Report from the Commission to the Council on the application of Annex X to the Staff Regulations (Council Regulation No 3019/1987 of 5 October 1987) Year 2003
Date: 2004-09-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Commission Delegation, European official, allowances and expenses, labour mobility, paid leave, regulations for civil servants, remuneration of work, third country, working conditions

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 10.09.2004 
COM(2004) 588 final 

. 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

On the application of Annex X to the Staff Regulations 
(Council Regulation No 3019/1987 of 5 October 1987) 
Year 2003 

. 

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INTRODUCTION 

In  accordance  with  Article  101a  of  the  Staff  Regulations,  Annex  X  determines,  without 
prejudice  to  the  other  provisions  of  the  Staff  Regulations,  the  special  and  exceptional 
provisions  applicable  to  officials  of  the  European  Communities  serving  in  non-member 
countries. 

Article 14 of Annex X requires the Commission to “submit an annual report to the Council on 
the application of this Annex and in particular on the fixing of the rate of the allowance for 
living conditions as provided for in Article 10”. 

Since  1  January  1988,  the  Commission  has  prepared  thirteen  reports.  They  cover  the 
following periods: October 1987-December 1988, 1989, 1990-1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 
1996, 1997-1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. 

CHAPTER 1: GENERAL PROVISIONS 

ARTICLE 1: RECRUITMENT 

Staffing  levels  of  External  Service  officials,  which  stood  at  853  posts  on  31 
December 2002 (including 21 posts provided by non-Relex Directorates-General, 1 
post frozen as a result of its secondment to the European Reconstruction Agency, and 
5  “floaters”),  were  increased  by  100  posts  as  part  of  the  devolution  exercise  and 
reduced by 2 posts under the early retirement scheme, bringing the total to 951 posts 
at the end of 2003. 

On 31 December 2003, 833 of these posts were occupied in delegations. 

Note that the third phase of devolution, mainly concerning the ACP region, includes 
a large number of difficult postings for which there are few applications.  

On 31 December 2003, 43 officials had been recruited for the 100 posts of the third 
phase of the devolution exercise and 25 procedures were under way. 

A large number of external recruitment procedures were completed or set in motion: 
22  for  posts  under  the  third  phase  of  devolution  and  12  for  posts  under  the  second 
phase. 

33  of  these  34  successful  candidates  come  from  the  reserve  list  of  competition 
COM/A/6/01. 

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ARTICLE 2: MOBILITY 

Rotation 

The rotation arrangements for 2003 covered 140 officials on the list (175 in 2002), of 
whom: 

– 

– 

– 

– 

40 moved between delegations (76 in 2002), 

65 moved from a delegation to headquarters (63 in 2002), 

7 terminated their service (15 in 2002), 

28 remained in their posts (21 in 2002). 

The principle of alternate postings in delegations and at headquarters resulted in: 

– 

– 

65 moves from a delegation to headquarters (63 in 2002), 

63 moves from headquarters to a delegation (67 in 2002). 

In  all,  175  officials  moved  under  the  2003  rotation  exercise  (compared  to  221  in 
2002). 

Redeployment 

6 posts were reassigned: 

– 

– 

– 

– 

2  Head  of  Administration  posts  (Singapore  and  Paris)  became  “floater” 
posts (officials based at headquarters who provide emergency support for 
delegations in difficulties), 

2  internal  reorganisations  (change  of  category  of  finance  and  contracts 
posts in Bulgaria and Chile), 

1 B post redeployed from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Jordan, 

1 post of Secretary to Head of Delegation redeployed from Croatia to the 
regional delegation in Guyana. 

ARTICLE 3: RETRAINING 

In  2003,  52  External  Service  officials  posted  back  to  one  of  the  Relex  DGs  or 
departments at headquarters under the rotation policy were the subject of retraining 
decisions. 

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CHAPTER 2: OBLIGATIONS 

ARTICLE 4: CARRYING OUT DUTIES AT PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT 

Nothing to report. 

ARTICLE 5: ACCOMMODATION 

In 2003 DG Relex continued its work on the accommodation standards applicable in 
non-EU  countries  so  that  administrative  responsibilities  could  be  transferred  to  the 
delegations. 

21 new standards were accordingly approved in 2003. 

Another 14 were submitted to DG Budget for approval. 

