Brussels, 22/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission will forward to the Council the proposed amendments to the regulations on the statute of the European public service staff whose ambition it is to introduce a more continuous career structure, modernisation of the system for remunerations and pensions and adherence to professional and ethical standards. These proposals are those adopted last December, with just a few slight changes (mainly concerning parental leave), resulting from the opinion expressed by the interinstitutional committee on the statute, composed of staff representatives and representatives of the administrations of the different European institutions.
We recall that the General Affairs Council held a short debate, on 15 April, on internal administrative reform. Sweden expressed concern about the growing gap between remuneration in the European public service and the national public service, and the ever-growing costs arising from the pensions system. The Luxembourg, Portuguese, Greek and Austrian delegations restated their call for a geographical balance. In their conclusions, the Member States supported the principles adopted by the Commission and confirmed that a decision will be taken in June 2003, after having received the opinion of the other institutions before end 2002.