Latest update on the reform

08/03/2013 ,
As you know, during the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework negotiations that took place early February, the European Council decided to cut the administrative spending by Euro 1.5 Billion. This comes on top of the Euro 1 Billion saving that the Commission proposed on a voluntary basis with the reform of the Staff Regulations tabled in December 2011 (see our previous message).
In order to find the extra 1.5 Billion saving, the Commission proposes to freeze the salaries and pensions of all the staff employed in the EU Institutions, agencies and other bodies over the next 2 years (2013 and 2014). This means that the provision of the method that expired on 31 December 2012 to align the evolution of EU staff remuneration and pensions to that of national civil servants will not be applied for 2 years, even when the method will be reinstated following the reform.  

The exact amount of purchasing power loss will depend on the combination of inflation and the evolution of national civil servants salaries during the next two years, but we expect that it will roughly correspond to one echelon. The effects of this salary freeze will be felt even after the 2 year period and when one enters retirement. We are following this point very closely but it seems that there is little that can be done to counter this perspective, the pressure of the Council on this aspect is very intense and in any case 1.5 Billion must be found within the administrative spending. During this freeze period, it is probable that the correction coefficient will be updated annually as usual.Another proposed measure is much more controversial: the negotiations in their current state foresee the introduction of a new 6% “crisis levy” in parallel with the salary freeze. We can’t accept this levy in the absence of method or if the reinstated method substantially diverges from the old one. As negotiated during the last reform of 2004, the levy was introduced in exchange for a stable and well defined method: one goes with the other. Our position is that during any salary and pension freeze, no levy can be applied. DG HR was receptive to this argumentation and will take it into account when negotiating with the Council. One point anyway seems clear: the levy cannot be retroactively applied. We will not have to pay back what we should pay now were the solidarity not having expired at the end 2012.
But there is even more!
The way the February Council conclusions are written is open to interpretation. Several members of the Council Status Working Group (with Austria as forerunner) wish to introduce in the new method after the 2 years freeze period a limitation in the salary evolution, until 2020 at least. It comprises a “dynamic cap” that consists in deducting 0.5 % from every annual salary adjustment, even if it results in a negative adjustment; and a “static cap” that limits any future positive annual salary adjustment to max. 2%.The Commission does not agree with this proposal that is not in line with the Council summit conclusions.
Since the Council summit, the Commission (DG HR) has met several times with the Council Status Working Group but discussions are difficult and the two parties don’t agree on how to implement the reform. Furthermore, the Status Working Group has no single common opinion and some of its members have a rather extreme position. The Commission requested to negotiate from now on at the COREPER level (the ambassadors of the Member States) and hopes that they will have a more realistic and reasonable approach.
The European Parliament will give its green or red light on the MFF proposal in June/early July. If the Parliament gives it OK, a trilogue will take place (Council-Commission-Parliament) to discuss the way forward to implement the MFF budget reduction, and it is thought that the Parliament will strengthen the Commission position against the Council.
To conclude, the negotiations on the reform are still in a very early stage and somewhat chaotic. Having reached an agreement for the MFF does not mean that everything is now clarified. A 2-year salaries and pension freeze seems unavoidable, but several Member States still want to attack the European public service even more.
In any case the reform won't entry into force before January 2014.
We must be very careful to defend our rights, and we need your continuing support!
R&D is here to defend your rights!

JSIS Online - Survey

04/03/2013


As you may have already read last week, the PMO has launched the new application "JSIS-online" through which you'll be able to check the status of your claims for reimbursement and consult your files (see broadcast sent on 25/02).

We really welcome this initiative and hope the problems encountered by some of you will be solved soon. Nevertheless, we would like to have your feedback regarding the new IT tool as well as any issues you may have (or had) with the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme. Please let us know if you have undergone any kind of problem, such as for example late reimbursement, refusals, prior authorisations, extremely penalising application of the new parity coefficients, etc: please fill in the short anonymous survey form at this address. We also want to hear from you if you are happy with the service provided, in order that we can get a complete picture - we really hope that all of our members will spend a couple of minutes on this short survey. The deadline to respond is 15/3, and we plan to follow up with a R&D Café to discuss the situation. 

