WRITTEN QUESTION E-0216/01

by Wilfried Kuckelkorn (PSE) to the Commission

(5 February 2001)

Subject: Expatriation allowance of EU officials

Article 4 of Section 2 of Annex VII of the Staff Regulations applicable to officials of the European Union provides for the payment of an expatriation allowance of 16 % of the basic salary.

1. Why should such an allowance exist at all when staff voluntarily decide to become European officials and therefore live abroad?

In addition to that, there are other inconsistencies: the allowance is paid throughout the period of employment and taken into account in the subsequent pension payments in the case of officials who are not nationals of the country in which they are working. However, staff who habitually resided or carried on their main occupation in the territory of the relevant State for a period of five and a half years prior to entering the service of the EU receive an expatriation allowance of only 4 %. On the other hand, anyone who was working for an international organisation, i.e. including the European institutions, still receives an allowance of 16 %.

2. How can this interpretation of the Staff Regulations or the Staff Regulations themselves be reconciled with the principles of equal treatment established by European case law?

3. Why exactly must the European taxpayer fund this allowance, which amounts to a considerable sum over a longer period and which, in view of the facts outlined above, is evidently not paid to compensate staff for having to adjust to life in a different country?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(22 March 2001)

Expatriation allowances or comparable benefits are commonly and rightly salary components in international organisations, national embassies or permanent representations and in international companies. A recent independent study has confirmed that the remuneration of Community officials (including the expatriation allowance) in Brussels is broadly comparable to that of expatriate Member State officials, much lower than that of comparably qualified and employed staff in multinational companies, and close to that of comparable staff in other international organisations. If an independent European public service of good quality is to be maintained with officials of high standards of ability, efficiency and integrity who are recruited on the broadest possible geographical basis from among the nationals of Member States, then all of the European Institutions have to ensure they are attractive as employers.

It follows that contrary to what the Honourable Member says, the fact that staff have chosen to go abroad is not a reason for not paying the allowance. Without the allowance, people who have to leave their own countries to come to work for the Institutions will not have a sufficient incentive to make that choice. It must be possible to attract officials from all Member States, including those where salaries are highest and where there is the greatest range of competing job opportunities. The Honourable Member's point is also true of others whose careers are likely to take them abroad, such as diplomats, staff of multinational companies etc, yet similar often more generous incentives are paid to them, because their employers know that they have to do so.

The White Paper on Reforming the Commission(1) of 1 March 2000 confirmed that the overall conditions of employment, including the salary package, in the Commission and the other European Institutions should remain attractive and competitive in order to ensure an independent, permanent, high quality European Civil Service. This political intention has been endorsed by the Parliament in the Harbour Report on the White Paper on reforming the Commission, adopted on 30 November 2000.

In relation to the detail of conditions under which expatriation allowance is granted, the following should be noted:

- The expatriation allowance is granted in accordance with the Staff Regulations, which have been adopted by the Council after consultation with the Parliament. Its purpose is to compensate the official for additional burdens resulting from the work outside his country of origin, like the absolute obligation to work in one or more foreign languages, the frequent loss of income on the part of an accompanying spouse or partner, and the need to maintain, over the whole period of his employment, close links to the home country.

- It is the major means to differentiate salary levels between officials who have the nationality of the host country and those who have left their country of origin to take up work in a European Institution.

- Expatriation allowance is granted only to an extent strictly proportionate to the existence of a situation of expatriation and in narrowly-defined and objectively verifiable circumstances. Contrary to what the Honourable Member says, it is granted only during active service while the official is required to live outside his/her own country for service-related reasons and it does not count for the calculation of pension rights; moreover the case-law concerning this allowance has never suggested that it involves any element of unlawful discrimination as between expatriate and host-country officials, since the difference in salary is directly related to a difference of situation.

- The economic obligations resulting from work outside the country of origin generally do not decrease over time and they are not affected by any gradual integration into the host country.

- Certain costs - like ensuring care for invalid parents, supporting childrens' school or University attendance, or maintenance of a home in the home country - can, and generally do, increase over time.

- The lower rated foreign residence allowance is granted to officials who do not have the nationality of the host country, but who have lived or worked in that country already before with a likely perspective of a long-term stay. This is why working periods for another international organisation or a national embassy, which are normally postings of a limited duration, are not taken into consideration in this context.

(1) COM(2000) 200 final.