EUROPEAN COMMISSION: NEIL KINNOCK OPENS DEBATE ON EXTENDING RETIREMENT AGE.

The proceedings in the Council working group dealing with staff regulations have already given rise to a string of technical compromises for the entitlements and obligations of European civil servants, working conditions(part time working, parental leave, equal opportunities for women and men, for example) and the disciplinary procedure. A general agreement has also been worked out on the new career structure, apart from on the minimum guaranteed rate of promotions. Even if the Commission's new idea that the staff regulations should include the pay adjustment system is acceptable to most of the delegations they are all still refusing to separate supplementary allowances, such as the expatriation one, from the general issue of staff income and therefore the cost of the reform.

The Council's main concerns are centred on the reform of the pension system. The cost to the EU Budget of civil servants' pensions has risen by 30% over three years: from Euro 564 to 736 million between 2000 and 2003, and could reach 1.46 billion by 2020 if there is no radical change to the current set-up, something which the Commission did not propose in its initial reform package. It only advocated closer monitoring to see if the scheme was in actuarial balance and possible adjustments to contributions and other elements accordingly. Bowing to pressure from the Council, Mr Kinnock in the end agreed to...