2. STAFFING NEEDS OF THE COMMISSION IN
THE ENLARGED EUROPEAN UNION
(23554)
9759/02
COM(02) 311
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Commission Communication: Activities and Human Resources of the Commission in the Enlarged European Union.
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| Legal base: | —
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| Department: | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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| Basis of consideration: | Official letter of 4 December 2002
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| Previous Committee Report: | HC 152-xxxvi (2001-02), paragraph 1 (10 July 2002)
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| Presented to Council: | 18 November General Affairs and External Relations Council
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| Committee's assessment: | Politically important
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| Committee's decision: | For debate in European Standing Committee B (decision reported on 10 July 2002)
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Background
2.1 The Commission identifies the changes that enlargement
will make to its activities and the additional human resources
required to meet these changes. Job Profiles (métiers)
describe the type of work its staff undertake that will be affected
by enlargement as:
- human resources and budgetary management;
- law making, monitoring and ensuring compliance with the acquis;
- linguistic (translation/interpretation/publication); and
- policy making and co-ordination.
2.2 The Commission estimates additional staffing needs
at 3,900, an increase of 13%.
2.3 When we considered this Communication on 10 July
2002, we asked the Government to provide us with more detailed
information on how the other EU institutions had arrived at their
estimates of their needs.
The FCO letter
2.4 In a belated response to our request the FCO has
sent us the information we requested in a letter dated 4 December.
This arrived too late for us to analyse the attachments:
(1) The Council Secretariat's report of 12 March 2002 on
The administrative consequences for the General Secretariat of
the Council of the enlargement of the EU; and
(2) Reports I and II, one dated 17 July 2002, the other undated,
from the Secretary-General of the European Parliament, on the
authority of the Vice-President, Guido Podestà, Preparing
for the Parliament of the enlarged European Union.
2.5 The FCO comments as follows:
— Attachment (a)
"The Council Secretariat established a small task force to
estimate its additional resource requirements. The attached report
was finalised on 12 March 2002.
"The report recognises the impact of four other developments
in its estimate of additional needs following enlargement: the
new requirements of the Common Foreign and Security Policy; the
decision taken at the Nice European Council to hold European Councils
in Brussels; the recommendations of the September 2001 internal
audit; and changes to the Institutions' Staff Regulations, which
are currently being negotiated. Despite these additional tasks,
we understand that the Council Secretariat's estimates are the
result of considerable self-restraint and rationalisation.
"The report concludes, inter alia, that the Council
Secretariat will require an additional 288 posts for 2002-2003,
and 386 posts in the post-accession period, from 2004 onwards.
The bulk of these requirements are due to the increase in languages."
— Attachment (b)
"The administrative services of the European Parliament,
under the aegis of Guido Podestà, focused attention on
preparations for enlargement. The first report was adopted on
3 September. The second, from 17 July 2002, is yet to be adopted.
"The first Podestà report encompasses the essential
elements of a three-year plan covering the changes to departments
and staffing, detailed infrastructure plans and the budgetary
consequences of the decisions proposed. The second report revises
initial estimates and identifies, inter alia, additional
staffing needs of 1,119 new posts. This figure should subsequently
be reduced to 842, with posts being released through natural wastage
and early or special retirement measures".
Conclusion
2.6 We report this week on this belated response from
the Government to the request we put to it on 10 July as the document
is due to be debated in European Standing Committee B on 17 December,
before we next meet. It arrived too late for us to analyse the
contents of the attachments, but these will be available for the
debate.
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