CELEX: 51981PC0345
Language: en
Date: 1981-07-02
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A DECISION amending the method of adjusting the salaries of officials and other servants of the Communities (presented by the Commission to the Council)

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (81) 345
Vol. 1981/0110
 ---pagebreak--- Disclaimer
Conformément au règlement (CEE, Euratom) n° 354/83 du Conseil du 1er février 1983
concernant l'ouverture au public des archives historiques de la Communauté économique
européenne et de la Communauté européenne de l'énergie atomique (JO L 43 du 15.2.1983,
p. 1), tel que modifié par le règlement (CE, Euratom) n° 1700/2003 du 22 septembre 2003
(JO L 243 du 27.9.2003, p. 1), ce dossier est ouvert au public. Le cas échéant, les documents
classifiés présents dans ce dossier ont été déclassifiés conformément à l'article 5 dudit
règlement.
In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983
concerning the opening to the public of the historical archives of the European Economic
Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (OJ L 43, 15.2.1983, p. 1), as
amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1700/2003 of 22 September 2003 (OJ L 243,
27.9.2003, p. 1), this file is open to the public. Where necessary, classified documents in this
file have been declassified in conformity with Article 5 of the aforementioned regulation.
In Übereinstimmung mit der Verordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr. 354/83 des Rates vom 1.
Februar 1983 über die Freigabe der historischen Archive der Europäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft und der Europäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI. L 43 vom 15.2.1983,
S. 1), geändert durch die Verordnung (EG, Euratom) Nr. 1700/2003 vom 22. September 2003
(ABI. L 243 vom 27.9.2003, S. 1), ist diese Datei der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich. Soweit
erforderlich, wurden die Verschlusssachen in dieser Datei in Übereinstimmung mit Artikel 5
der genannten Verordnung freigegeben.
 ---pagebreak---   COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                     COM ( 81 ) 345 final
                                                   • Brussels / 2nd July 1981
                              PROPOSAL FOR A DECISION
              amending the method of adjusting the salaries of officials
              and other servants of the Communities
                     ( presented by the Commission to the Council )
                  V­
COM ( 81 ) 345 finals
 ---pagebreak---                   DECISION AMENDING IKE METHOD OP ADJUSTING THE
                  SALARIES OF OFFICIALS AND OTHER SERVANTS OF THE COMMUNITIES
THE . COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard to the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions
of Employment of Other Servants , and in particular Articles 64 and 65
of the Staff Regulations and Articles 20 , 63 and 64 of the Conditions
of Employment ,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ,
After consultation with the trade unions and staff associations
representing the staff of the Communities ; '
Whereas it is necessary to lay down the detailed rules according to
which' the Council , acting on a proposal from the Commission , applies
Article 65 of the Staff Regulations , in order to maintain harmonious
relations "between the Community institutions and their officials and
other staff :
                     1
Whereas , having regard to ^he principle of parallel development ,
salaries should "be adjusted on the "basis of the results " expressed "by
the joint index and the specific indicators showing the trend of
national public service salaries ;   whereas , however , to avoid distortions ,
the catching^-up element in public service salaries in certain less
prosperous. Member States should "be excluded ;  whereas , to that end ,
the" only specific indicators to "be considered in the annual reviews
from 1981 to 1990 should "be those relating to trends in the six Member
States where per capita public service salaries are the highest ;
Whereas it is also necessary to lay down detailed rules according to
which the Council takes account of appreciable increases in the cost of
living for the purposes of adjusting the weightings pursuant to      -   /
Article 65(2 );                         ,
 ---pagebreak--- Whereas , however , if the purchasing power forecast for any reference
period produces a negative figure , the' relevant interim adjustments
should be reduced accordingly ;
Whereas , in view of the specific difficulties of the economic and social
situation , assessed in the light of objective data supplied by the .
Commission , a special crisis levy should be charged on salaries , pensions
and termination~of~service allowances at the same time as adjustments
are made under this Method and so long as those difficulties persist ;
whereas to that end the Commission should submit to the Council a
proposal for amending certain provisions of the Staff Regulations and
CEOS for the purpose of introducing the levy and determining rules for
its application in relation to adjustments made in accordance with this
Method ,                          ,
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS : -
                                  Article 1
The Method for adjusting the remuneration of .officials and other
servants of the European Communities adopted on 26 June 1976 is replaced
by the text annexed to this Decision .