CHAPTER 3: WORKING CONDITIONS 

ARTICLES 6, 7 AND 9: ANNUAL LEAVE 

Officials serving abroad have continued to make an effort to use their entitlement and 
reduce  excessive  carryover  of  leave,  in  line  with  the  recommendation  from 
headquarters.  Note  that  despite  the  increase  in  staffing  levels,  in  the  short  term  the 
devolution  and  administrative  decentralisation  processes  have  caused  an  extra 
workload,  which  to  some  extent  has  prevented  officials  from  taking  the  desired 
amount of leave. 

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The  table  below  shows  that  carryovers  of  more  than  14  days  have  remained  fairly 
stable, in percentage terms, compared with the previous period (42% against 41%) as 
have carryovers of between 36 and 70 days, which have remained at 6%. 

Year 

Number 
of officials 
concerned 

Carryovers 
of between 14 
and 35 days 

Carryovers 
of between 36
and 50 days 

Carryovers 
of between 51 
and 70 days 

1994/1995 

1999/2000 

2000/2001 

2001/2002 

2002/2003 

590 

639 

615 

680 

707 

180 

171 

208 

234 

253 

67 

18 

24 

23 

35 

25 

8 

8 

19 

10 

Note also that in 2003 authorisation for carryovers of leave of up to 35 working days 
was decentralised to the level of Head of Delegation. 

ARTICLES 8 AND 9(2): EXCEPTIONAL GRANTING OF REST LEAVE 

Under  its  regular  annual  exercise,  the  Commission  decided  on  6  February  2003  to 
grant  rest  leave  for  the  year,  by  way  of  exception,  only  for  places  of  employment 
where living conditions were considered “particularly difficult”, on the basis of the 
parameters  used  to  fix  the  living-conditions  allowance  each  year,  and  for  places 
declared to be in crisis. 

Strict  application  of  the  conditions  set  out  in  Article  8  of  Annex  X  resulted  in  this 
decision being taken for 24 places of employment in 2003 (see Annex I), as against 
28  in  2002.  For  places  in  crisis,  entitlement  is  granted  in  proportion  to  the  actual 
duration of the crisis. 

CHAPTER 4: EMOLUMENTS AND SOCIAL SECURITY 
BENEFITS 

SECTION 1: EMOLUMENTS AND FAMILY ALLOWANCES 

ARTICLE 10(1) ALLOWANCE FOR LIVING CONDITIONS 

On 11 December 2002, the Commission fixed the living-conditions allowance rates 
for 2003 as shown in the table in Annex II (3 increases: Solomon Islands from 25% 
to 35%, Israel (Tel Aviv) and Syria (from 15% to 20%). 

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ARTICLE 10(2) ADDITIONAL ALLOWANCE 

Commission  Decisions  allocated  additional  allowances  in  2003  to  officials  in  the 
following posts: 

Delegation 

Date of effect 

Allowance
(%) 

Number of officials
concerned 

West  Bank-Gaza  Strip 
Jerusalem) 
(East 
– 
Israel 
(Tel  Aviv)  – 
Jordan (Amman) 

from 03.03.2003 to 16.03.2003 

from 17.03.2003 to 22.04.2003 

Syria (Damascus) 

from 17.03.2003 to 28.04.2003 

Central 
Republic (Bangui) 

African 

China (Beijing) – Hong 
Kong  (Hong  Kong)  – 
Singapore (Singapore) 

from 17.03.2003 to 05.09.2003 

from 14.04.2003 to 23.04.2003 

from 24.04.2003 to 25.06.2003 

10 

5 

10 

5 

5 

5 

24 

24 

8 

4 

27 

27 

ARTICLES 11 AND 12: ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE PAYMENT OF REMUNERATION 

The  currency  in  which  officials'  remuneration  was  paid  in  2003  breaks  down  as 
follows in percentage terms: 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

79% opted to have their salaries paid in euros under Article 11 of Annex X to 
the Staff Regulations; 

