Kinnock rebuffs criticism of reform plan

Date: 24/02/2000

By Simon Taylor

EUROPEAN Commission Vice-President Neil Kinnock is planning to forge ahead with his blueprint for reforming the institution, despite fierce criticism from staff unions and the reservations expressed by some member states.

The Commissioner says he will not make any major changes to his proposals in the White Paper on administrative reform due to be published next Wednesday (1 March), following lengthy consultations with MEPs, officials' representatives and EU governments.

"The responses have not said you should scrap this or that part of the reform. That is evidence of the general acceptance of the thrust of the reform," he insisted in an interview with European Voice.

Kinnock said he had no intention of abandoning his call for a more decentralised system of financial controls, dismissing fears that this could result in less stringent checks being made on spending decisions. "Decentralisation does not mean relaxation," he insisted. "Controls will be strengthened through a decentralised system and backed up with the new internal audit service."

The Commissioner argues that most of the criticisms of his plans stem from a lack of understanding of precisely how the changes would work in practice. Next week's paper will therefore focus on explaining more fully the implications of his reform ideas, especially on personnel issues such as recruitment and plans for a new, more open career structure.

However, Kinnock confirmed that EU governments were intent on reviewing officials' pay and pensions at the same time as the other administrative changes, despite his call for this debate to be postponed until after the key elements of his reform programme have been introduced.

This has prompted an angry response from staff unions, who say Kinnock's failure to secure a pledge from member states to protect officials' pay and pensions has fuelled concern among Commission employees. "Officials are really worried about the Kinnock package; 79% of people do not believe his undertaking that their salaries will not be touched," said Loek Rijnhoudt, head of the European Civil Servants' Federation (FFPE).

Kinnock's claim that his reform plan is winning broad support coincided with the strongest attack yet on the proposals by the Commission's six staff unions, who issued a joint statement last week arguing that the consultation paper and action plan "lacked vision" and "were based on superficial and loose analyses". They also called for adoption of the White Paper by the Commission to be delayed - a call rejected by Kinnock.

But he revealed that he was planning to revise his proposal for a lightweight framework statute which would have allowed each EU institution to draw up its own rules for officials, amid concern that this would "inhibit mobility" between Union bodies.

European Commission Vice-President Neil Kinnock is planning to forge ahead with his blueprint for reforming the institution, despite fierce criticism from staff unions and the reservations expressed by some Member States.