Brussels, 19/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - On the eve of the strike by the personnel of the European institutions (trade unions consider the Council "continues to massacre" our statute and the Commission to drop personnel), the General Affairs Council reached a political agreement, on Monday, on the proposals for amending the Staff Regulations of EU employees. This was welcomed by Commissioner Neil Kinnock. The agreement on pensions, which was the longest to be drawn up, will guarantee that the scheme remains in statutory balance and ensure financial stringency. For new officials, the statutory pension age will be raised to 63 and the annual accrual rate will be set at 1.9%. The accrual rate for existing staff will remain unchanged, and transitional arrangements will apply for the pension age.
The Council agreed to the inclusion of the method of salary adjustments in the Staff Regulations for a period of eight years. Staff will meanwhile pay a special levy to help finance social policy measures and the European Schools over and above the normal tax on their salary. The level of the special levy will increase annually in equal steps over the period of application from 2.5% to 5.5%. The expenditure savings generated by these changes to the Staff Regulation amount to more than of EUR 1 billion over the next 15 years (compared to a situation of status quo), the Commission insists, citing the example of the new facility for recruiting "contract staff".
Furthermore, the minimum condition for employment required in the institutions will be fluency in at least one EU language in addition to the native tongue. Staff, however, recruited after entry into force of the new Staff Regulations, will be required to demonstrate the ability to work in a third EU language within three years from the beginning of employment. Other measures are intended to modernise the work environment: - reorientation of family allowances; - increased possibility for part-time work (to personnel with young children or sick or disabled parents as well as those who wish to follow complementary training); - improved family-related leave, in particular maternity and paternity leave; allowances and insurance coverage for same-sex partnerships where there is no access to legal marriage. In the new Staff Regulations, psychological or sexual harassment will be clearly defined and explicitly prohibited.