SHARP RAISE IN CIVIL SERVANTS' SALARIES.

The Council of Ministers of the European Union backed a nominal net raise of 3.7% for the salaries of EU civil servants working in Brussels and Luxembourg with a retroactive effect from July 1. One reason for this is the cost of life in Brussels, which has increased by 3.1%, and the other is the mean raise of 0.6% in the 15 administrations, both parameters having been taken into account by the annual income adaptation "method". This "method", which was devised in 1991, is to no longer be used after June 30, 2002, and it looks very likely that its replacement will undergo very tough negotiations. Indeed, this...