3.

To assess the scope of the measures at issue, it is necessary to view them in their context. They reflect a decisive reorientation of economic and social policy in the Community and came into being after a long period of gestation. A. As is evident from the annual reports on the economic situation of the Community, there has since 1980 been a change in the economic and social policy both of the Community and of the Member States. Thus, it is stated in the 1980 report that: ‘A pronounced slowdown of inflation is a major condition for an improvement of the propensity to invest and a strengthening of the confidence of households, which in turn is required to prevent a precautionary rise in the rate of saving and decline in consumption’. and that as a result: ‘... in the Community as a whole real wages cannot be allowed to rise fully in line with productivity over the coming years.’ (Official Journal 1980, L 375, p. 21). In the same vein, the 1981 report states, in the part devoted to ‘an outline of economic policy for the Community’, that: ‘in several countries [it is necessary to accept] real pay increases for a period below the growth of productivity so that the economy is returned to a radically higher investment and growth performance.’ (Official Journal 1981, L 385, p. 7). Thus a policy has been embarked upon which is intended to contain the increase in public spending. This preoccupation is to a considerable extent shared by the Member States, which are dealing with the problem in various ways, as is apparent from the replies from the Commission, the Council and the European Public Service Union to the questions put to them by the Court. This general policy, as stated by the Commission in the ‘Additional Commission Communication to the Council’ of 6 May 1981‘on rules for the implementation of the single exceptional measure concerning officials’ salaries', is based on the finding that ‘One of the determining factors in the deterioration of the Community's economic and social situation ... seems indeed to be inadequate adjustment of real salaries throughout the economy in relation to available resources.’ That explains why the special temporary levy should, according to the first recital in the preamble to the Regulation, be assessed : ‘... on the basis of the economic data reflecting the average gaps recorded in the Member States between the trend in real per capita wages and salaries and the trend in: — Total productivity ..., — Productivity available for distribution ..., — Productivity per member of the active population ... ’. The consultation procedure which led to the adoption of both the Decision and the Regulation gives effect to, and must be seen against the background of, that new approach. B. I shall not describe in detail the sucessive stages of the consultation procedure. It is sufficient to note that it derived from the desire to rectify the unsuitability of the 1976 method, in view of the need to take account of the deterioration of the economic and social situation. On 31 January 1981 a ‘round table’ comprising representatives of the Commission and the representative trade-union organizations agreed on a package of measures involving essentially adherence to the principle of parallelism and acceptance by officials of a voluntary contribution from their salaries designed to respond to the circumstances brought about by the special difficulties of the economic and social situation. This twofold objective constitutes the basis of the consultation then undertaken by the Community institutions and trade-union organizations during 1981. It appears again in particular in the Council resolution of 23 June 1981 which followed the Commission's initial proposals and also in the Commission's consultation report of 4 December 1981. The latter records the agreement of the majority of the trade-union organizations on the draft documents which led to the adoption of the contested measures, after consultation of the authorities designated for that purpose: namely, the European Parliament and the Court of Justice. Those are the essential features of the economic and social context and the main aspects of the procedure which led to the adoption of the disputed measures. This background facilitates the task of examining their legality.