Commission staff left out in cold by shortage of seats at meetings

Date: 26/06/03

By Karen Carstens

EUROPEAN Commission spokespeople are complaining that new rules reducing the number of seats available to the Commission during Council of Ministers sessions prevent them from doing their jobs.

On several occasions, spokespeople have not been allowed into meeting rooms, on the grounds that there were no places available for them.

Loyola de Palacio publicly grumbled about a sudden shortage of space available for Commission staff.

The transport and energy commissioner raised a ruckus at a mid-May Council meeting in Brussels, and again at a gathering of transport ministers in Luxembourg earlier this month, when she was told she could not bring her usual entourage along.

She got her way, in the end, even though the meeting was delayed by 45 minutes as a result.

The trouble began shortly after Easter, when new rules concocted by the Council's secretariat came into effect.

These cut the number of seats available to Commission staff at Council meetings from six to three - part of a set of cutbacks intended to streamline seating arrangements ahead of the EU's enlargement next year from 15 to 25.

Several Commission spokespeople, however, have complained that they have been left out in the cold as a result, as their commissioners have had to leave them behind.

"These new rules are preventing me from doing my job," said one spokesman, who preferred to remain anonymous. "How can I brief journalists if I was not present myself?" A fellow Commission spokeswoman branded the move a clear "power-play" on the part of the Council.

"Everyone has their own personal "chaos story"," she added, referring to tales being swapped among increasingly "stressed out" spokespeople struggling to do their jobs based on "second-hand briefings".

"It just makes your job a lot more difficult and time-consuming," she said, adding that, at a recent Council hearing she was able to attend, she was forced to share a headset with a neighbour.

Moreover, there are empty seats available, leading many spokespeople to wonder if they really must be frozen out of the proceedings.

Reijo Kemppinen, the chief Commission spokesman, points out, however, that the changes not only affect porte paroles from the EU executive.

"As far as spokespeople are concerned, the new limitations have hurt everyone equally - the Commission, the Council and the member states," said the Finn. "We are working with the Council secretariat to come to a solution on this," he added.

"I don't see that the walls of the Council [meeting rooms] are packed, so there must be some way to find a solution."

Council spokespeople have said that they, too, have been affected by the cutbacks - only one of them is now allowed into any Council meeting at any time.

But it has been pointed out that there are listening rooms available to EU officials for many of the Council meetings.

Still, until all Council proceedings are made available on closed-circuit television, most spokespeople would rather be allowed to partake directly in the proceedings.

The seats for Council members have also been halved, one official said, with three available for the secretariat and three for the rotating presidency.

"Everyone had to make a sacrifice," he said. "But it's a necessary development."

Under new rules introduced by the Council's secretariat, European Commission spokespeople have found they are not allowed to attend Council meetings because there are no places available for them. The new rules are intended to make things easier when the new Member States join in 2004.