37. Hopes, in that spirit, that the power to clear EAGGF accounts conferred on the Commission will be
extended to all Community appropriations not managed by its services, in order that Parliament be pro-vided with additional and more extensive financial control data in its capacity as budgetary authority;
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**
38. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the govern-
ments of the Member States.
16. Commission reform: legal aspects
A5-0326/2000
European Parliament resolution on the Commission White Paper on reforming the Commission
(aspects concerning the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market) (COM(2000) 200 bdash
C5-0446/2000 bdash 2000/2216(COS))
The European Parliament,
)dash having regard to the Commission White Paper on reforming the Commission (COM(2000) 200 )dash
C5-0446/2000),
)dash having regard to the EC Treaty, in particular Article 283 thereof,
)dash having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market for the Com-
mittee on Petitions on the Special Report from the European Ombudsman to the European Parliamentfollowing the own-initiative inquiry into the secrecy which forms part of the Commission’s recruit-ment procedures,
)dash having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure,
)dash having regard to its other resolutions of 30 November 2000 on reform of the Commission(
1),
)dash having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market (A5-0326/
2000),
A. whereas the present rigid and hierarchical system is ill equipped to meet the Commission’s future
objectives and its staff’s needs and aspirations, and needs significant modifications,
B. whereas the Commission needs to develop human resource (‘HR’) strategies and policies that will
enable it to achieve optimum performance in its core tasks of policy conception, initiating legislationand enforcing Community law,
C. whereas devolving functions by externalisation, subject to proper scrutiny, transparency and control, is
a crucial part of these strategies and will assist the matching of tasks to resources,
D. whereas the Commission’s tasks must be carried out at the highest possible levels of performance,
efficiency and control in delivering a service to the people of Europe, with particular regard to inde-pendence and accountability,
E. whereas the stated aim of the reform is to sustain an independent, permanent and high-quality Eur-
opean civil service that equips the Commission to fulfil its tasks as a world-class organisation andenables it to be a model employer,
F. whereas officials must remain responsible and accountable for their actions and keep the opportunity
to be rewarded for their success in meeting or exceeding their set goals,
(1) ‘Texts Adopted’, Items 14, 15 and 17.C 228/206 EN 13.8.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 30 November 2000
G. whereas the reform must not detract in any way from the Commission’s key responsibilities and com-
petences as enshrined in the Treaties and the case-law of the Court of Justice,
H. whereas the reform must be implemented at a time of very rapid change in terms of employment
practices, employee expectations and technological advances,
I. whereas the Staff Regulations (‘the Regulations’) must serve the needs of the institutions and staff and
not hamper them in the efficient performance of their tasks,
J. whereas the protection presently afforded by the Regulations and the associated case-law of the Court
of Justice must be secured without undermining the modernisation process, while maintaining suchsafeguards for individual staff members as are required in a Community governed by the rule of law,
K. whereas the principle of open competitions for the recruitment of staff should be retained, albeit
modernised so as to permit a faster, more targeted approach to recruitment at a lower cost,
L. whereas one of the foundations of the reform is the creation of a linear career structure, which
enables staff to progress through the system on the basis of merit, without the creation of artificialdivisions,
M. whereas the commitment to equal opportunities for women and other under-represented categories
and the abolition of age limits for recruitment are welcomed,
N. whereas the reform of the Regulations must result in a lighter, flexible, effective and efficient frame-
work, more suited to a fast-changing world and capable of accommodating the special needs of thevarious Community institutions, in particular those of Parliament,
O. whereas successful reform is essential for the Commission’s future credibility and will have a strong
impact on the public perception of the European civil service and the EU institutions in general,
P. whereas Parliament looks forward to detailed proposals for amendment of the Staff Regulations and
the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, which it will carefully scrutinise in the light of theobjectives and propositions set out in this resolution,
Reform Objectives and Performance Targets
1. Reaffirms the principle pursuant to which an independent, impartial European civil service provides
