Introductory note - 2
PART I
STAFF STRUCTURE AND RECRUITMENT
Foreword - 4
Chapter I. — The present staffing situation in European organisations - 6
Chapter II. — Draft international classification of posts - 11
Chapter III. — The European Civil Service as a career - 16
Chapter IV. — The recruitment of European civil servants - 24
PART II
PENSIONS AND PROVIDENT FUNDS
Foreword - 32
Chapter I. — Provident Funds - 33
Chapter II. — Social security scheme - 40
CONCLUSIONS
I. — Structural and recruitment problems. - 47
II. — Pension and provident schemes - 50
At this preliminary stage of its work, the Working Party has intentionally left aside the theoretical problems raised by a European Civil Service. However, it is not unaware of these problems and, indeed, two of its members—MM. Haack and Imre—have drawn up on this subject substantial memoranda which will be carefully examined at a later date.
Secondly, it was not the intention of the Working Party to deal with, or even touch upon, practical questions relating to the structure of the organisations, the recruiting of their staff and their pension schemes. In essence, its work consisted in exploring and surveying the problems, making proposals for concrete solutions on certain points, but leaving other matters for future consideration, while not unaware of their importance and topical nature.
The experts appointed both by international organisations and by Governments have participated in an independent capacity. Hence they alone are responsible for the conclusions of the report, which must not be regarded as necessarily reflecting the views of the organisations or Governments concerned.
1. The Working Party on the European Civil Service was instructed to examine the present staffing situation of European organisations and to consider whether, and if so, in what conditions, the idea of a European Civil Service could be contemplated. It is therefore necessary to determine what is meant by a European Civil Service, the practical consequences its creation would have for the staffs concerned, and to make concrete proposals to the executive organs of the European institutions with a view to their taking appropriate measures.
The object of this report, drawn up by the Working Party, is to meet the above requirements.
2. Before dealing with the substance of the question of a European Civil Service, it is not irrelevant to outline briefly the prevailing circumstances which make such a study particularly important at the present stage in the process of European construction.
3. The last ten years or so have seen the setting up of several European organisations working in a wide variety of fields. Some of these organisations are more dependent than others on certain political circumstances, and their staffing problems are obviously affected by this rather precarious position; nevertheless, they still have much in common with staff problems in other organisations. Despite the diversity of activities, as also differences of geographical scope and spheres of competence, a European framework has gradually taken shape in which new constructions can be visualised. The geographical framework may vary —but the idea is certainly gaining strength and gradually spreading beyond political and diplomatic circles to the principal organs of the Press and public opinion.
4. This European context, or rather this European reality, which though still indeterminate in many respects is in process of development, serves more and more as a common framework for European institutions despite the original differences in their aims and structures. It is therefore natural, not to say inevitable, and, so far as we are concerned, desirable, that these institutions, which are gradually becoming aware of their common environment, should t u r n their eyes upon one other, with the idea, first, of exchanging information and pooling experience, and then of assisting one another and combining their efforts. This indeed is exemplified by the present study, by the initiative originally taken by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, by the response of the other European organisations through their co-operation in the Working Party, and the interest recently displayed in the subject by the Strasbourg Assembly.
5. It so happens that at the time when this development was taking place among existing organisations, in the natural course of their activities, Europe was experiencing a new surge of creative evolution and embarking upon new construction in new spheres, involving the setting up of new European institutions; this made it incumbent upon the responsible authorities in the organisations and Governments to work out the measures necessitated by the new structure. The magnitude of the tasks contemplated in the Treaties which are now in process of ratification makes it necessary to realise the scope of the problems raised by the organisations which will have to carry them out. Moreover, the decisive importance to Europe itself of this stage in its construction makes success imperative; and here the proper working of the executive organisations will be a significant factor. In other words it will count for much in the success of the whole undertaking that these institutions, their structure and, consequently, the staff problems that will arise should be examined as thoroughly as possible. Article 212 of the Treaty instituting the European Economic Community and Article 186 of the Treaty instituting the European Atomic Energy Community, expressly provide for statutory measures in respect of the staff of these Communities.
