367 CONCLUSIONS of the 367Th MEETING O

COUNCIL CONSEIL OF EUROPE DE L'EUROPE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS CONFIDENTIAL CM/Del/Concl(84)367 CONCLUSIONS OF THE 367th MEETING OF THE MINISTERS' DEPUTIES HELD IN STRASBOURG FROM 20 TO 28 FEBRUARY 1984 STRASBOURG COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONSEIL DE L'EUROPE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS Strasbourg, 12 March 1984 Confidential Misc(84)5 Draft Addendum II Item 32 DRAFT CONCLUSIONS OF THE 367TH MEETING OF THE MINISTERS' DEPUTIES (held in Strasbourg from 20 to 28 February 1984) DRAFT ADDENDUM II 32. STAFF SALARIES 195th and 196th Reports of the Co-ordinating Committee of Government Budget Experts (Concl(84)366/45 and 46, CM(84)7 and 18) NB. Delegations are requested to hand their amendments in to the Secretariat by 6 pm on Friday, 16 March 1984. E71.851 1 2 CONFIDENTIAL 3 4 Misc(84)5 - 2 - 5 Draft Addendum II 6 Item 32 7 8 9 NB. This item was listed for discussion during the sitting 10 opening at 11 am on Thursday 23 February 1984. The Staff 11 Committee had organised a peaceful demonstration of members of 12 staff in the passage leading to the Committee of Ministers' 13 room to coincide with the arrival of delegations for that 14 sitting. 15 16 Two delegations commented unfavourably on the staff demonstration. The 17 staff seemed to be unaware of the political reality surrounding the 18 salary situation, and the demonstration had been counter-productive in 19 that it had lost sympathy for the staff and had shown that they did 20 not appear to be particularly busy. 21 22 The Deputy Secretary General replied that it was the task of the 23 Secretary General to ensure that the staff were motivated and worked 24 with enthusiasm. The fact that the members of staff who had joined the 25 demonstration had thereby lost some 15 to 20 minutes of working time 26 was of minor importance; it should be recalled that staff worked later 27 than required in the evenings or during the week-end if necessary. 28 29 There was at present a feeling of malaise amongst the staff. This was 30 not because they were being asked to make sacrifices - they were well 31 aware that they were not alone in that and had not complained of the 32 fact that the results of the application of the basic salary 33 adjustment procedure already represented a considerable sacrifice in 34 terms of loss of purchasing power. The staff had a feeling, whether it 35 was justified or not, that they were being discriminated against 36 vis-a-vis the staff of the European Communities, and that certain 37 governments did not pursue the same salary policy in the two 38 institutions which nevertheless were considered to be complementary. 39 40 In conclusion, he said that the essential thing was to dissipate the 41 feeling of malaise and to get the staff motivated. 42 43 In subsequent interventions under this item of the agenda, a number of 44 delegations commented that the staff demonstration had been peaceful - 45 good humoured even - and had not hindered their access to the 46 Committee of Ministers' room. One delegation additionally described it 47 as unwise. 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 On the question of staff salaries as such, the Chairman noted that 55 the Committee wished to consider the 195th and 196th reports of the 56 Co-ordinating Committee jointly. 1 2 CONFIDENTIAL 3 4 - 3 - Misc(84)5 5 Draft Addendum II 6 Item 32 7 8 9 The Deputy Secretary General made the following statement: 10 11 "At the previous meeting (items 45 and 46 - see Addendum I to 12 Concl(84)366), I reported to you that the Secretary General was 13 seriously concerned about the application in present circumstances of 14 the crisis levy on the salaries of category A and L staff. It emerges 15 from the 196th report that the austerity policies of the member States 16 with regard to salaries are already fully reflected in the results 17 which follow from application of the salary review procedure. I would 18 recall that this procedure leads to a real term reduction in 19 salaries, at 1 July 1983, of between 1.4% and 2.8% according to grade. 20 To then impose an additional levy would lead to almost doubling the 21 effects of the salary restraint measures applied to staff of the 22 Co-ordinated Organisations. 23 24 In this connection, I pointed out that the already substantial gap 25 between the remuneration of Community officials and that of staff of 26 the Co-ordinated Organisations would further widen considerably, which 27 gives rise to a feeling of discrimination within the Secretariat. 