WRITTEN QUESTION E-1199/97 by Ben Fayot (PSE) to the Commission (3 April 1997)

Subject: Accession to the framework agreement governing social dialogue with trade unions and professional organizations

Is it true that the Commission intends to propose for membership of the framework agreement governing social dialogue with representative trade unions and professional organizations an organization which has just one member on the Local Staff Committee at the Commission in Luxembourg, no representative on the Central Committee and not even one member in any other place of work (i.e. a total of one representative out of 125)?

Accession to the framework agreement gives a signatory organization access to certain appropriations made available to it by its institution and to technical and political consultations. Now that preparations for the 1998 PDB are about to get under way, does the Commission not consider it unreasonable - in the light of its commitments to the budgetary authority to rationalize administrative expenditure - to extend on such flimsy grounds the number of organizations benefitting from resources made available under the framework agreement, and thereby to increase the requirements for mission expenses and use of the institution's services, particularly at a time when significant savings are being demanded from operational services?

Did the Commission not in fact undertake to its staff representatives to enhance the credibility of social dialogue within its own administration, for example by setting up objective and indisputable negotiated criteria for representativeness? Can the Commission say when it proposes embarking on this exercise?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission (25 April 1997)

The organization Action and Defence - Luxembourg has applied to become party to the framework agreement. The Commission has always felt that this agreement was open to applicants.

The Commission requires that for applicant organizations to be considered representative, they must represent a significant portion of the staff so that they can honour the commitments taken in concertation. In the absence of rules in the Staff Regulations or contractual rules defining representativeness more precisely, the Commission has considered, since 1986, that an applicant organization satisfies that criterion if it has a seat on the staff committee. The Commission feels that the representativeness criterion it applies is objective and transparent.

Since last year's elections, Action and Defence - Luxembourg has one full member and one alternate on the local section of the Luxembourg Staff Committee thereby meeting the requisite conditions.

In the elections to the Luxembourg Staff Committee, the organization Action and Defence - Luxembourg obtained 15.1% of the list votes (143 out of a total of 947) and 10.7% of the preference votes (2 253 out of a total of 20 982).

For legal reasons arising out of the obligation on the Commission to treat all trade unions and staff organizations on an equal footing without justified discrimination, the Commission is bound to allow Action and Defence - Luxembourg to sign the framework agreement.

Being party to the framework agreement as such does not entitle the signatory organization to receive human and material resources. In the main, it is admitted to technical and political concertation. Admission of the organization Action and Defence - Luxembourg to the framework agreement does not entail additional mission expenses for that organization.

The Commission has decided to set up a working party comprising Commission representatives and representatives of the trade unions and staff associations to submit proposals on the modernization of the social dialogue.