REPORT on the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 laying down the Staff Regulations of officials and the conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities
(COM(2001) 253 – C5‑0249/2001 – 2001/0104(CNS))

19 December 2001 - *

Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market
Rapporteur: Ana Palacio Vallelersundi

Procedure : 2001/0104(CNS)

Document stages in plenary

Document selected :

A5-0468/2001

Texts tabled :

A5-0468/2001

Debates :

Votes :

Texts adopted :

P5_TA(2002)0026

PROCEDURAL PAGE
LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL
DRAFT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
OPINION OF THE COMMITTEE ON BUDGETS
OPINION OF THE COMMITTEE ON BUDGETARY CONTROL

PROCEDURAL PAGE

By letter of 5 June 2001 the Council consulted Parliament, pursuant to Article 283 of the EC Treaty, on the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 laying down the Staff Regulations of officials and the conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities (COM(2001) 253 - 2001/0104 (CNS)).

At the sitting of 14 June 2001 the President of Parliament announced that she had referred this proposal to the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market as the committee responsible and the Committee on Budgets for its opinion (C5-0249/2001).

At the sitting of 6 September 2001 the President of Parliament announced that she had also referred the proposal to the Committee on Budgetary Control for its opinion.

The Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market had appointed Ana Palacio Vallelersundi rapporteur at its meeting of 10 July 2001.

The committee considered the Commission proposal and draft report at its meetings of 9/10 July, 22 November and 19 December 2001.

At the last meeting it adopted the draft legislative resolution unanimously.

The following were present for the vote: Willi Rothley, acting chairman; Ward Beysen and Rainer Wieland, vice-chairmen; Ana Palacio Vallelersundi, rapporteur; Maria Berger, Bert Doorn, Janelly Fourtou, Marie-Françoise Garaud, Gerhard Hager, Malcolm Harbour, Heidi Anneli Hautala, The Lord Inglewood, Kurt Lechner, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, Hans-Peter Mayer, Manuel Medina Ortega, Bill Miller, Gary Titley, Feleknas Uca and Diana Wallis.

The opinions of the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Budgetary Control are attached.

The report was tabled on 19 December 2001.

The deadline for tabling amendments will be indicated in the draft agenda for the relevant part-session.

LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL

Proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 laying down the Staff Regulations of officials and the conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities (COM(2001) 253 – C5‑0249/2001 – 2001/0104(CNS))

The proposal is approved.

DRAFT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

European Parliament legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 laying down the Staff Regulations of officials and the conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities (COM(2001) 253 – C5‑0249/2001 – 2001/0104(CNS))

(Consultation procedure)

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Commission proposal to the Council (COM(2001) 253[1]),

– having been consulted by the Council pursuant to Article 283 of the EC Treaty (C5‑0249/2001),

– having regard to Rule 67 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market and the opinions of the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Budgetary Control (A5‑0468/2001),

1. Approves the Commission proposal;

2. Calls on the Council to notify Parliament should it intend to depart from the text approved by Parliament;

3. Calls for the conciliation procedure to be initiated should the Council intend to depart from the text approved by Parliament;

4. Asks to be consulted again should the Council intend to amend the Commission proposal substantially;

5. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

[1] OJ C 213, 31.7.2001, p.285.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

At present the Community institutions cannot take on auxiliary staff for a period exceeding one year. This proposal seeks to amend Article 52(b) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants in order to enable auxiliaries to be taken on for up to three years.

The Commission considers that one year is insufficient to guarantee continuity of services, to make the required induction a worthwhile investment and to provide the staff in question with the requisite contractual stability. Moreover, the limitation to one-year contracts makes it difficult to attract highly qualified staff in a competitive labour market.

The Commission needs such auxiliary staff in connection in particular with the phasing-out of the Technical Assistance Offices and with the following aims in view:

∙To recruit external staff able to perform tasks related to the execution of Community policies independently of the various models of externalisation that may become operational. Such staff should be employed to carry out tasks under the effective control of officials.
∙To increase the number of non-permanent staff with experience of executive tasks, particularly programme management and implementation.
∙To increase the maximum duration of the assignment to ensure greater cost-effectiveness and guarantee the continuity required for managing programmes effectively.
∙To permit the recruitment of staff using appropriations from parts A and B of the budget.

The Commission further points out that recourse to auxiliaries affords rapid access to human resources (e.g. to replace permanent staff on a temporary basis), can provide access to expertise and makes for flexibility in the use of human resources.