15%  requested  payment  of  part  of  their  remuneration  in  local  currency.  Of 
these, 61% asked for the maximum allowed by the internal directives relating 
to  Article  12  of  Annex  X  (80%)  and  the  remainder  opted  for  percentages 
varying between 15% and 78%; 

until November 2003, a 90% maximum limit continued to apply in Japan under 
the second paragraph of Article 1 of the internal directives  relating to Article 
12 of Annex X to the Staff Regulations; 

a survey conducted by Unit K.2 showed that the conditions on which the 90% 
maximum  limit  had  been  granted  no  longer  applied  and  it  was  therefore 
reduced to 80% as of December 2003; 

lastly,  under  the  second  paragraph  of  Article  12  of  Annex  X,  6%  requested 
payment  of  part  of  their  remuneration  in  a  currency  other  than  that  of  their 
place  of  employment  (Angola,  Georgia,  Kazakhstan,  Democratic  Republic  of 
Congo,  Russia  and  Ukraine),  on  the  basis  of  the  necessary  supporting 
documents. 

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ARTICLE 13: WEIGHTINGS 

On  23  July  2003,  the  Council  adopted  Regulation  No  1338/20031  laying  down  the 
weightings applicable to the remuneration of officials of the European Communities 
serving in third countries from 1 January 2003, and on 9 January 2004, Regulation 
No 64/20042 laying down the weightings applicable from 1 July 2003. 

On  20  November  20033  the  Commission  approved  the  decision  adjusting  the 
weightings applicable from 1 February, 1 March, 1 April, 1 May and 1 June 2003. 

During  2003,  bilateral  talks  were  held  between  the  competent  departments  of  DG 
Relex  and  Eurostat  on  revising  the  procedures  for  calculating  the  weightings  and 
achieving a further improvement in the cost/benefit ratio. 

Agreement was reached on a procedure consisting of improving the monitoring over 
time  of  weightings  in  countries  where  the  cost  of  living  is  relatively  high  (which 
reduces  the  frequency  of  more  costly  geographical  comparisons)  and  of  using 
alternative reliable sources, such as the UN, for monitoring weightings in countries 
where the cost of living is structurally lower than in Brussels (which allows further 
savings). 

ARTICLE 15: EDUCATION ALLOWANCE 

A total of EUR 4 371 421.80 was paid in education allowances for year 2002/2003. 
The  system  of  paying  advances  on  education  allowances  to  staff  incurring 
particularly  high  costs  was  retained.  All  the  advances  granted  for  the  2002/2003 
school year were settled within the prescribed deadlines. 

As  in  previous  years,  the  relatively  high  exchange  rate  for  the  yen  prompted  the 
Commission  to  allow  the  maximum  annual  reimbursement  to  be  exceeded  for  the 
2002/2003  school  year  in  the  case  of  officials  serving  in  Japan  whose  children 
attended an international school there. 

The  combination  of  a  general  increase  in  education  costs  over  and  above  inflation 
and  extremely  high  education  costs  in  certain  delegations,  such  as  Washington  and 
New  York,  prompted  the  Commission  to  allow  the  maximum  reimbursement  to  be 
exceeded. 

However,  these  authorisations  were  granted  on  an  exceptional  basis  and  only  for 
children following a course of education at the place of employment and attending an 
international  school  offering  the  European  or  international  baccalaureate,  e.g.  the 
Lycée Français, British School, Deutsche Schule or American/International School. 

1 
2 
3 

OJ L 189, 29.7.2003, p. 1. 
OJ L 10, 16.1.2004, p. 1. 
OJ L 308, 25.11.2003, p. 25. 

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As  was  the  case  last  year,  the  purpose  of  enrolling  a  child  at  one  of  these  schools 
should  be  to  ensure  continuity  in  its  schooling.  In  line  with  this  principle  of 
continuity  in  education,  four  officials  undergoing  retraining  were  accordingly  also 
allowed to exceed the maximum limit during the 2002/2003 school year. 

The total amount paid over and above the maximum for the 2002/2003 school year 
(including Japan) came to EUR 245 441.10. 

Note that the increase in budget expenditure on education allowances is proportional 
to the steady rise in the number of dossiers for processing. 

ARTICLE 16: INSTALLATION AND RESETTLEMENT ALLOWANCES 

In  2003,  the  total  amount  paid  in  installation  and  resettlement  allowances 
(for  officials  permanently  leaving  employment)  was  EUR  2  766  468.64  (as  against 
EUR 3 011 812.79 in 2002). 

This amount was broken down as follows: 

•  Installation allowances 

– 

– 

EUR 2 141 125.32 was for payments in Belgium and 

EUR 475 306.73 for payments in local currency with the weighting applied. 

