Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2001)253 - Amendment of Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 laying down the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the EC

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dossier COM(2001)253 - Amendment of Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 laying down the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of ...
source COM(2001)253 EN
date 17-05-2001
The White Paper 'Reforming the Commission' called for an examination of the need to amend the Staff Regulations with regard to externalisation and for a reform of the use of non-permanent staff in the Commission. The White Paper considers that the current Staff Regulations significantly hamper the flexible, simple and cost-effective use of non-permanent staff and calls for a comprehensive reform to address this issue. This reform will be the subject of a consultative document from the Commission to be published shortly. Following the required statutory consultations, this draft proposal will be finalised and included in the global proposal for a revision of the Staff Regulations which the Commission intends to table in December 2001 to implement the Reform. This proposal for a targeted fast-track amendment of the rules on non-permanent staff should, therefore, be seen as a bridging measure to deal with urgent needs pending a more general amendment of these rules. This proposal is without prejudice to any future amendments of the Staff Regulations or conditions of employment of non-permanent staff.

Auxiliary staff perform specific, short-term tasks in all institutions in accordance with the high standards laid down in the Staff Regulations. Auxiliary staff are therefore, an indispensable tool providing the institutions with rapid access to human resources. However, the effective use of such staff is hampered by their maximum authorised period of employment, which is limited to one year under the Staff Regulations. This period is too short to guarantee continuity of services, to make the required induction a worthwhile investment and to provide the staff in question with reasonable contractual stability. Moreover, the short duration of the contract also makes it more difficult to attract highly qualified staff in increasingly competitive labour markets. Naturally, an extension of the maximum duration of auxiliary contracts would require further reflection on mechanisms for this category of staff.

The Communication of 26 July 2000 "Matching the Commission's activities with its human resources" included initiatives aimed at using existing resources better through productivity gains and externalisation of certain tasks. To support these measures, the Commission called for an extension of the financing of non-permanent staff from Part B of the budget and thus an increase in the number of non-permanent staff in order to replace certain Technical Assistance Offices. The Commission is also drafting a proposal for the recasting of the Financial Regulation which, in the context of activity-based budgeting, would include the abolition of the formal distinction between parts A and B of the budget.

Finally, the Commission has embarked on an ambitious reform of the management of its external assistance programmes. The reform would include phasing out a large number of Technical Assistance Offices during 2001 and 2002 and integration of the tasks carried out by these Offices into the Commission services (Europe-Aid) pending the adoption of a final decision in this field.

In this context it must be possible to recruit non-permanent staff with relevant experience and on the basis of appropriate employment conditions in order to meet the following objectives:

* 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.

It is planned to use Part B of the budget to finance at least some of the required additional non-permanent staff. Since such staff must be subject to the high professional standards laid down in the Staff Regulations, auxiliary staff must be used. This is the only category of non-permanent staff that is bound by these rules and can be financed from Part B of the budget.

However, the Staff Regulations limit auxiliary contracts to a maximum of 12 months. This is a major constraint on proper cost-effective use of this category of staff. Therefore, in order to improve the use of auxiliary staff, it is proposed that the maximum authorised period of employment for auxiliary staff be extended to three years.

This should be achieved by amending Article 52(b) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants. In making this proposal, the Commission can build on the discussions it launched in 1997 on a draft proposal amending the Staff Regulations in order to extend the maximum duration allowed for auxiliary staff in all grades to three years. The proposal was not adopted at that time due to the reluctance in the Staff Regulations Committee which emerged during a general discussion on the use of non-permanent staff. Nevertheless, one of the recommendations of the November 1998 Williamson Report was in fact that the proposal for three-year auxiliary contracts should be relaunched. The importance of this proposal is now underlined by the need to start phasing out a large number of Technical Assistance Offices during 2001 and 2002. Given the transitional nature of this provision, it will be re-examined in the light of future amendments to the CEOS before the end of 2005.