Brussels, 01/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission approved several proposals for further reform measures in its staff policy. Most discussion will no doubt be on disciplinary procedure. These proposals, finalised under the responsibility of Vice President Neil Kinnock, will be the subject of consultation with the personnel, before being definitively adopted by the Commission. The Commission is contemplating:
- Reviewing both disciplinary procedure and sanctions. The Commission hopes to create a new Investigation and Disciplinary Office composed of officials specifically appointed for investigation of the cases brought before the Disciplinary Council. During the inquiry, the official involved could be suspended for six months (instead of four) and would only receive half his/her salary during that time, or a "subsistence salary" if taken before a national criminal court. The Disciplinary Council will henceforth be chaired by a person from outside the Commission. For officials up to Grade A3, rather than being an ad hoc body composed each time there are different officials involved, the council would be composed of four members, including two half time. A second disciplinary council would be responsible for judging the A1 and A2 grade officials. The Commission also proposes the creation of two new sanctions: the possibility of downgrading officials to the category below, and the suspension of officials without pay for one year.
The Commission insists that this change is not aimed against the personnel and it does not mean that more persons will be found guilty, but that procedures will be clearer, more coherent and more rapid. It considers that the duration of disciplinary inquiries should not exceed 7 months on average (sometimes up to 2 years) and 6 months "for most cases". During the last ten years, 137 decisions have been taken after disciplinary investigations: 61 acquittals, 34 minor sanctions, 20 dismissals, 11 downgradings, 10 reductions or suspensions of earnings, and 1 loss of retirement benefits.
- Improving "whistleblowing" procedure in the case of suspected fraud or irregularities within its administration. A new "Whistleblowers' Charter" will give details of the procedure to be followed. Officials will have the "duty" to make known any suspicions they may have, but they will have the choice of reporting such concerns to their immediate superior, their director-general, the secretary general of the Commission, or to OLAF. If they consider they have not been heard, they may express their concerns to the President of the Commission, to the President of the Parliament or to the President of the Court of Auditors or of the Council, or to the European Ombudsman.
- Setting in place an inter-institutional ethics committee. Composed of five independent personalities, it would be responsible for giving advice on all questions of ethical standards of "good behaviour" within the European institutions.
- Measures aimed at ensuring equal opportunities with different proposals concerning sexual harassment, , the recruitment of minority groups and the disabled …
- Increased and more flexible maternity or paternity leave.
The Commission also amended its internal regulations, mainly making it possible to delegate to the directors-general the decision of financing projects and hence to inform the person or enterprise who submitted a project (previously, the services had to wait for the formal decision from the College before notifying the decision). This should speed procedures up, mainly in the field of research.
