COMMISSION : BARROSO I BACK TO WORK AS NEXT TEAM GETS READY.

PositionConference news

Several important meetings are on the agenda in the next few days for the Barroso I Commission, which is still in office but operating strictly in caretaker mode, and the future Barroso II Commission, which will probably be sworn into office in February.

The first meeting of the current Commission will be held on 6 January. Its agenda includes a proposal for the EU position for the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, to be held from 13 to 25 March in Doha (Qatar), and the question of the salary increase for civil servants and contract staff of the EU institutions.

On the latter item, Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Vice-President for Administration Siim Kallas will propose to fellow commissioners to initiate an action for annulment before the Court of Justice in Luxembourg. The executive disputes the Council decision of 23 December limiting the increase to 1.85%, instead of the 3.7% rise proposed by the Commission based on the method adopted in 2004 by the member states. The method calculates the salary increase on the evolution of salaries in the civil service in eight member states the previous year as well as the cost of living in Brussels. The trade unions representing officials of the different institutions could give notice of strike for mid-January, precisely when the hearings of the new commissioners are scheduled.

MEETING OF THREE PRESIDENTS

The second important meeting is the seminar' organised...

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