ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(79)627
Vol.1979/0211

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM (79)627Final
Brussels .14thNovember 1979
WORK CONCERNING EXTERNAL REPRESENTATION
(Commission information memo )
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COM (79)627Final

COMMISSION -
AlTHE wiumimmr
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
WORK CONCERNING EXTERNAL REPRESENTATION
(Commission information mémo )
■j-i-' - -
1.Initsconclusions of25September 1978 concerning external
representation ,theCouncil invited theCommission Mtosubmit anannual
report totheCouncil onitsmedium-term -plans "(seepoint 5ofthe
Council 'sconclusion *). Itwasunderstood that ,generally speaking ,
these reports shou$d'"be conducive toapermanent two-way discussion
forthepurpose off-
enBv ing effective coordination between theCouncil andthe
Comr ission with regard toexternal representation ;
examining howcooperation "between theCommission 'sexternal
off cesandthediplomatic missions oftheMember States could he
improved andgreater complementarity achieved intheperformance
ofCommunity tasks ;
examining what progress theCommission hasmade inthe coordination
efforts referred toinpoint 6oftheabovamentioned conclusions *
2.Initscommunication of1June 1979 (7383/79 327.J0,the
Commission informed theCouncil concerning itscurrent plans forthe
opening ofnewdelegations in1980 ,namely onedelegation inAustralia
(Canberra )andoneinYugoslavia (Belgrade ).TheCommission has ,
therefore ,complied with therequest contained inthefirst paragraph
ofpoint 5oftheCouncil conclusions referred toabove ;Apart from
theplans mentioned ,theCommission hasnot ,atthis stage ,taken any
other decisions with regard toitsfuture network ofexternal representation .
Examination ofthematter will have toberesumed bytheCommission
early next year ,intheframework ofthepreparation ofthePreliminary
Draft Budget for1981.Further information concerning this
re-examination will begiven attheappropriate time .
3.TheCommission wishes' tocommunicate the additional information
setoutbelow ;itconcerns developments since theCouncil conclusions
ofSeptember 1978 andrelates onthe onehand tocooperation "between
theCommission 'sexternal representations andthediplomatic missions
oftheMember States (seepoint 4"below ),and.ontheother ,toefforts
Provisionataddress:RuedelaLoi200,B-1Q40BrusseU_r*.,TelepHaRe.350040-35 8040*,.TeLefliopbicwOiidres-i^CQMEUR Bwssels»-
•T«J«)MOOM£'UBBRU 2)877.

tocoordinatetheoperatingconditionsandadministrative procedures
oftheCommission'svariousexternalrepresentations (seepoint5
"below).
%4*Thenewproceduresadopted "bytheCouncil,addressedtotheMemberStates'commercialcounsellorsinnon-enembercountriesandconcerning
informationfortheembassiesoftheNineondecisionstaken"bythe
Communityauthorities ,haveresultedinteraliaingreater
complementarity betweentheactivitiesoftheCommission'sexternal
delegations andthediplomaticmissionsoftheMemberStates*
(a)On5February1979"theCouncilapprovednewdirectivestobe
giventotheMemberStates'commercialcounsellors servingin
non-member countries.Theaimofthesedirectivesisto
rationalizeth$drawingupofthejointreportsandtoassign
tothemanincreasingly importantrole,fromthestandpoint
bothoftheCod&iissionandoftheMemberStates*The
directivesalso;referspecifically toparticipation bythe
Commission'sexternaldelegationsintheworkofthecommercial
counsellors ,therebyendorsinginanofficialtextadefacto
situationthathasgrownupovertheyears0Theexternal
delegations ,actingoninstructions fromCommissionheadquarters ,
keeptheMemberStates'diplomaticmissionsinthehostcountry
closelyinformedconcerningCommunityactivitiesinthefield
ofexternalcommercialandeconomicpolicy,notablywithregard
toschemesandmeasureswhichthedelegationsarecalledupon
toimplementaspartoftheexerciseoftheCommission'sown
responsibilities intheareaconcerned *Therecentexampleof
thepassageintoAmericanlegislation oftheresultsofthe
TokyoRcrandmultilateral tradenegotiations andtheefforts
undertakeninthiscontextbytheCommission 4sdepartments
perfectlyillustratethemajorroleplayedbytheCommission
DelegationintheUnitedStates,inclosecollaboration with
theMemberStates'diplomaticmissionsinthatcountry*
Withregardtotheresultsofthejointreportsdrawnupbythe
commercialcounsellorsinimplementation oftheCouncil
directives,theCommissionwillpresentaseparatereportto
therelevantCouncilworkingparty*
(b)Inaccordancewiththeconclusionsoftheseniorofficialsof
theMemberStatesresponsibleforthesupplyofinformationto
non-membercountries,Coreperapprovedon6Junenewmeasures
.forinformingtheMemberStates'embassiesinnon-member
countriesconcerningcertainCommissiondecisions *Inadopting
VthesemeasurestheMemberStatesrightlyemphasizedtherole
oftheexternalrepresentations oftheCommission *Innon-member
countrieswheretheCommissionhassucharepresentation ,itis
*responsible }generallyspeaking,forkeepingtheembassiesof

