Brussels, 16/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Monday morning, the Greek Presidency arranged a special meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the EU (Coreper) in an attempt to get the final version of its compromise text accepted on reform of the status of EU officials. It this is successful, the General Affairs Council would be able to conclude a political agreement on the case. If Coreper does not reach an agreement on Monday morning, the Presidency could decide to postpone examination of the case by Foreign Affairs Ministers of EU Member States to a later date.
After three days of difficult negotiations at Coreper, it is above all the very conflictual problem of pensions that was still pending on Friday. The most recent compromise from the Presidency suggested increasing the official retirement age for new officials to 63 (taken on after the enter into force of the new statute) with an increase of 1.9% in pension rights but without bonuses for rights acquired after retirement. The system will essentially remain the same for current officials, given that they will preserve a 2% increase per year in pension rights. Most of the conflictual points up till now have involved remuneration and careers but appear to have been settled thanks to the compromise by the Greek Presidency.