Kinnock to tackle staff shortages in key areas

Date: 13/07/2000

By Simon Taylor

EUROPEAN Commission Vice-President Neil Kinnock is planning a major reshuffle of the institution's personnel in a bid to tackle understaffing in key departments.

He is also set to launch a radical early retirement package which will offer long-serving Commission staff the chance to leave the administration without losing major pension benefits.

In the next two weeks, Kinnock will announce a plan to redeploy up to 600 staff to 'priority' areas. The reshuffle follows a 'peer review exercise' under which Commission departments were asked to assess the impact of a 5-15% reduction in staffing levels on their ability to perform their core tasks.

The results of the exercise have been inconclusive so far, with many directors-general reluctant to admit that they can cope with their workload with fewer staff. But Kinnock's aides argue that once the Commission has redeployed such a large number of staff, it will be in a stronger position to ask EU governments and MEPs for more resources to fulfil its responsibilities.

They add that the process of reassigning officials will be carried out in closer consultation with staff to avoid the problems which arose during the last major redeployment in September 1999, when large numbers of officials spent a long time in limbo before being moved to new posts.

The staff unions have, however, expressed surprise that Kinnock is preparing to table plans to move personnel at this stage, instead of using the exercise to highlight shortages within the administration. "Why didn't the Commission start by saying here are our priorities, here is where there is a need for extra staff? We are still waiting for the Commission to say what our core tasks are going to be," said one union representative, referring to the parallel study being carried out into what responsibilities must remain with the Commission and which could be handed back to member states.

The decision to embark on a major staff reshuffle comes on top of this week's announcement that up to 250 officials will change jobs as part of plans to decentralise financial control within the Commission. The officials are being moved into individual directorates-general to take responsibility for ensuring that proper financial and budgeting procedures are followed.

Departments with the largest budgets will receive the biggest number of new staff. The Common Service for External Relations will gain around 16 officials, closely followed by the enlargement, agriculture and regional development directorates-general.

Officials say Kinnock is also considering introducing a one-off early retirement scheme for Commission staff. At the moment, many officials who would like to retire early are discouraged from doing so because their final pensions are based on their length of service. The voluntary scheme would allow staff to leave the administration early while minimising the impact of this on their retirement benefits.

In a separate move, Kinnock is said to be considering delaying a decision on whether to appoint an external figure to head the internal staff disciplinary board. Two of the biggest unions, Union Syndicale and the European Public Service Federation (FFPE), are strongly opposed to the idea, arguing that it would deny officials the fundamental right to be tried by their peers and describing it the "first real attack on the staff regulations".

European Commission Vice-President Neil Kinnock is planning a major reshuffle of the institution's personnel in a bid to tackle understaffing in key departments.