last week, the Budget Council had made a gesture regarded as "not very cooperative" by Commissioner Schreyer. It had, on first reading of the draft Budget 2001, reduced the levels of appropriations requested by the Commission for its administrative spending, whereas this request only concerned the current number of officials. Neil Kinnock said he hoped that the presentation of a precise programme from the Commission would have an influence on the Council's attitude. The communication presented on Wednesday will be the subject of an amending letter to the draft budget 2001, to be presented by Commissioner Schreyer in September.