Commission bids to boost staff numbers

Date: 08/07/1999

By Rory Watson
THE European Commission will reverse its recent policy of zero growth in staff numbers next week when it tries to persuade EU governments to agree to the creation of 150 new administrative posts.

The request is, however, expected to run into strong opposition from both member states and the European Parliament. They want to wait and see the shape of internal reforms introduced by the incoming Commission President Romano Prodi before sanctioning any increase in staff.

Underlying the Commission's request is the fact the recent expansion in its responsibilities has not been matched by a corresponding increase in personnel.

But the Commission is hamstrung by not being able to tell EU budget ministers meeting in Brussels next Friday (16 July) with any certainty where the new posts should go, although many would be used to strengthen internal accounting and management procedures. That detail will have to wait until Prodi takes office in the early autumn. "They have to explain why they need the posts and where they would go and that is more the task of the new Commission than this one," explained one official.