theNine -andparticularly that ofthecountry holding the
Presidency oftheCouncil –permanently informed concerning
decisions andinitiatives taken bytheCommission onitsown
responsibility andwithin tiescope ofitspowers .Thenew
measures referred toabove strengthen this role ofthe
Commission 'sexternal offices .
(o)Attention should also bedrawn tothecooperation which has
been instituted between theCommission 'sinformation departments
andtheforeign ministries oftheMemVer States .Anotable
result ofthi3 cooperation hasbean tomake available tothe
embassies oftheMember States innon-member countries arange
ofinformation material that isbetter suited totheir requirement
andisupdated more frequently (e.g. "brochures andaudio-visual
material ).Mention should aleo "bemade ofthecooperation
that exists between information officers inthe Member
States' embassies innon-C ocnnunity countries andtheCommission ,
via theperiodic reports drawn upbytheofficers inquestion
andthereplies which aretransmitted ,tothai ;thereports are
examined ,moreover ,bytheCouncil 'sforking Party onInformation ,
with which the ,Commission 'sDirectorate-Sensral for Information
'sinpermanent contact inBrussels .
5.ithregard tothecoordination ofoperating conditions and
administrative procedures ,theCommission hastaken decisions –
foil -swing work carried out onaninter*~servic3 basis –onthe system
ofremuneration ofofficials posted toexternal representations ,
administrative and financial management andtheimprovement oftho
arrangements forsupplying information toexternal representations
(seeparagraph (a)below ).TheCommission hasalso instructed the
inter-service group tocontinue itrwork onthebasis ofguidelines
ithas laid down with aview toamore detailed re–examination ofthe
system ofremuneration ofofficials serving outside theCommunity ,the
administration ofthevarious external representations ,movement of
officials between headquarters andexternal delegations ,andthe
arrangements forinspecting delegations (seeparagraph (To)below ).
»
(a)These decisions have led :
(i)asregards remunerations
totheremuneration arrangements "being harmonised through
theupdating oftheexchange rates stiprlated inArticle 63
oftheStaff Regulations ,andtheregulation implementing
Article 17ofAnnex VIIbeing applied more flexibly ,
enabling certain officials posted outside theCommunity
toreceive upto65%oftheir netremuneration inacurrency
other than that oftheplace ofemployment ;
totherules governing thegranting ofhousing allowances
tostaff serving inexternal offices being revised ;
periodic examination ofthegeneral implementing provisions
governing thereimbursement ofrepresentation expenses on
thebasis ofhalf–yearly reports ;
instructions relating to>thearrangements forreimbursing
medical expenses ,thesystem ofeducation allowances ,the
reimbursement ofsettling^-in expenses andthearrangements
forennual leave andtheannual travel allowance ;

'-4- .,,
(ii)aaregard®ad»ini«trativ8 andfinanoialmanagement *to
greaterflexibilityinthemanagementofexternal
delegations :
4
(iii)aaregardsthesupplyofinformationtothedelegations :to
anumber'pfmeasuresensuring "bothgreatercoordination in
theflowofinformation andinstructions fromheadquarters
totheexternaldelegations andanimprovementinthe
telexingofurgentinformationdealingwithallactivities
ofgeneralinteresttotheexternaldelegations.
(b)Theguidelinesworkedout"bytheCommissionwithaviewto
improvingcoordination dealinparticularwiththefollowing:
(i)thesystemofremuneration ,ofofficialsservingoutsidethe
Community,theobjectset"beingthatallstaffappointedtothedelegationsshould,"byvariousmeans,enjoy
equivalentconditionsofemployment# TheCommissionhasinstructe^Ltheinter-service grouptoexaminedifferent
waysofachievingthisobjective }
(ii)theadministrative procedures,withaviewtointroducing
aooherentsystemwhichceroidbeappliedtoalldelegations
whiletakingaccountofthespecialcharacteristics
attachedtotheoperatingconditionsofstaffservingin
differentnon-membercountries.Inthiscontextthe
Commissionwouldalsopointoutthataproposalforthe
reorganization oftheEuropeanAgencyforCooperationis
beingexamined.Thisreorganization willbeanimportant
factorinthesearchforgreatercoordination onthe
administrative side5
(iii)increasedstaffmobility,whichshouldresultingreater
flexibility fromtheangleofpersonnelmanagement,notably
asregardsthesecondmentofofficialsfromheadquarters
totheexternaldelegations andthereintegration ofsuch
officialsintotheheadquarters departments ontheirreturn;
(iv)thearrangementsforinspectingexternaldelegations.For
thispurposetheCommission,byadoptingcertainimprovements
tothepresentsystem,hasinitiatedworkaimedatgiving
greaterweighttotheinspectionofalldelegations through
theestablishment ofaninspectionbodyheadedbyaperson
ofacknowledgedpersonalauthoritywhowillhavedirect
accesstotheCommission.Thisinspectionbodywillbe
integratedwiththeinternalinspectionarrangements.