This fast-track amendment of the Conditions of Employment is to be regarded as a bridging measure pending more general amendment of the Staff Regulations and Conditions of Employment as part of the Reform of the Commission, set forth in the White Paper. It is intended that this amendment will be reflected in the global proposal for a revision of the Staff Regulations which is to be tabled in December 2001.

Your rapporteur commends the Commission's proposal, which is completely consistent with the approach taken by Parliament, and in particular this committee, to the Commission's White Paper on the reform of the Commission.

OPINION OF THE COMMITTEE ON BUDGETS

12 October 2001

for the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market

on the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 laying down the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities

(COM(2001) 253 – C5‑0249/2001 – 2001/0104 (CNS))

Draftsman: Catherine Guy-Quint

PROCEDURE

The Committee on Budgets appointed Catherine Guy-Quint draftsman at its meeting of

26 June 2001.

It considered the draft opinion at its meeting of 9/10 October 2001.

At that meeting it adopted the following amendments unanimously.

The following were present for the vote: Terence Wynn, chairman; Catherine Guy-Quint, draftsman; Jean-Louis Bourlanges, Kathalijne Maria Buitenweg, Joan Colom i Naval, Carlos Costa Neves, James E.M. Elles, Göran Färm, Neena Gill, Jutta D. Haug, Anne Elisabet Jensen, Wilfried Kuckelkorn, Armin Laschet, Juan Andrés Naranjo Escobar, Bartho Pronk (for Den Dover), Giacomo Santini (for Giuseppe Pisicchio), Kyösti Tapio Virrankoski and Ralf Walter.

SHORT JUSTIFICATION

In compelling the Commission to dismantle the Technical Assistance Offices (TAO), Parliament at no time sought to deprive the Commission of the human resources it needs to implement Community policies as soon as transparency has been ensured.

Following the dismantling of the TAOs, then, the Commission has introduced a twin-track process of internalisation and externalisation. Auxiliary staff are an important internal resource. This regulation seeks to extend the duration of their contracts from one year to three years.

The draftsman can but endorse the Commission's move to replace service contracts concluded with TAOs by contracts with auxiliary staff, which ought to guarantee that public authority tasks are kept within the Commission. She also backs the Commission's call for the duration of contracts to be extended, which requires revision of the Regulation in force.

However, she calls for the duration of contracts to be the same as the duration of the programmes for which these auxiliaries are recruited and for the financial statements for those programmes to specify clearly the use made of auxiliary staff (number, duration of contracts). Establishing a link between the two provides a twin benefit: that of ensuring programme management continuity and of forcing the Commission to be more rigorous in human resources management.

Over the last few years, Parliament has endeavoured to control the institutions' use of auxiliary staff. More recently, in the context of the 2002 budgetary procedure, it has called on the Commission to take the necessary measures to reduce absenteeism (in particular absences because of sickness). The draftsman therefore wants to take advantage of the process of amending the Regulation to incorporate this aspect, which, to her mind, is very important for the European public service's image.

For that reason, she urges the Commission to take account of her amendments to the proposal for a regulation.

AMENDMENTS

The Committee on Budgets calls on the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following amendments in its report:

Text proposed by the Commission[1]	Amendment by Parliament
Amendment 1 Recital 1
In all the institutions auxiliary staff are an indispensable tool providing rapid access to human resources, *particularly to replace* staff temporarily unable to carry out their duties (Article 3(b) of the CEOS)*. They may also perform* specific short-term tasks in accordance with the high standards laid down in the Staff Regulations. Auxiliary staff complement permanent officials in highly specialised areas where the expertise needed is not otherwise available.	In all the institutions auxiliary staff are an indispensable tool providing rapid access to human resources. However, a distinction should be made between auxiliary staff replacing, in particular, staff temporarily unable to carry out their duties (Article 3(b) of the CEOS)*, and those performing* specific short-term tasks in accordance with the high standards laid down in the Staff Regulations. Auxiliary staff complement permanent officials in highly specialised areas where the expertise needed is not otherwise available, particularly for the implementation of Community programmes.
Justification Following the dismantling of the Technical Assistance Offices (TAO), the Commission has embarked on a process of internalising public authority tasks for which it has to recruit auxiliary staff to assist officials with programme management.
Amendment 2 Article 1, paragraph 2
Article 52(b) is replaced by the following: *“three years, in all other cases”*.	Article 52(b) is replaced by the following: *“six months for contracts linked to programmes (programme auxiliaries); the duration may be extended if implementation continuity so requires.* *For the replacement of staff temporarily unable to perform their duties, contract duration may not exceed one year.”*.
Justification In the context of internalisation of tasks stemming from the dismantling of TAOs, Parliament has clearly stressed the need to link the contracts of servants brought in house to the programmes for which they are recruited, so as to ensure management continuity. There should also be a limit on the recruitment of auxiliaries to make up for absenteeism on the part of officials.
Amendment 3 Article 1, paragraph 2 a (new)
	The following Article 52(b)a is inserted: ‘Each programme giving rise to auxiliary contracts shall be accompanied by a financial statement indicating the number and duration of contracts concluded for the programme’.
Justification For reasons of budget transparency and, in particular, with a view to the introduction of activity-based budgeting (ABB), the Commission must specify the number and duration of contracts concluded for implementation of the programmes, thus allowing their overall cost to be assessed.