the best guarantee for strengthening the role of the Commission and of the other Union bodies and insti-tutions and for promoting the Community interest;
2. Considers that tasks must be matched to resources so as to develop coherent policies around a tar-
geted range of skills, education and experience;
3. Calls for reform goals to be developed into more specific, challenging benchmarks, referred to global
best practice;
4. Reiterates the importance of the financial control reforms in giving delegated accountability to offi-
cials and achieving a new organisation culture in which officials are trusted to perform agreed tasks andmeasured against agreed objectives;
5. Stresses that clear objectives, the right resources, meaningful tasks and a stimulating environment are
the key to creating and maintaining an attractive and rewarding work environment;13.8.2001 EN C 228/207 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 30 November 2000
Organisation and Grading Structure
6. Demands that all officials should have clear job descriptions, be given clear objectives and the right
resources, and empowered accordingly;
7. Considers that simplified grading and organisation structures must allow for the recognition of
enhanced skills alongside increased administrative responsibility, the organisation of project teams andincreased horizontal cooperation;
8. Calls for the requirements for entry into the European civil service to be qualitatively increased and
for recruitment to a permanent post to be subject to additional quality criteria;
9. Urges the Commission to match organisation to tasks and avoid designing activities around portfo-
lios for a set number of Commissioners; this task must be addressed after an IGC decision on the futurestructure of the Commission;
Personnel Appraisal, Development and Reward
10. Endorses the performance appraisal strategy; it must be introduced in support of the principle of
promotion on merit and without undermining the principles generally recognised within the EuropeanUnion as guaranteeing the political independence of civil servants;
11. Trusts that trade unions will be consulted on the guidelines for staff assessments, that staff will be
involved in drawing up job goals and that the personal development role of the appraisal system will beemphasised;
12. Urges that a strong career guidance system should actively facilitate interdepartmental and possibly
interinstitutional staff development;
13. Calls for procedures to deal with persistent under-performance (reassignment, retraining or regrad-
ing); the idea of a job for life, irrespective of performance, must disappear;
14. Demands enhanced training programmes, fully integrated into staff development;
15. Welcomes the emphasis on continuous training and the possibility of an interinstitutional training
centre, but considers that given resource pressures a cost-benefit analysis of such a centre is necessary;notes further that importance should also be attached to training by outside agencies and joint activitiesinvolving other EU institutions and national governments;
16. Stresses that staff assessment requires a great deal of training, that it should be carried out in a
climate of confidence, and that annual development interviews between the staff assessed and the man-agers responsible should form part of the assessment procedure;
17. Notes the value of the ‘stagiaire’ programme in offering work experience to young people, considers
that their working conditions and responsibilities need to be reviewed as part of the reform package, andrecommends that the document of 28 June 2000 drawn up by the ‘stagiaires’ and submitted to the Com-mission should be taken as the starting-point;
Career Mobilityand Staffing Flexibility
18. Believes that the new grading and promotion system must encourage mobility but that the require-
ments of the institution should not fall victim to inflexible application of the mobility principle; postingsaway from the Commission must not penalise career progression;
19. Calls for staff exchanges among the institutions, and between them and national governments,
regional administrations and the private sector, and for a structured programme for high-flyers includingexternal secondments;C 228/208 EN 13.8.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 30 November 2000
20. Endorses the proposal to set up an interinstitutional recruitment agency, after due consultation with
all the institutions involved;
21. Considers that recruitment, grading and pension plans should facilitate external recruitment and
that flexible short- or long-term fixed contracts should be available, and that in any event, transparencyin the recruitment procedures must remain at the fore;
22. Considers that special staffing needs must be catered for within overall HR plans and that the JRC
and the External Service must be integrated into a global staff development programme;
Salaries and Terms of Employment
23. Believes that talented, well-motivated people should be attracted; consequently, the compensation
package must be competitive with the private and public sectors;