This Method shall apply from 1 July 1 981 and shall take account , on that
date , of the reference period beginning on 1 July 1 980 .
                                                    I
                                % Article 2
Tnis Decision shall take effect at the same time as the entry into force
of the provisions of the Staff Regulations establishing a special crisis
levy , except that the provisions governing interim adjustment of salaries
shall have immediate effect from the day when this Decision is published .
Done at Brussels ,                                    For the Council
                                                      The President
 ---pagebreak---  I.       BASIC PRINCIPLES
 The adjustment of salaries "based, on Article 65 of the Staff Regulations
 forms part of a policy which aims to ensure that the remuneration of
 officials and other servants develops in line with the average increase
 in the remuneration of the various categories of civil servants in the
 Member States .
 For a period of ten years it takes the following factors . into
 consideration :
                I
      ( i ) the specific indicator ( the change in purchasing power of national
    ,        civil servants );
   ( ii )    the joint cost-of-living index as hitherto ;
 ( iii ) the statistics required for interim adjustments ( Article 65(2 )),
             which aim to ensure equivalence of purchasing power for all
             European officials , regardless of their place of employment ;
   ( iv) the specific difficulties of the economic and social situation ,
             considered in the light of objective data supplied by the
             Commission !
      ( v ) recruitment needs . ,
                                         *•
II .       DETAIL' rules for application
1.'      AKKUAL SALARY REVIEW       .                                         '
         ( Article 65(1 ) of the Staff Regulation)
Each September the Commission shall submit a report on the following
factors :                         '
1.1        Cost-of-living trends                                            .
The joint index , designed to measure cost–of–living trends in each of
the Member States , shall continue to be used-in accordance with the
procedure applied hitherto .
 ---pagebreak---                                      - 4 -
  Every five years , -the Statistical Office of the European Communities
  shall verify whether the ratios "between weightings accurately reflect
  purchasing power equivalents between salaries paid to staff serving
  in the capitals of the Member States .
' A similar check sha.ll "be made for other places of employment when
  objective factors suggest that there is a danger of considerable
  distortions compared to data for the capital of the country concerned .
  1.2     Changes in real income of national civil services - Specific
          indicators
  The aim is to measure the percentage change in purchasing power in
  national civil services *
  For this purpose :
  ( a)   The Statistical Office of the European Communities shall calculate
  specific indicators for the changes in real salaries and working hours
  in the civil services of the Member States during the preceding reference
  period , on the basis of information supplied by the national authorities .
  The reference period shall be the twelve months preceding 1 July of the
  year in which the review is carried out .
  The Statistical Office shall establish the average of the indicators
      κ
  for all the Member States and for the six Member States which have the
  highest civil service per capita compensation.'''
  At the annual reviews for 1981 to 1990 only the second average will be
  considered.    When the 1991 review takes place t3^e Council shall decide ,
  on a proposal from the Commission , whether this ! 'method of calculation
  is to continue . :                                 !! _
                                  *
    Compensation of employees per wage and salary earner in the public
    administration sector , at current prices and purchasing power parities ,
    expressed in purchasing power standards , for the latent year for
   which statistics are available .
    ( See National Accounts ESA – Aggregates 19 81 , page 163 ).
 ---pagebreak---  These indicators shall take two forms :
 ( a) an indicator for each of the- four categories A, B, C and D ;
 ( b) an average indicator weighted to reflect the numbers of national civil
       servants in these four categories .                                 *
Each 'of these indicators shall be calculated in real gross and real net terms ,
When the specific indicators'are converted from gross to net , account shall
be taken of all national taxation factors which reduce the amount of taxable
 income . "    .
 At the request of the Statistical Office , national authorities shall supply
 any additional information which it may consider necessary .
 ( b ) If the Statistical Office finds statistical anomalies in the information,
 obtained or finds it impossible to calculate indicators which measure with
 statistical accuracy the changes in the real incomes of civil servants in
 a given Member State , it shall report to the Commission and provide the
 Commission with material enabling it to draw up a proposal .
'(c ) The Statistical Office shall also assess statistically the difference
 between the gross and net rates of the specific indicators on the basis of
 national budgetary data and national accounts .
 (d ) To determine arrangements for implementing the method described above
 and to minimize the risk of disputes regarding the data for the current
 financial year , the Statistical Office shall in Mar(ch each year convene
 a working party composed of experts from national . statistical institutes .