28 29 By way of example, the present gap ranges from between 6.5% and 11.9% 30 for resident unmarried staff and between 12% and 19.7% for 31 non-resident heads of family with two children. 32 33 I hope that you will accept my proposal that the question of the levy 34 should be referred back to the Co-ordinating Committee for 35 reconsideration. This proposal seems to me to be both prudent and 36 reasonable; it comes down to letting your own experts reconsider the 37 application of the crisis levy in the light of two new specific 38 elements, namely the consequences in terms of loss of purchasing power 39 of application of the scales in the 196th report and the widening of 40 the salary gap between the Communities and the Council of Europe. 41 42 Finally, I would like to mention that the salary adjustments are due 43 to take effect as from 1 July 1983, ie eight months ago. I therefore 44 strongly hope that the Committee of Ministers will be able to see its 45 way clear to agree to payment of arrears on the basis of the 196th 46 report and to ask the Co-ordinating Committee to reconsider the salary 47 restraint measures. Once again, in the face of the fears that the 48 Secretaries General are expressing, the crisis of confidence that 49 the Staff Committee has and the doubts which I think I can detect at 50 governmental level - for no Council or Committee of Ministers has yet 51 taken a decision - it seems right and timely to ask the Co-ordinating 52 Committee to go into the matter again." 53 54 The Chairman reported on a meeting he had had with the Chairman of 55 the Staff Committee at the latter's request earlier that morning. Mrs 56 Paulus-Levy had recalled that she had explained the main reasons for 57 the staff's unrest in her letter of 25 January 1984 (see Appendix to 58 Addendum I to Concl(84)366). This unrest was mainly due, she had said, to 59 the differences of treatment between staff of the European Communities 60 and the Council of Europe. There had always been a gap between 61 salaries paid by the two institutions. According to the Staff Committee's 62 figures, this gap was at present 15%, and if the levy was implemented 63 as foreseen it would increase to 20% for certain grades. 1 2 CONFIDENTIAL 3 4 Misc(84)5 - 4 - 5 Draft Addendum II 6 Item 32 7 8 9 Mrs Paulus-Levy had reported that the staff took a very serious view 10 of this situation, and had in no way hidden the fact that a negative 11 decision on the part of the Committee of Ministers could have very 12 serious consequences. 13 14 The Chairman of the Staff Committee had also referred to the 15 statements made by the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers, Mr 16 Ellemann-Jensen, in replying to parliamentary questions during the 17 recent Part-Session of the Assembly. In reply to this the Chairman had 18 said that of Mr Ellemann-Jensen was determined to intervene among his 19 Community colleagues with the aim of getting the European Communities 20 to show more restraint in staff salary matters. 21 22 The Chairman had also said to Mrs Paulus-Levy that he recognised that 23 the decision to be taken by the Committee of Ministers under the 24 present item of the agenda was a political one. 25 26 Finally, the Chairman of the Staff Committee had reported to him that 27 as Council of Europe staff, whatever their nationality, were paid in 28 French francs, non French members were having to face increasing 29 difficulties since they had financial commitments in their home 30 countries. 31 32 To clear up a possible misunderstanding the Secretary to the 33 Committee explained that the Staff Committee was not to 34 be likened to a trade union or other self-appointed negotiating body 35 or pressure group. The Staff Committee had been established by the 36 Committee of Ministers itself under the Staff Regulations, and its 37 attributions and functions were defined in Appendix I thereto. Legally 38 speaking it was a subsidiary body of the Council of Europe. Its 39 members were elected by the staff, and at the most recent election (6 40 February 1984) more than 75% of the staff had participated, and had 41 largely confirmed the outgoing staff committee-in-office, all the 42 staff who had been members of the former Staff Committee and who had 43 stood for re-election having been re-elected with overwhelming 44 majorities. 45 46 It was one of the functions of the Staff Committee to represent the 47 staff.

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