24. Believes that the Commission’s administration should primarily meet the criteria of a European civil
service serving the general public;
25. Emphasises that staff must have a simple, clear, equitable and externally transparent system of
allowances, which takes into account the particular working conditions of each official and the inconve-niences which those conditions entail; there should be no unjustified perks;
26. Considers that functional managers must be able to incentivise staff through performance-based
pay, within a codified system of bonuses, and commends the current ECB scheme as an example;
27. Welcomes the fact that the Commission addresses the possibilities of combining work and family
life; expects parental-leave benefits also to be examined in the light of best practice in the Member States;
Retirement
28. Supports the proposals for a permanent, flexible retirement scheme; this should encompass both
early and late retirement;
29. Urges the Commission to consider a funded, portable pension scheme so as to promote greater
mobility;
Working Environment, Equal Opportunities and Recruitment
30. Emphasises that recruitment must be modernised and streamlined to accord with best practice;
31. Considers that there should be better access to posts within the institutions for women, ethnic
minorities, the disabled and persons having the permanent right of residence in a Member State, whileeschewing ageism;
32. Commends the early adoption of an on-line personnel system giving all staff access to comprehen-
sive information on the rules and conditions of their employment and the ability to carry out personaladministrative tasks on-line;
33. Calls on the Commission to ensure that gender mainstreaming is facilitated, implemented and
assessed at all levels and in all directorates-general and departments;
34. Welcomes the fact that the Commission has undertaken to comply with the European Ombuds-
man’s recommendations concerning transparency and sound management principles in the recruitmentprocedure;13.8.2001 EN C 228/209 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 30 November 2000
DisciplinaryProcedure, Administrative Complaints Procedure and Whistleblowing
35. Agrees that the disciplinary structures and procedures must be made more efficient, including invol-
vement of an independent assessor, endorses the need for administrative improvements in the short term,but calls for early action to redesign the system and review the provisions dealing with officials’ personalfinancial liability;
36. Advocates complaints panels, with independent members, to settle staff disputes speedily without
the need for court proceedings, albeit preserving the ultimate possibility of judicial review;
37. Insists on officials’ rights and obligations to report wrongdoing being formally defined; a fair bal-
ance should be struck between all the interests involved;
Parliament as Employer
38. Urges Parliament’s administration to introduce a linear career structure in parallel to the Commis-
sion allowing for easy interinstitutional transfer; support the speedy launch of the recruitment office;enhance its existing staff appraisal and disciplinary procedures; promote flexibility and mobility, particu-larly in the light of its cyclical workload, the staffing requirements of political groups and the need forcontract flexibility; build more mobile career structures; encourage exchanges with EU institutions andother organisations, and participate in joint training programmes;
39. Deems it appropriate to incorporate the temporary staff working for the political groups into any
reform of the Staff Regulations, with particular regard to unemployment conditions and terms of earlyretirement;
Implementation
40. Warns that the Commission’s reforms must be implemented as quickly as possible to avoid staff
demoralisation and public disenchantment;
41. Attaches priority to adopting job descriptions for all grades, reforming the grading system and
moving to annual appraisals, with merit-based promotion; the Commission should implement the newcareer development philosophy without delay by adopting a shadow appraisal system ahead of formalagreement on the Regulations;
42. Calls on the Commission to make proposals for reform of the Regulations as a matter of urgency;
43. Calls on the IGC to consider the reform’s Treaty and case-law implications and make the necessary
changes to ensure that the implementation of the reform package is unimpeded;
Involvement of Staff and Trade Unions
44. Affirms that full staff and trade-union involvement is essential to the success of HR reforms; hopes
that the unions, staff committees and the institutions can adopt a positive stance and examine best-practicerepresentation strategies in both the public and private sectors in determining their responses;
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**
45. Instructs the President of Parliament to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and
the governments of the Member States.C 228/210 EN 13.8.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 30 November 2000