EU STAFF REGULATIONS : CIVIL SERVANTS CHALLENGE COMMISSION'S FORMAL REFORM PROPOSALS.

• Position: Brief article

A day after the European Commission adopted its proposals to reform the staff regulations, EU civil servant trade unions met in front of the Berlaymont building in Brussels to protest against them, on 14 December 2011. This formal step by the EU executive kicks off the negotiations between Council and Parliament toward an agreement.

The consultations of the Central Staff Committee and the Regulations Committee have resulted in minor technical changes only. The proposals, as okayed by the College, seek to save 1 billion by 2020. The central plank of the proposal is a reduction by 5% of staff in all institutions over the 2013-2017 period. Other suggestions include increasing the retirement age, pushing weekly working hours up from 37.5 to 40 without any salary compensation, hiking up the special solidarity levy and modifying the Method' used for annual adjustments to salaries and pensions.

"The trade unions and staff of the European institutions accept the Commission's idea of saving a billion euro in staffing...