•  Resettlement allowances 

– 

– 

EUR 95 069.29 for payments in euros with the weighting applied and 

EUR 54 967.30 for payments in other currencies with the weighting applied. 

SECTION 2: RULES RELATING TO REIMBURSEMENT OF 
EXPENSES 

ARTICLE  17:  REIMBURSEMENT  OF  EXPENSES  INCURRED  IN  RESPECT  OF  REMOVAL  OF 
FURNITURE  AND  ACTUAL  INSTALLATION  ALLOWANCES  FOR  OFFICIALS  NOT  IN 
FURNISHED ACCOMMODATION PROVIDED BY THE INSTITUTION 

This Article was not used in 2003. 

ARTICLE 18: TEMPORARY ACCOMMODATION 

270 decisions authorising temporary accommodation were taken in 2003 (compared 
to 187 in 1998, 163 in 1999, 195 in 2000, 184 in 2001 and 318 in 2002). 

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ARTICLE 19: STAFF CARS/MILEAGE ALLOWANCE 

Pending  the  approval  of  new  standards  for  the  vehicle  fleet,  which  are  currently 
being finalised, the rules for the use of vehicles, in force since 1996 and revised in 
1998, still apply.  

The amount of the mileage allowance has not changed (EUR 0.26 per km and EUR 
0.36 per km for 4WDs). 

ARTICLE 20: TRAVEL EXPENSES FOR REST LEAVE 

Travel expenses for rest leave were reimbursed on the basis of the distance between 
the  place  of  employment  and  the  place  of  leave  determined  by  the  Commission. 
Where  a  derogation  from  the  place  of  leave  was  allowed,  reimbursement  could  be 
claimed up to the same amount. Expenditure in 2003 amounted to EUR 577 569. 

ARTICLE  21:  REIMBURSEMENT  OF  THE  COST  OF  TRANSPORTING  PERSONAL  EFFECTS, 

REMOVALS AND STORAGE 

There  were  331  removals  in  2003  (266  in  1998,  237  in  1999,  278  in  2000,  324  in 
2001  and  358  in  2002),  under  the  rules  for  the  removal  of  personal  effects  which 
were updated in 1997 and implemented in 1998. 

ARTICLE  23:  REIMBURSEMENT  OF  RENT  WHERE  THE  OFFICIAL  IS  NOT  PROVIDED  WITH 

ACCOMMODATION BY THE INSTITUTION 

Article 23 currently applies in 40 cases (10 in 1999, 8 in 2000, 7 in 2001 and 31 in 
2002). 

SECTION 3: SOCIAL SECURITY 

ARTICLE 24(3): REPATRIATION IN THE EVENT OF A MEDICAL EMERGENCY OR AN EXTREME 

MEDICAL EMERGENCY 

In 2003, 33 medical repatriations were authorised by the Medical Service, of which 
27 were emergencies and 6 extreme emergencies. 

The SOS Air Ambulance annual premium cost EUR 15 525 in 2003. 

ARTICLE 25: ACCIDENT COVER FOR DEPENDANTS 

There were five claims in 2003 under the accident cover for dependants. 

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ANNEX I 

DETERMINATION OF ENTITLEMENT TO REST LEAVE 
(Article 8 of Annex X) 
Effective date: 1 January 2003 

Delegation 

Frequency 

Place 

Afghanistan 

Algeria 

Angola 

Bangladesh 

Burundi 

Cameroon 

3 x 5 days 

2 x 5 days 

2 x 5 days 

3 x 5 days 

1 x 5 days 

1 x 5 days 

Central African Republic 

3 x 5 days 

Congo (Brazzaville) 

Congo (Kinshasa) 

Georgia 

Guinea-Bissau 

Guinea (Conakry) 

Kazakhstan 

Liberia 

Mauritania 

Niger 

Nigeria (Abuja) 

Papua New Guinea 

Rwanda 

Solomon Islands 

Sierra Leone 

Sudan 

Chad 

Togo 

2 x 5 days 

2 x 5 days 

2 x 5 days 

1 x 5 days 

2 x 5 days 

1 x 5 days 

3 x 5 days 

2 x 5 days 

2 x 5 days 

1 x 5 days 

3 x 5 days 

1 x 5 days 

1 x 5 days 

3 x 5 days 

3 x 5 days 

3 x 5 days 

1 x 5 days 

Brussels (Belgium) 

