Proposal for a Council Regulation (ECSC, EC, Euratom) amending the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities
Date: 1997-04-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU institution, European official, regulations for civil servants, workers' representation

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels,  21.04.1997 
COM(97)  163 final 

97/ 0123 (CNS) 

Proposal  for  a 

COUNCIL  REGULATION  ŒCSC. EC. Euratom) 

amending the Staff Regulations of Oflicials of the European Communities 

(presented  by the Commission) 

EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

I 

Article  I (Section  I) of  Annex  II  to  the  Staff  Regulations establishes  the  term  of 
office  of the Staff Committee. 

2. 

3 

4. 

At  present  the term  is two  years.  The  institution  may,  however,  decide to fix a 
shorter term of office,  which may not be less than one year. 

It  has  emerged  in  practice  that  the  term  of  office  is  reduced,  especially  in  the 
Commission,  where  the  Staff  Committee  is  organized  in  local  sections  in 
accordance with the third paragraph of Article  1, since on completion of elections 
for  the  local  sections,  a  further  procedure  is  needed  to  appoint  members  of  the 
Central  Committee 
In  some  cases  this  procedure  can  take  a  long  time, 
particularly  where  in  one  or  more  places  the  quorum  laid  down  in  the  Staff 
Regulations is not attained  The result  is that  in practice the term of office  of the 
elected members is insufficient  to implement the staff representation policy decided 
for the relevant period. 

In addition,  the  large  number  of buildings  occupied  by the  institution  in  Brussels 
means that the organization  of elections requires large-scale deployment  of human 
and logistical resources, which is costly for the institution and for the trade unions 
and staff associations. 

The  institution  and  the  Central  Staff  Committee  have  responded  to  all  these 
constraints -  those  derived  from  the  legislation,  the  size  of  the  institution,  and 
particularly  the  scattered  location  of  departments  in  Brussels -  by  considering 
whether the term of office  of members of the Staff Committee currently laid down 
in the Staff Regulations ought to be reviewed. 

They  have  concluded  that  it  would  be  advisable  to  provide  for  a longer  term  of 
office  for the  Staff  Committee, subject  to detailed  arrangements to be determined 
by each institution. 

5 

The technique  would  be to  amend  Annex  II  by  replacing  "two  years" by  "three 
years", the rest  of the text  remaining unchanged  This would  make it  possible to 
fix  a term of office  ranging from one to three years. 

&, 

PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION (ECSC, EC, Euratom) No ...of ... 
amending the Staff Regulations of Officials  of the European Communities 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN  UNION 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the 
European Communities, and in particular Article 24 thereof, 

Having  regard  to  the  proposal  presented  by the  Commission  after  consulting  the  Staff 
Regulations Committee, 

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament, 

Having regard to the Opinion of the Court of Justice, 

Having regard to the Opinion of the Court of Auditors 

Whereas Article  1  of Annex II to  Regulation  (EEC, Euratom,  ECSC) No 259/68, as last 
, lays down the term of office 
amended by Regulation (ECSC, EC, Euratom) No 
of the members and alternates if any, of the Staff Committee; 

of 

Whereas that term of office,  which is currently fixed at  a maximum of two years, should 
be  replaced  by  a  term  of  three  years  to  permit  fuller  implementation  of  the  staff 
representatives' mandate, 

Whereas it is unnecessary to  amend the minimum term of office  of members of the  Staff 
Committee and their alternates, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

The  first  subparagraph  of  Article  1 (Section  I)  of  Annex  II  to  the  Staff  Regulations  is 
replaced by the following: 

"The  Staff  Committee  shall  comprise  the  members  thereof,  together  with  their 
alternates  if any, whose term  of office  shall be three years  The institution  may, 
however,  decide to fix a  shorter  term  of  office,  which  may  not  be  less than  one 
year.  Every  official  of  the  institution  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  and  stand  for 
election." 

Q 

Article 2 

This Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  day  following  its  publication  in the  Official 
Journal of the European Communities. 

This  Regulation  shall  be  binding  in  its  entirety  and  directly  applicable  in  all  Member 
States. 

Done at Brussels 

For the Council 
The President 

^ 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(97) 163 final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

01 

Catalogue number  :  CB-CO-97-151-EN-C 

ISBN 92-78-18363-6 

Office  for Official  Publications of the European Communities 

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