Message from the Council branch of the FFPE to the Presidency of the Council of the European Union accompanying the staff petition on the pension scheme

The petition on the pension scheme which we submit to you today, 12 March 2003, in which we reject any reform that would result in a fall in purchasing power and/or a change in the career system that offers fewer possibilities of advancement than at present, was signed by almost the all the Council staff present.

The signatures were collected by the two trade union organisations which represent the interests of staff at the Council.

The Presidency is undoubtedly also aware that the Trade Union Alliance, representing the majority of staff in all the European institutions, has formally asked the Commission to withdraw its proposal for reform of the Staff Regulations so that it can renegotiate with it the unacceptable features of the package, i.e.:

• the wholesale replacement of officials by contract staff and staff employed by offices, and
• the replacement of an independent European civil service by one under the thumb of the political authorities,

and, having done that, resubmit the renegotiated proposal to the Council.

The petition also expresses Council staff's fear that the Member States may forget that there is such a thing as the principle of legitimate expectations.

That is something which must be reflected in the Communities' unconditional compliance with the obligations into which they have entered vis-à-vis their staff, whose single-minded commitment to the Community cause deserves no less.

In the context of a "reform" which in itself (particularly with its contractualised offices and job system) already irreversibly alters the founding fathers' intent to establish an independent and loyal career civil service working in the common interest, any deterioration in the pension scheme for existing staff would simply aggravate the situation.

We at the FFPE, a representative organisation present in other European international organisations, can tell you that no international organisation has ever changed the fundamental parameters of the pension rights of its existing staff.

This staff petition therefore comes as a warning to you that the commitment to the Community cause unfailingly displayed by staff and the fulfilment of their legitimate expectations are two sides of the same coin.

The Committee of the Council branch of the FFPE

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