Liikanen moves to inject flexibility into staff policy

Date: 27/06/1996

PERSONNEL Commissioner Erkki Liikanen is trying to breathe new life into plans to overhaul the institution's staffing policy.

As the final pieces of his programme to introduce a consistent internal financial management system into the Commission begin to fall into place, Liikanen has begun taking soundings among staff representatives on ways of improving existing personnel policy.

One idea being explored is the operation of a two-category system under which core jobs would be filled by fully-fledged fonctionnaires and less-demanding functions would be handled by outside staff without the status of EU civil servants.

The Commissioner is understood to be keen on giving a new sense of purpose to secretarial staff, possibly by organising special training courses for them and upgrading their tasks.

The attempt to introduce greater flexibility into the rigid structure, which now includes four different grades of officials, is also expected to include a more conscious effort to move staff between different directorates-general both to broaden their experience and to respond to changing demands.

As the debate over the wisdom and scale of changing existing personnel regulations develops, staff unions are likely to make their views known and to insist that any reforms must strengthen and guarantee the independence of the European civil service.

“There will be pressure to stop political appointments for senior posts, to end the practice of officials from cabinets or national administrations parachuting into top jobs and to outlaw the tendency of placing national flags on key jobs,” forecasted one official.

But while Liikanen is trying to ease the rigidity of the institution's staffing policy, he appears to be backing away from earlier moves to overhaul disciplinary procedures.

Despite widespread criticism that the present arrangements are too lengthy and complicated and give rise to inconsistencies in the penalties applied, attempts to reform them have met a wall of opposition.

“We cannot continue with such complex procedures, but you must choose the right moment to push certain ideas. These are now on the table and will not be taken off,” confirmed one senior official.

Liikanen is hoping that the increased emphasis being placed on accountability and transparency in the new financial management policy will ensure high standards of staff performance, thus reducing the need for such procedures.