[1] OJ C (not yet published).

OPINION OF THE COMMITTEE ON BUDGETARY CONTROL

21 November 2001

for the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market

(COM(2001) 253 – C5‑0249/2001 – 2001/0104(CNS))

Draftsman: Jean-Louis Bourlanges

PROCEDURE

The Committee on Budgetary Control appointed Jean-Louis Bourlanges draftsman at its meeting of 10 July 2001.

It considered the draft opinion at its meetings of 6 and 21 November 2001.

At the latter meeting it adopted the following amendments unanimously.

The following were present for the vote: Diemut R. Theato, chairman; Herbert Bösch, vice-chairman; Jean-Louis Bourlanges, draftsman; Paulo Casaca (for Helmut Kuhne), Gianfranco Dell'Alba, Michiel van Hulten, John Joseph McCartin (for Christopher Heaton-Harris), Jan Mulder (for Lousewies van der Laan), Heide Rühle (for Bart Staes), Francisca Sauquillo Pérez del Arco (for Eluned Morgan), Michel Ange Scarbonchi and Gabriele Stauner.

SHORT JUSTIFICATION

More effective use of the human resources represented by auxiliary staff is a development which fits into the general context of the Commission reforms. The current Staff Regulations, under which the maximum period for which auxiliary staff may be employed is limited to one year, has drawbacks in terms of both continuity of services and the 'attractiveness' of such employment if highly qualified staff are needed. The purpose of the amendment of the current regulation is thus to increase the maximum length of contracts to three years.

'Auxiliary staff' means (see CEOS [Conditions of Employment of Other Servants], Article 3(a)) staff engaged, within the limits set in Article 52, for the performance of full-time or part-time duties in an institution but not assigned to a post included in the list of posts appended to the section of the budget relating to that institution, or (Article 3(b)) engaged as interim replacements.

The Commission stresses that this amendment of the regulation is a transitional measure to deal with urgent needs, pending a more general amendment of the CEOS. The Commission, in fact, needs to engage staff to carry out, internally, duties hitherto performed by the Technical Assistance Offices (TAOs), as requested by the European Parliament; it should be recalled that authorisation has been given by the budgetary authority to use part B (operational funds) to finance the additional staff needed to integrate the TAOs, and at present part B may be used only for auxiliary staff contracts.

It should be pointed out at this juncture that the auxiliary staff working for the institutions are recruited, in practice, on the basis of fixed-term contracts which do not comply with the national legislation where such staff are engaged. The more general revision of the CEOS should provide an opportunity to ensure compliance by the European Communities with the employment conditions that they require of the Member States.

In its explanatory memorandum the Commission states that in the context of the reform of the management of its external assistance programmes, which includes phasing out a large number of TAOs and the integration of the tasks carried out by these offices into the Commission services, it must be possible to recruit external staff able to perform tasks related to the execution of Community policies independently of the various models of externalisation that may become operational. In doing so is it not, however, in the process of regulating the increased use of a substantial body of workers which will necessarily be cheap in order to keep within budget limits? The TAOs are to be phased out by 2002. It is legitimate to wonder what will happen thereafter to the staff who have thus been 'internalised'.

In addition, if the Commission intends to replace the different types of non-established staff, including the current auxiliary staff, by 'contract staff' engaged for six years, how does it propose to organise any 'move' from one category to another?

A certain amount of clarification on the part of the Commission is required with regard to the types of non-permanent staff, their terms of recruitment and the nature and length of their contracts. Parliament therefore encourages the Commission to put forward, at the earliest opportunity, its proposals for the more general revision of the rules applicable to non-established staff, with due regard for the relevant national legislation.

This also explains why Parliament wants the amended regulation to apply for not more than three years after it enters into force.