Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE COMMISSION, THE COURT OF JUSTICE, THE COURT OF AUDITORS, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS AND THE OMBUDSMAN setting up a European Administrative School

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

Setting up a European Administrative School ('the School' in what follows) is part of the general programme for reforming the European public service. Among other aspects, these reforms involve developing human resources through training. The reforms also aim to bring about a major change in administrative culture, in particular in management culture. In addition, as part of the reform of the Staff Regulations and the career structure, a new system is being introduced for passing from one function group to another involving mandatory training courses. In this connection, it has been proposed that an inter-institutional School could make its own particular contribution.

The Secretaries-General of the Community institutions (including for this purpose the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the Ombudsman) agreed to explore this idea since they felt that at least some staff training within the institutions could benefit from an inter-institutional facility. From the start, therefore, the School was conceived as a sharing, at least partially, of the resources invested in professional development for all officials and other servants, not forgetting those of the other bodies and organs of the Union. With a few exceptions, these activities are organised and funded by each institution and body independently.

After the initial 'ideas' phase, a prior appraisal was set in train by the Secretaries-General in the form of an inter-institutional working party. This was mandated with examining the likely impact of such an School, in particular the synergies that could be generated. The report of this group and the draft decisions which resulted were approved by the Secretaries-General on 28 October 2003. Their appraisal revealed that setting up an inter-institutional School would definitely contribute - over and above the economic benefits in terms of effectiveness and efficiency in the area of training as detailed below - to giving new impetus to a sharing of common values and the development of a European way of thinking.

The outcome of these deliberations was that the role of the European Administrative School, within the general framework of staff policy based on the Staff Regulations of officials and other servants of the Communities as shared by all the Community institutions, should consist of the following tasks:

- supporting improvements in the way the Community administration is run, in particular by training in management, in order to facilitate the development of a new administrative culture;

- introducing new entrants to the service to a Community way of thinking, independent of the specific institution, in particular via a shared set of induction courses; this will result in a new induction policy for the institutions, without of course replacing the introductory courses specific to each institution;

- contributing to individual career development, in particular to enhance the level of skills in the form of compulsory training courses with a view to creating the "certification" system which is the new method of promotion from the function group of assistants to the function group of administrators.

A set of criteria, listed below, has been chosen to reflect the political and Community-related nature of this arrangement on the one hand and its economic character on the other. Fulfilling these criteria will bring value-added compared with the present situation, in which - with a few exceptions - each institution organizes its own training. These criteria are:

* in the first place, the spread of common values and the creation of an esprit de corps throughout the institutions of the Union, leading to

* the most consistent possible application of the Staff Regulations among the institutions in terms of training and, linked with this, of career development;

* the identification of fields with similar requirements in terms of knowledge and abilities and hence lending themselves to joint training;

* easier attainment of a sufficient level of demand for training, which is currently a difficulty for the smaller institutions;

* a wider range of training on offer (e.g. more specialised, more choice, more available dates, etc.);

* in particular, the achievement of economies of scale from shared training, especially in terms of administering training and maximising the number of participants per course.

Fulfilling these criteria will, as the report of the inter-institutional group has shown, amply justify the sharing of training activities as set out in this Decision and bring clear benefits from the resulting synergy.

Obviously there are other fields of training which lend themselves to inter-institutional courses in line with the criteria above. Accordingly, this Decision provides for an evolutionary approach leaving open the possibility of future extensions. To start with, it specifies only management training, induction courses and training for purposes of certification. The School is to begin organizing and running induction courses on behalf of all the signatory institutions as from January 2005, followed by management courses. During 2005, it will start giving courses to prepare the certification of staff making the transfer to the function group of administrators.

In the same general context, this Decision provides for the School, for the initial years after its inception, to be administratively attached to an existing inter-institutional body, namely EPSO (the European Personnel Selection Office). This should make it possible, with limited staff and a small operational budget, to achieve some synergies, in particular in administration (management of resources) and in management (Management Board, Principal), as identified in the report referred to above. At the latest at the end of a three-year experimental phase, and on the basis of an exhaustive evaluation of the results achieved, this assignment will then be reviewed.

Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE COMMISSION, THE COURT OF JUSTICE, THE COURT OF AUDITORS, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS AND THE OMBUDSMAN setting up a European Administrative School

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, THE COURT OF JUSTICE, THE COURT OF AUDITORS, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS AND THE EUROPEAN OMBUDSMAN,

Having regard to the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities and to the Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities, as laid down by Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 [1], and in particular the third and fourth paragraphs of Article 24 thereof,

[1] OJ L 56, 4.3.1968, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC, ECSC, Euratom) No 490/2002 (OJ L 77, 20.3.2002, p. 1).

Having regard to the opinion of the Staff Regulations Committee,

Whereas:

(1) The institutions should step up their investment in the professional training of their staff.

(2) Greater inter-institutional cooperation in this field would bring synergies in terms of the necessary human and financial resources while also reinforcing exchanges between the institutions and the spread of common values and harmonised professional practices.

(3) For these reasons, a joint inter-institutional body should be endowed with resources for certain types of professional training aimed at officials and other servants of the European Communities.

(4) For reasons of economy and efficiency, this joint body should be attached administratively to an existing inter-institutional body, namely the European Communities Personnel Selection Office created by Decision 2002/620/EC of the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the Ombudsman, at least during the start-up phase,

HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Establishment of a European Administrative School

A European Administrative School is hereby established, hereinafter referred to as 'the School'.

Article 2

Duties

1. The School shall execute certain types of training on behalf of and in the framework of the orientation decided by the signatory institutions to this Decision (hereinafter "the institutions") with a view to enhancing human resources and individual career development.

2. As specified by the institutions, the School shall:

(a) design, organise and evaluate training activities;

(b) facilitate participation in external training activities;

(c) carry out any tasks related to or in support of its duties.

3. The Secretaries-General of the institutions, the Registrar of the Court of Justice and the Representative of the Ombudsman shall lay down and, where necessary, modify the fields of training to be covered by the School.

4. At the request of one institution, body, office or agency, the School may provide assistance to it in matters of training expertise, against payment.

Article 3

Requests, complaints and appeals

Requests and complaints relating to the exercise of the powers conferred under Article 2(2) shall be lodged with the School. Any appeal in these areas shall be against the Commission.

Article 4

Attachment

1. The School shall be attached administratively to the European Communities Personnel Selection Office, hereinafter "the Office" [2].

[2] OJ L 197, 26.7.2002, p. 5.

2. This attachment shall cover:

(a) the assumption of various administrative tasks on behalf of the School by organizational units within the Office;

(b) the functions of the School's Management Board;

(c) the functions of the Principal of the School.

The functions referred to in the first subparagraph, points (b) and (c), shall be performed by the corresponding organs of the Office.

3. At the latest at the end of a three-year period starting with the entry into force of this Decision, this attachment may be ended by a decision of the Management Board taken by qualified majority as defined in Article 5(6) of Decision 2002/621/EC [3] and provided that at least five signatory institutions are in favour.

[3] OJ L 197, 26.7.2002, p. 56.

Article 5

Implementation

The Secretaries-General of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, the Registrar of the Court of Justice, the Secretaries-General of the Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions and the Representative of the European Ombudsman shall by mutual agreement take the measures necessary to implement this Decision.

Article 6

Effective date

This Decision shall take effect on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

For the Commission For the Court of Justice

The President The President

For the Court of Auditors For the European Economic and Social Committee

The President The President

For the Committee of the Regions

The President The European Ombudsman