Casablanca (Morocco) 

Windhoek (Namibia) 

Phuket (Thailand) 

Mombassa (Kenya) 

Libreville (Gabon) 

Libreville (Gabon) 

Libreville (Gabon) 

Libreville (Gabon) 

Vienna (Austria) 

Dakar (Senegal) 

Dakar (Senegal) 

Frankfurt (Germany) 

Dakar (Senegal) 

Casablanca (Morocco) 

Libreville (Gabon) 

Libreville (Gabon) 

Darwin (Australia) 

Mombassa (Kenya) 

Brisbane (Australia) 

Dakar (Senegal) 

Mombassa (Kenya) 

Dakar (Senegal) 

Libreville (Gabon) 

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ANNEX II 

PLACES OF POSTING AND  
LIVING-CONDITIONS ALLOWANCE RATES 
(Article 10 of Annex X) 
Effective date: 1 January 2003 

35% 

25% 

20% 

15% 

10% 

0% 

AFGHANISTAN 

BENIN 

FYROM 

SOUTH AFRICA 

ARGENTINA 

CANADA 

ALBANIA 

CAPE VERDE 

SAUDI ARABIA 

BOTSWANA 

AUSTRALIA 

CYPRUS 

ALGERIA 

CHINA (Beijing) 

BOLIVIA 

CHILE 

BARBADOS 

MALTA 

WEST  BANK/GAZA 
STRIP 

BOSNIA 
HERZEGOVINA 

AND 

CHINA 
Kong) 

(Hong 

BRAZIL 

NORWAY 

COLOMBIA 

BULGARIA 

COSTA RICA 

CÔTE D'IVOIRE 

SOUTH KOREA 

JAMAICA : 

CROATIA 

SWITZERLAND 

DOMINICAN 
REPUBLIC 

USA (New York) 

EGYPT 

CUBA 

JAPAN (Tokyo) 

ESTONIA 

USA 
(Washington) 

ECUADOR 

GABON 

JORDAN 

HUNGARY 

ANGOLA 

ARMENIA 

BANGLADESH 

BURKINA FASO 

BURUNDI 

CAMBODIA 

CAMEROON 

ERITREA 

ETHIOPIA 

(Tel 

LEBANON 

LATVIA 

MALAYSIA 

LITHUANIA 

ISRAEL 
Aviv) 

LESOTHO 

MEXICO 

NEW 
CALEDONIA 

ROMANIA 

PARAGUAY 

CENTRAL  AFRICAN 
REPUBLIC 

FIJI 

CONGO 
(BRAZZAVILLE) 

GAMBIA 

GHANA 

MOROCCO 

MAURITIUS 

NAMIBIA 

POLAND 

SLOVAKIA 

SLOVENIA 

CZECH 
REPUBLIC 

TRINIDAD 
TOBAGO 

& 

TUNISIA 

URUGUAY 

CONGO (KINSHASA) 

SWAZILAND 

SENEGAL 

SYRIA 

SINGAPORE 

THAILAND 

TAIWAN 

VANUATU 

TURKEY 

YUGOSLAVIA 
(Belgrade) 

ZIMBABWE 

DJIBOUTI 

GEORGIA 

GUINEA 

GUINEA-BISSAU 

GUYANA 

HAITI 

INDONESIA 

KAZAKHSTAN 

KYRGYZSTAN 

LIBERIA 

MALI 

MAURITANIA 

NIGER 

GUATEMALA 

HONDURAS 

INDIA 

JAPAN (Naka) 

KENYA 

LAOS 

MADAGASCAR 

MALAWI 

MOZAMBIQUE 

NEPAL 

NICARAGUA 

UGANDA 

PERU 

PHILIPPINES 

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35% 

25% 

20% 

15% 

10% 

0% 

NIGERIA (Abuja) 

RUSSIA 

PAKISTAN 

EL SALVADOR 

NEW 

SRI LANKA 

SURINAM 

TANZANIA 

UKRAINE 

VENEZUELA 

VIETNAM 

ZAMBIA 

PAPUA 
GUINEA 

RWANDA 

SOLOMON ISLANDS 

SIERRA LEONE 

SUDAN 

TAJIKISTAN 

CHAD 

TOGO 

YEMEN 

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