COUNCIL OF MINISTERS: ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS OF ENLARGEMENT PUT STRAIN ON PROVISIONAL BUDGET.

• Position: Brief Article

The pressure on Heading 5 became apparent in November through a report from the Institutions' Secretaries General (see European Report 2638, same Section for further details) though both the Council and the Parliament have already challenged the European Commission's proposal to use the Flexibility Instrument to address the inevitable budgetary shortfall. The report from the Council's General Secretariat should encourage the Council itself to take a cautious view. Several parameters should be taken into account aside from the specific constraints of enlargement, notably the integration of the Schengen Secretariat, the establishment of a headquarters for European security and defence policy, the decision taken in Nice in December 2000 to hold European Councils meetings in Brussels, and the revision of the Statute for European public office.General working hypotheses.Working on the principle that ten new Member States will join the Union from January 1, 2004, it will be necessary to ensure that acts of accession, associated texts on primary EU law and the acquis communautaire are translated and revised within given deadlines. Preparatory work is due to begin at least eighteen months prior to the date set for accession, i.e. by this summer at the latest. Efforts will therefore need to be made from 2003, with requests for 288 posts included in the preliminary draft budget, notably within linguistic services, in order to guarantee respect for multilingualism. These first posts will be followed in 2004 by an anticipated further 386.However, the Council's General Secretariat argues that this overall increase of 674 posts will only be possible if certain principles are respected. First, the creation of posts should focus solely on those required for new functions stemming from enlargement, for example, translators, secretaries, legal-linguistic experts, legal experts with the Legal Service, administrative staff responsible for personnel management, IT staff, officials responsible for the smooth running of meetings, security staff, etc. Second, recruitment on a geographic basis of nationals from the new Member States, notably in respect of A grade posts, should only be done gradually. Third, documents should only be translated into the new official languages. Finally, during the period preceding and following accession, further use should be made of trainees from the candidate countries' administrations.European Recruitment Office.The European...