” “A revolution ” “for "eurobureaucrats"

The draft reform. The “bureaucratic machine” of the European Commission headed by Romano Prodi comprises 24 general directorates, 6 general services and 5 internal services with an overall workforce of over 20,000 personnel and a budget of 3.2 billion euros (the statutory personnel of the institutions total approximately 25,000, the budget of the Institutions amounts to 5 billion euros, the general budget of the EU 200 billion euros). The Commission is the largest of the EU institutions, in terms of personnel. The situation is unsustainable, and prompted the mandate given to Romano Prodi by the Summits in Cologne and Berlin in 1999 to “proceed to the Commission’s reform”. After a gestation period of over two years, the Executive finally presented its proposed reform on 24 April. Under the responsibility of the Commission’s vice-president, Neil Kinnock, it has the title: “Draft Regulation of the Council modifying the statute of employees of the European Communities and the regime applicable to the other agents of the said Communities”. This proposed reform is now being examined by the juridical Commission of the European Parliament, which has appointed as its rapporteurs Malcolm Harbour (Ppe-De – UK) and Manuel Medina Ortega (Pse – Spain). Modernizing the institutions. The guidelines contained in the White Paper adopted in March 2000 had defined the three main priorities for the reform. The methods of management, operation and financial control of the institutions need to be reformed, over thirty years after the entry into force in 1967 of the statute that regulates the working conditions of European Community personnel and a few months after the administrative scandals that led to the resignation of the Commission headed by Jacques Santer in 1999. The three guidelines of the reform are as follows: “First, modernizing the systems of financial management, control and auditing and creating a system based on a clear attribution of responsibilities that insists on the obligation to render account. Second, introducing a new system of strategic planning based on management by activities with a view to a constant coordination of tasks to be performed with the necessary resources. And third, modernizing personnel policy with a view to properly using, training, managing and motivating a highly qualified workforce for the performance of priority tasks”. Five “guiding principles”. The recommendations of Commissioner Kinnock are structured round five central pillars complemented by provisions relating to the procedures for their implementation, timetable and cost. The first pillar presents a “career structure based on the level of services” performed, aimed at replacing the principle of seniority or length of service, historically characteristic of EU institutions, with a “more rigorous and transparent system” of aptitudinal evaluation of individual employees”. The second pillar concerns the “modernization of working conditions and equal opportunities”, so that it be possible to “reconcile family life and career”. Methods for the application of this pillar would be the planning of hours of work that respect the needs of the individual staff member, the creation of more efficient social structures (kindergartens, particular attention to the handicapped and members of ethnic or linguistic minorities, respect for equality between the sexes). The third pillar provides for the creation of an Office for the hiring of “contractual agents”, i.e. non-statutory personnel of the institutions; this would permit EU employees to devote themselves to the essential responsibilities of the Commission that flow from the right of initiative and the role of “guardian” of the Treaties. The last two chapters concern respectively the “ethical and professional norms” (appointment of an arbitrator for the settlement of internal disputes, disciplinary procedures) and the “simplification and clarification of the statute” since in 1967 (when it was issued) little or no provision was made for cases of conflict of interest, sexual harassment on the workplace, absenteeism, or the protection (almost non existent) of the freedom of expression of EU personnel.