                                                      ■ 1
 The working party :
 . shall examine all the factors necessary for an accurate measurement of the
      development in purchasing power in national civil services and the
 ---pagebreak---      practical problems involved in calculating the net indicators .    This
     will entail compiling a list of taxes and compulsory contributions and
     also of flat-rate or individual' deductions and abatements which play a
     part in determining the basic taxable amount ;
     shall supply the information required to produce a forecast of changes
     in purchasing power in national civil services over the reference period *
                *
 (e)    Besides the specific indicators , the Statistical Office shall submit
 control indicators in the form of data on real per capita emoluments in
 public authorities generally and in central administrations , calculated in
 accordance with national accounts definitions .
 Its report on the specific indicators shall be accompanied . by explanations
 of the differences between them and the changes in the control indicators .
 The Statistical Office shall make appropriate corrections if necessary .
 1.3    The Council , acting on a proposal from the Commission , shall take a
 decision by 1 December of each year adjusting remuneration on the basis of
 the criteria at 1 above and activating a portion of the levy provided for
 at 2 below .
 2.   ^THE SPECIFIC DIPFICLTTIES OF THE ECONOMIC MB SOCIAL SITUATION
~2.1    The specific difficulties of the economic and social situation , assessed
 on the basis of objective data supplied by the Commission showing the gap
 between :                •                  ,
 •   the trend in real per capita wages and salaries and apparent productivity
     per person employed ;            ,           '         '
 .   the trend in real per capita wages and salaries and productivity available
                                                     •1 - I
     for distribution ( productivity corrected for the terms of trade );
 ---pagebreak---                                        - 7 -
 .    and. -the trend, in real per capita wages and. salaries and productivity
      per member of the active population , i.e. including the unemployed ,
 shall during the first five years be reflected by a crisis levy .        The
 rules for applying this levy shall be laid down in new provisions of
 the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants*.
 2.2      If there is a serious deterioration in the economic and social
 situation , the Commission , acting on the basis of the objective data
 referred to at 2.1 above , shall present appropriate proposals for a "
 Council decision .        '
                                                                              •*
 3.     RECRUITfffiNT NEEDS
                                                             f
        ( Article 65(1 ) of the Staff Regulations )
      *                                                                   '
                                     *
 If recruitment needs so require , the Commission shall present appropriate
 proposals to the Council . '                             1
 4.     PROCEDURE FOR DECIDING ON ADJUSTMENTS TO REMUNERATION
 ( a) The Council shall determine remuneration adjustments in net terms .        Such
 adjustments may be expressed as an identical , across-the-board percentage
 or in a non-proportional manner .
 The adjustment may therefore be expressed as :                ■ " -
     a percentage ;
     and/or. a specific amount .
 ( b ) The net rate of adjustment thus fixed and the weightings applicable
 to officials in Belgium and Luxembourg shall be incorporated ,* in accordance
 with the following method., in the salary scales given in Article 66 of the
 Staff Regulations and in Articles 20 and 63 of the Conditions of Employment
 of Other Servants :                                    1. -                       -
. the net remuneration with a weighting of 100 attaching to each step
   The' relevant proposal will be forwarded separately , in accordance with the
. usual procedure .
 ---pagebreak---  of each grade of official and to each, class in every group of other
 servants; shall be increased by the above weighting and by the net
rate of adjustment referred to at ( b ) above , whether it is given as
a percentage or as a specific amount ;                                   1
the " neV; scale of basic salaries in gross terms shall bs drawn up by calculating
for each step or class the gross amount which , after deduction of tax
( having regard to ( c ) bfelow ) and compulsory deductions , gives the new ■
net' amount referred to above ;
this conversion of net amounts into gross 'amounts - shall be based on the ■
situation of an unmarried official who does not receive the various allowances';
the weighting for Belgium and Luxembourg shall be . fixed at 100 ? the
weightings for other countries of employment shall be adjusted on the basis
of. the ratio between the cost-of-living index, numbers in these countries
and the cost-of-living index number in Brussels and Luxembourg -              , -
 (o ) For the purpose of applying Regulation (EEC , ' Euratom , ECSC ) No 260/63
concerning Community tax to remunerations paid in' accordance with the scale
of basic salaries worked out as provided by the first indent , the amounts
in Article 4 of the Regulation shall be multiplied by a factor composed of :
    the weighting applicable before incorporation to the remunerations of
    officials in Belgium and Luxembourg;       .
   the net adjustment in remunerations referred to ^t ( b ) above ;
                                                      !
    and/or , if the adjustment is made in the form of a specific amount , the
    equivalent average percentage .          .                             •,
Each time the scale of basic salaries is adjusted , the new multiplier
shall be obtained by multiplying the former multiplier by the figures
for the new reference period .
