Shuffle sees top Eurocrats lose jobs-for-life status

Date: 24/01/02

By Martin Banks

THE biggest staff shake-up in European Commission history was announced last night - a result of Vice-President Neil Kinnock's bid to end the jobs-for-life culture amongst senior Eurocrats.

Up to 20 of the highest-paid Commission mandarins will be shuffled as part of rules stipulating that none should keep the same job for more than seven years - although the A1 and A2 officials would still be able to apply for corresponding jobs in other departments.

The move is seen as a huge shock to the system for the fonctionnaires - some of whom are paid in excess of 160,000 euro-a-year and have been in the same jobs for 15 years.

Among those affected are Germany's Competition Director-General (DG) Alexander Schaub and British Internal Market DG John Mogg. Also moving are Spaniard Vicente Parajon Collada, in his current post as deputy DG for information society since 1986, and David Roberts, another Briton and deputy DG for agriculture for more than 12 years.

However, no officials will be out on the streets: those retiring early will enjoy pensions of as much as 97,000 euro-a-year, while those staying on will be shuffled into jobs commanding the same pay and conditions as before.

The changes are partly aimed at breaking up the traditional 'national fiefdoms' which have been the hallmark of the Commission's senior posts for more than 40 years.

Announcing the changes yesterday, Commission President Romano Prodi said: 'We want people to know that they will no longer get a job in the Commission simply because they are English or Italian or whatever.

'We want to introduce a system whereby merit and creativity are rewarded and staff can realise their full potential.'

Kinnock said: 'Merit must have primacy. While we will strive to have senior managers of all EU nationalities in this multinational institution we are not prepared to run a Eurovision song contest for which country holds the greatest number of posts.'

Under the first changes, six directors-general and six deputy DGs will move from their current posts by the end of this year. Also, the posts of five deputy DGs, which are deemed unnecessary, will be abolished.

Two new deputy DG posts will be created, at External Relations and Competition, to reflect the growing importance of both departments.

A Commission insider said Prodi and Kinnock resisted heavy lobbying, particularly from Germany but also other member states, to tone down the scale of the changes.

'Naturally, EU governments like to think that they have as many of their nation's top civil servants in top Commission jobs as possible,' the source said.

'But that sort of culture is vanishing: there will be no more national fiefdoms.'

The shake-up had its start in 1999, when Kinnock set a target of changing by the end of this year all senior staff who have held the same job for seven years. Two-thirds of top officials have changed jobs since.

The latest changes, which are due to take place over the next three months, affect all the remaining staff, leading to an unprecedented infusion of new blood in the Commission's bureaucracy.

Danish deputy Freddy Blak said: 'This is great news. Some of these civil servants have been in the same jobs for far too long. We are equipping the Commission to deliver in the 21st century.'

His compatriot, Jens-Peter Bonde, also welcomed news of the shuffle.

But he added: 'It's only six plus six and they haven't got rid of all the kingdoms yet - the French kingdoms, the British kingdoms, the Italian kingdoms.'

• The six directors-general who are being shuffled are: Yves Franchet (DG at Eurostat, the EU's statistical office since November 1987); Jean-Paul Mingasson (Budget since June 1989); Alexander Schaub (Competition since May 1995); John Mogg (Internal Market since May 1993); Robert Verrue (Information Society since December 1995) and Michel Vanden Abeele (Tax and Customs, since November 1997).

The six deputy DGs are: Ubaldo Zito (Administration and Personnel, June 1990); Vicente Parajon Collada (Information Society, September 1986); Jörn Keck (Enterprise, September 1999); David Roberts (Agriculture, February 1990); Athanassios Theodorakis (Development, December 1995) and Gianfranco Rocca (Competition, Aug.1996).

The biggest staff shake-up in European Commission history was announced on 23 January 2002, as a result of Vice-President Neil Kinnock's bid to end the jobs-for-life culture amongst senior Eurocrats.