Open letter to President Barroso
Open letter to President Barroso
Mister President,
We are concerned to learn of your appointment as advisor and non-executive chairman of the activities of the US investment bank Goldman Sachs.
All the press across the European Union recalled the role of the bank especially in the context of the 2007 financial crisis and the Greek crisis and stressed the disastrous consequences for Commission and more broadly European Institutions image of your decision, in the particularly delicate and Europhobic political context of Brexit.
The staff of the institution that you chaired for ten years is thus a victim of your decision that takes only into account your own private interests, while the common decency should not have lead you to accept such a function.
However, we cannot stop there and ask you to give it up, notably under Article 245 TFEU which provides that:
“The Members of the Commission may not, during their term of office, engage in any other occupation, whether gainful or not. When entering upon their duties they shall give a solemn undertaking that, both during and after their term of office, they will respect the obligations arising therefrom and in particular their duty to behave with integrity and discretion as regards the acceptance, after they have ceased to hold office, of certain appointments or benefits. In the event of any breach of these obligations, the Court of Justice may, on application by the Council acting by a simple majority or the Commission, rule that the Member concerned be, according to the circumstances, either compulsorily retired in accordance with Article 247 or deprived of his right to a pension or other benefits in its stead.”
And even if you have respected the eighteen-months rule which appears in the Code of Conduct for Commissioners, in the context of post-employment activities, Point 1.2 of the Code provides that “duty to behave with integrity and discretion pursuant to Article 245 of the Treaty (TFEU) even beyond the period of 18 months after ceasing to hold office” shall remain in effect.
In this case, the compatibility of the acceptance of this function within Goldman Sachs with the duties of integrity and discretion pursuant this Article clearly arises.
It is also in this sense that ruled today the European Ombudsman that has moreover requested to revise ethical rules in the light of recent events. But beyond a legal debate, it is a moral question first.
Given the political and moral responsibility of the members, former members and a fortiori former President of the Commission, we ask you to reconsider your decision.
Cristiano SEBASTIANI
(Signé)
President
Open space offices
Here you can find a very interesting analysis published today by R&D.
Use of national law contracts at the JRC: follow-up
In
relation to the national law contract issue, we wish to inform you that
this morning a technical concertation meeting with DG HR took place.
DG HR shares much of trade
unions' concern about the derogation requested by the JRC to make use of a
large number of national contracts (12% of staff). They stated that
derogations, if any, should be strictly limited.
Concluding the discussion, DG
HR confirmed that this issue will have to be discussed in September at
political level with VP Georgieva.
We'll continue to defend a
correct application of the Staff Regulation at the JRC and we'll keep you
informed.
R&D writes to the Secretary General on Dieselgate
As a trade union we are particularly concerned with defending the rights
and good reputation of JRC staff who have worked meticulously, and we asked the
Secretary General what concrete actions are being taken to protect our
colleagues.
The Secretary
general has now replied to our letter confirming the
Commission's support for the JRC and for its personnel. Unfortunately though it is not clear that the Commission really understands the gravity of the situation.
In particular we wish to draw to your
attention this letter from
the EP EMIS committee of 2nd June in which EMIS
representatives appear critical of the JRC for an apparent retention of
information, opening the door to doubts about the transparency of the process. We believe that this criticism may damage
the JRC reputation even more than the scandal itself - the dividing line
between perception and reality is narrow.
In the meantime, articles continue to appear in the press questioning the management of this issue by all involved parties:
20.06.2016 Growing proof that EU suspected diesel fraud
We
believe that mistakes at this stage may cause a serious threat to the JRC and
the Commission, and further feed eurosceptic feelings throughout the continent. We call all those in key-functions to openly and transparently
collaborate with the inquiry body and to learn lessons for the future.
Brexit: consequences for UK officials
Upon request of the Alliance, Vice-President
Georgieva met the Trade unions on Friday 24 June to inform them about a
first analysis on the foreseeable consequences and immediate measures further to the decision of the British
citizens to leave the European Union. She wished to express the current deep sadness within the Commission, which now has to face an unprecedented situation.