 ---pagebreak---   ( d ) The Council decision shall "take effect on 1 July of the year in which
 the end of the reference period used for . the pay review falls .
  5 . . IKTERIM AJJUSTKENT OF REKUKERATION
        ( Article 65(2 ) of the Staff Regulations)'
 Interim adjustments of remuneration under Article 65(2 ) shall be decided on in
the event of a substantial change in the cost of living, provided a certain
threshold is reached , on the basis of a forecast of changes in purchasing
 power during the current year .
  In March each year the Statistical Office shall make a forecast of changes
  in purchasing power over the period concerned on the basis of the information
 supplied at the meeting provided for at II, 1.2(d ) above .                  . -
If this forecast gives a negative percentage , half the amount shall be
deducted from .the adjustment to be made .     A final adjustment shall be made
at the annual review .
The threshold shall be 40fo of the average change in the cost of living in
                                                       1
the Community over the . six–month reference period . following the last adjustment
of remuneration . However , to preclude excessively high or low , and therefore
unacceptable , thresholds , upper and lower limits of 4$ and 2^ respectively
                      .         .           -        \   . .      .
shall be fixed . .             -
This threshold shall be applied in accordance with ihe following procedure :
The Commission 's proposal for application of Article 65(2 ) in respect of the
second half of the previous year shall normally be sent to the Counoil no
later than the second half of April .
 ' » _    1.1 .• J «1   _i 1 .    . . . . «
   As published "by the Statistical Office (Monthly updating of consumer prices –
   General statistics and National Accounts SOEC ).
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 10
If the above threshold is reached or exceeded in Belgium , the weightings
for all places of employment shall he adjusted on 1 January cf the current
year* by the rate of inflation in each of then , subject to a reduction which
may be made proportionally to all the weightings should the forecast show
a negative movement in purchasing power .,
In addition to this six-monthly adjustment , additional adjustments shall
he made" in countries with a high rate of inflation®     For double the
threshold , one half ox the rate of adjustment shall be granted and for
three times the threshold , one third ; in each case the deduction provided
for in the third paragraph of this section shall be made from the rate
of adjustment .   The . effective dates shall be either the beginning of
the third month in the reference period or the beginning of the second
and the fourth months following the start of the reference period .      This
shall be checked when the Commission makes its proposal in April and
rechecked at the annual salary review .
                                                 ν
If the threshold is not reached at the provisional seats ( Brussels and
Luxembourg) , the weightings of the countries where inflation has exceeded .
the threshold shall be adjusted in line with their rate of inflation .
The interim adjustments described above shall be deducted from the annual
salary adjustment .
 If the measures taken under Article 65(2 ) lead tba drop at the end of a
year in nominal salaries in some places of employment , salaries shall remain
 at their current level and the full or residual reduction shall be effected
 at the next adjustment .              •
                               I
 Where no joint indices are available for the purposes of applying Article 65(2 )
 of the Staff Regulations , national consumer price indices shall be used ;
 on the occasion of the annual review the joint index shall be used .
 ---pagebreak---                                    - 11-
III .   FUTAL PROVISIONS MP REVIEW CLAUSE
1.    The salary adjustment method adopted by this Decision shall apply
for 10 years from 1 July 1981 .
2.    The special crisis levy shall apply from the date laid down in the
Council Regulation instituting it and shall in particular "be levied on
arrears of- salary due under the annual adjustment of remuneration for
1981 , in respect of periods of service after 1 July of that year .
3.    Six months "before the end of the fifth year , the Commission shall
present a report to the Council on the operation of the Method , together
with an appropriate proposal , notably as regards the procedure for
reflecting the specific difficulties of the economic and social
situation from the sixth year onwards .     Unless the Council decides
otherwise , the implementing rules at II . 1 shall continue to apply .
4.    On the basis of a Commission proposal , the Council shall examine
the results of applying the Method described above at the 1 99 1 review ,
with an eye to deciding on improvements which might be made and
correcting any distortions which have arisen .