Kinnock staff reforms ‘not working’ claim unions

By Peter Chapman

Date: 20/11/03

UNIONS representing officials in the European Commission have delivered a damning appraisal of Neil Kinnock's "morale-sapping" system for reviewing staff performance, a year after it was unveiled.

The Career Development Review (CDR) was meant to improve and structure the methods used to assess staff,in order to determine who should move up the Commission career ladder.

Under the system, officials are graded by their line managers according to a points-for-performance scale. Unlike the previous regime, where staff would often be left in the dark as to why they were overlooked for promotion, career progress is directly linked to the number of points they amass.

However, staff unions have this week sent a series of open letters to Kinnock, highlighting what they regard as serious flaws in the new system. They claim it has resulted in a "dog eat dog" atmosphere, which only serves the needs of a "few pseudo high- flyers", as the Fédération de la Fonction Publique Européene (FFPE) put it. Moreover, the unions claim the system encourages favouritism in assessments of members of commissioners' cabinets. Many, it is claimed, systematically receive higher marks in appraisals and thus find it easier to find top jobs elsewhere when they move.

The "leg-up" for cabinet stars is critical this year, because next year's Commission changeover will lead to an enforced exodus from their ranks.

Jean-Louis Blanc, chairman of the Commission section of the FFPE, told European Voice that the sort of system put in place by Kinnock was ditched by the private sector decades ago.

"Our main concern is demoralization. They tried it 30 years ago in the US and it totally failed in companies."

In a statement sent to the Commission vice-president, the FFPE argues that the new system results in "an excessive and disproportionate workload" and does not permit harmonization among directorates because the evaluation criterion differs in each.

Another staff body, the Syndicat des Fontionnaires Internationaux et Européens, has described the system as "Machiavellian", adding that "super officials" in cabinets have "all the advantages" while merely "good" officials in the directorates "are taken for a ride".

In its letter to Kinnock, it claims that a general instruction has been issued to ensure that only the former can obtain marks over 17 [out of 20] while the latter will get 14 at best. "You have accepted that the staff of the cabinets have the right to distort the system from the outset," they write.

However, Brendan Ryan, vice-president of the Brussels section of Union Syndicale, defended CDR, claiming it is far better than the system it replaced.

But he admitted it was "clear the cabinets are manipulating the system to obtain a maximum number of promotions before the end of the Commission."

Kinnock's spokesman Michael Mann defended the new rules, saying: "CDR provides a fair assessment of performance and allows the Commission to pursue its aim of promotion on merit."

The Career Development Review (CDR), a system for reviewing performance of staff in the European Commission, was introduced by Neil Kinnock, Vice-President of the Commission, in 2002. Trade unions are unhappy about the system and claim it encourages favouritism in assessments of members of Commissioners' cabinets.