Note concerning the social dialogue on MFF, for the attention of Commissioner Johannes Hahn
All the trade union organisations wish to be informed of the content of the Commission’s proposal on the Union’s financial perspectives.
The staff representation considers that this proposal will determine both the amount and the volume of staff work for the next seven years as well as the budgetary amount devoted to operating costs.
These are matters of great interest to the staff and, therefore, to the trade union organisations representing them. All the more so as a reading of the Commission’s proposal shows that heading 7 will be reduced by a significant amount, whereas at the highest level, staff were promised it would not be reduced.
As you know, our organisations have on several occasions asked to be informed of the Commission’s draft before its official communication in order to start the social dialogue on MFF. Unfortunately, this has proved impossible in view of the institution’s refusal to provide any information on the matter in time.
Now that the Commission’s proposal has been made public, we feel it is necessary to receive explanatory material on its content very quickly.
We look forward to work with you at our next meeting.
Yours,
The European Commission staff representatives (SC and TU)
To read the entire open letter sent by the Council section to Coreper, click here. Here is an excerpt :
Union Syndicale has noted the amended proposal on the MFF 2021-2027 [8138/20 + ADD 1] which the Secretary-General of the Commission has sent to his counterpart at the Council. We should like a few clarifications regarding the proposals under Heading VII, which specifically concerns the staff of the European civil service.
1. We note that the Commission is proposing a reduction in appropriations for 2025. What considerations have led the Commission to make this proposal, which is quite unexpected?
2. We note that despite proposing an ambitious recovery plan, the Commission has reduced the proposed amount under Heading VII by EUR 1 billion compared to its initial proposal (which had been extrapolated on the basis of the current situation, while taking into account the increasing and structural savings made through measures taken between 2011 and 2014). Do the Commission and the Council seriously believe that the European civil service is capable of carrying out its constantly increasing tasks with even lower budgets?
3. As early as 2018, Commissioner Oettinger acknowledged that the situation was unsustainable, given that a disproportionate section of the staff was on time-limited contracts. Where are the budget appropriations that will enable the Commission and the Council to reverse that trend by transforming temporary jobs into permanent ones?