Further to the general information we are collecting in the survey, we are of course happy to give you our support with any specific issues you may have: please feel free to pass by at the Secretariat or to make an appointment with our R&D colleagues if you wish. Your privacy will be safeguarded at all times.

R&D café on Multiannual Financial Framework: 13/03/2013

28/02/2013 ,
We are pleased to confirm the previously announced R&D Café on the topic of the recently agreed MFF. As you will be aware, the agreed budget includes a further reduction to the administrative heading beyond that already proposed by the Commission. This will naturally reflect on the future administrative spending and the proposed "Reform" of the Staff Regulations.
On 7th March the "Groupe technique Rémuneration" (GTR) will meet and a discussion of the method for salary adaptation and other aspects of the reform are on the agenda. R&D will be present and we have decided it would be most useful to hold the R&D Café after this meeting so we can present the latest possible scenarios and listen to your views.
The R&D café will therefore take place on 13/03 at 13:00 in Room 3 (bld. 36). Please come along and share in the debate over a coffee!

Transfert of pension rights IN - Art. 90 templates

26/02/2013
Templates to appeal against the retro-active application of the new rules applicable for transfers of pension adopted on 3rd March 2011 are now available.

A first case has been brought before the Court of Justice (Verile Case) and a series of others are suspended while awaiting the verdict which will be handed down in this "test" case.

The Verile case will be heard on 19th March.

Our lawyer Sébastien Orlandi will keep you up to date with progress, in an information session which will be held on 27thFebruary at 13.00 in the Central Staff Committee (CCP) Meeting Room. 

R&D cafè: Multiannual Financial Framework

14/02/2013 , , , , ,
During the recently concluded European summit (7/8 February 2013) the Council approved the Multiannual Financial Framework programme 2014-2020; the conclusions can be found at this link. Last Monday 11/2 the vice-president of the European Commission Mr Šefčovič discussed the MFF with the trade unions which gave us the possibility to understand better the Commission view of the programme. As regards Heading V (see pages 39/40 of the MFF conclusions) on the administrative expenditures (salaries, European Schools, etc.), a cut of €2,5 billion has been foreseen (€1 billion more than the Commission’s initial proposal) together with the confirmation of the already announced staff cut of 5% for the period 2013-2017. Furthermore, it has been proposed that no salary adaptation will be applied for the next 2 years, while it is not clear yet what it will happen to the solidarity levy. The European Parliament will now evaluate the Council proposal: it's up to the MEPs to decide whether to accept or reject it, but no amendments are possible.
Negotiations will be carried out in the coming weeks: if you want to know more or express your views please come to the R&D Cafè that we are going to organise by the end of February. Stay tuned!

R&D café: EPSO call Contract Agents FGIV on 5/2/13

31/01/2013 ,
Following the publication of the call for expression of interest for contract agents FGIV (replacement of GH contracts) we have received many enquiries regarding the application procedure and eligibility. We already held an R&D café in December on this topic and we think it would very useful to follow this up with another. The intention is to focus on specific practical questions that can help potential candidates decide if it is worthwhile applying, and in order to make the best application.
Considering the deadline for applications is very soon (1st March 2013), we have decided to hold this R&D café on 5th February (13:00, Amphitheatre bldg. 36). To help us to be more effective we kindly ask that you communicate to us any questions or comments you have before the meeting, by replying to this message.

EPSO Call for Contract Agents FGIV

30/01/2013 ,
The call for expression of interest for contract agents FGIV (replacing Grantholder Category 30) has finally been launched (see EPSO webpage).
Registrations have to be validated by 12:00 - 1st March 2013 and the final test results will be available in June/July 2013, depending on the number of applications.

We are very happy that, after years of efforts, this call has finally been opened. We have provided a major contribution to push it forward: see for instance our letter to our DG Ristori signed by the Ispra/Seville Trade Union majority on 9th August 2012 and our presentation to GH colleagues given last 5th December on this subject.

Please spread the information among those (collaborators, Universities etc.) you think may be interested in applying: from our part we’ll continue to commit ourselves for the reinforcement of JRC scientific activities.

Don't forget that our secretariat is always open if you want to pass by and ask for advice.
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