Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2002)136-2 - Special measures to terminate the service of officials of the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU

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dossier COM(2002)136-2 - Special measures to terminate the service of officials of the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU.
source COM(2002)136 EN
date 20-03-2002
The development of the European Union since the Treaty of Maastricht has extended the scope of the Council's activities. It has also led to the creation of specific structures and procedures for implementing the Common European Security and Defence Policy. These changes have increased and reinforced the General Secretariat's tasks, which go beyond those of a Conference Secretariat.

In a note to the permanent representatives dated 18 April 2001, the General Secretariat of the Council set out the adjustment process to be undertaken and the means for achieving it.

In the field of staff policy, as part of the elaboration of an overall strategy for modernising methods and working tools, increasing motivation, providing further training and planning human-resources needs and career prospects, mobility policy and training and information policy will become even more priority actions.

The ongoing acquisition of the most effective new technology, the restructuring of departments, the growth and diversification of the Secretariat's tasks and duties, developments in working methods, the advisability of restoring the balance in the establishment plan and the very wide use of redeployment are all factors which require the Secretariat's human resources to make a constant endeavour to adapt and undergo professional (re)training. However, there are inevitably limits to this process. Some staff are no longer able to successfully acquire the additional and/or more suitable skills needed to perform the new duties and tasks.

The Secretariat therefore considers it necessary to take measures to terminate the service of officials, as put forward in a Commission proposal which is applicable to the Commission's own departments and is currently under examination by the Council bodies. The terms applicable to the termination of service for officials of the Council's General Secretariat will be identical to those applicable to the Commission's staff, and will comply with the principle of budget neutrality.

The number of staff to whom the scheme would apply has been estimated by the General Secretariat of the Council at 94 spread over a period of three years. The purpose of this proposal is therefore to authorise a termination-of-service scheme for 94 officials of the General Secretariat of the Council (12 As, 22 LAs, 8 Bs, 44 Cs, and 8 Ds) between 2002 and 2004

Provided the impact on the budget is neutral, the savings generated by the scheme (the difference between the cost of total remuneration and the cost of the termination-of-service allowance) should allow around 46 new officials to be recruited.