Nevertheless, she stressed that the European project would go on. In fact, the history
of the last 50 years shows countless gains and achievements as to
economics, social rights and peace preservation.
At world level, by virtue of
its size and economic weight, the European Union has more opportunities to play
a significant role and has a greater influence than each single Member state
would have.
As to the UK officials of the European
Institutions, Vice-President Georgieva recalled the terms of the message sent the same day by the President of the Commission: « they are
EU agents and Brexit does not imply that the door would close on them; the Commission
will work together with the other European Institutions to ensure their
stability and continue counting on their outstanding talent, experience and
commitment. To summarize: same rights and obligations for all officials of the
European Union ».
Vice-President Georgieva also informed the Trade Unions of
the extraordinary European Council on Tuesday 28 June. She said
that the
Commission would immediately launch a “deep assessment” on “where we are and
where we are going”, and that the next months would be de facto a very
complicated period.
Pending the UK notification to leave the European
Union, which will activate the negotiations of the withdrawal Agreement in
accordance with Art. 50 of the EU Treaty, the Commission will draw up a
specific political agenda including the structural aspects that should result
from it, as to organization and functioning.
Transitory measures are not excluded, if we consider
that withdrawal negotiations can last up to 2 years, even
longer.
Although we admit that Vice President Georgieva promptly met the Trade Unions after the Brexit referendum, we pleaded for:
· the need for a dedicated social dialogue frame - Brexit-oriented - on a long term in
view of safeguarding colleagues’ acquired rights and legitimate
expectations;
· the importance to learn from the Brexit in terms of communication to the
European citizens;
· a re-invigorated defence of the gains and achievements of the European
Union in the political, economic, social and cultural fields;
· the implementation of an organizational and functioning stable framework as a necessary measure anticipating
the consequences of the Brexit on the structure of our Institution.
Considering
its strong interinstutional and “multi-area” presence, we as Alliance will ensure that proper and strict
respect is given to the general interest of the European citizens by means of an autonomous, competent and independent public function, as a key instrument of the achievement
process of the European project.
Use of national law contracts at the JRC
You can find here a joint
position of ALL Trade Unions and the Central Staff Committee expressing their
total rejection of a derogation requested by the JRC to make extensive use of
national law contracts (12% of JRC staff, i.e. c.350 posts).
The request is in
contradiction with the agreement reached in a political concertation in 2009
with Commissioners Potočnik and Kallas, when it was decided to phase-out
'Grantholder' national law contracts in favour of statutory positions.
The European Commission, in
fact, decided many years ago to move away from national law contracts wherever
possible, and this derogation if granted would circumvent Commission rules and
practices.
Please also find the joint statement of the "JRC Board of Governors".
A vision for the future of the Ispra site
Today five trade unions - representing a large majority of Ispra staff - have gone one step further presenting their vision to strengthen the Ispra site and the JRC at the heart of the Commission.
In our letter sent to VP Georgieva we are asking for the full alignment of the functioning of the Ispra site to current and future practices and standards applied in the rest of the Commission.
One major change consists in an increased used of Offices. Moving the management of infrastructure & logistics from the JRC to OIB , as well as aligning the Ispra site with standard practices, would help to address the conclusions reported in the "Audit of JRC portfolio of buildings", and provide at the same time a better career perspective for involved contractual agents for whom indeterminate contracts may become possible. The concept of moving financial support to PMO or another new Office could also offer similar benefits.
Thanks to a DG-neutral approach to infrastructure management, we see future possibilities to host more DGs – in addition to the JRC – at the Ispra site. We consider this move as the most promising one to keep - and even increase - the overall size of the Ispra site, thus guaranteeing a long and prosperous future to it and its staff, with increased opportunities for recruitments and staff mobility.
27 July 2016 - Reply from VC Georgieva
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