6. The members of the Working Party were naturally appreciative of this combination of factors—that represented by the existing organisations and that arising from present circumstances which, though certainly an interesting coincidence, has perhaps more profound underlying causes. Be that as it may, it was with these considerations in mind that the members of the Working Party conducted their study of the matters discussed in these pages. Yet this awareness of a broader framework by no means prevented their adhering strictly to their terms of reference and fulfilling the desire expressed at the first meeting of the Working Party in Strasbourg : to be realistic in their appreciation of the facts, practical in their methods and concrete in their proposals.
7. This report, after surveying the present situation of the staffs of European organisations, attemps a classification of posts, goes on to deal with career, recruitment and pension problems and, finally, sets forth the Working Party's conclusions.
8. To be in a position to make useful suggestions for the establishment of a European Civil Service, we must first examine the present staffing situation in the organisations from two standpoints, namely the nature of the posts and the kind of personnel employed. First, it must be ascertained whether these staff members or officials occupy dissimilar posts whose only common denominator is their international character as posts in European organisations, or whether, on the contrary, there exists a hierarchy of limited types of posts that can be defined and classified. Secondly, it must be determined whether the staff of the organisations is composed of occasional staff with disparate qualifications or, on the contrary, of officials employed by these organisations on the basis of similar rules and constituting homogeneous bodies with comparable characteristics.
9. The possibility of envisaging and working out a statute for the European Civil Service depends on the results of this enquiry. Obviously, we cannot lay down statutory rules applying to several organisations unless there is a certain limited range of posts with common features. Moreover, harmonisation will be all the more desirable if the corps of officials are more easily comparable, especially by reason of similar rules governing their careers.
Thus, in making this study we must begin by forming a precise idea of the staffing situation in the European organisations; we must examine and compare their staff regulations, which may be as dissimilar in substance as they are in origin.
10. In comparing the posts offered by these different organisations we cannot take into account very senior appointments, since these are not subject to normal staff rules but are made on grounds of personal standing, nor certain highly specialised technical posts which have no common denominator and must be considered as individual cases.
11. Posts at present occupied in European organisations may be said to fall into three main categories : senior, intermediate and junior. Linguistic services form a special professional branch.
12. The results of this systematic survey in each of the organisations represented in the Working Party are set out in a comparative table attached to the present report (Appendix III). It should be noted that the horizontal presentation adopted is not really suitable as regards technical posts. Thus accountants, for example, are classified partly under intermediate posts and partly under junior posts, while the heads of accounting departments frequently come into the category of higher posts. Shorthand-typists normally come under the heading of junior staff, but certain highly qualified specialists rank as intermediate staff. However, the vertical presentation, though undoubtedly more suitable for posts in these categories, has not been adopted in this table since the similarity between them is obvious enough without any necessity for directly comparing them as between organisations.
13. From this descriptive analysis, imperfect though it may be, emerges a fact of prime importance to subsequent work on a European Civil Service; it can be seen from the table that there exist, notwithstanding the diversity of designations, a number of posts which are closely comparable as between the different European organisations.
14. It may be said that the career of a national or international civil servant is governed by three factors : length of service in the organisation; promotion, and security of tenure. If, without examining in detail the regulations of each organisation, an analysis is made of the arrangements adopted by the various organisations in this matter, the following would seem to be the main principles :
The retiring age of staff members in these organisations is 60 or 65 years. All these organisations also allow opportunities for promotion, both preferment to a higher grade and advancement within the grade. Leaving aside the question of advancement, we must see how this principle of promotion works out in practice, what guarantees there are that it will be observed and how far organisations fill vacancies by appointment from inside.
(a) Promotion may take the following forms :
(1) either :
regular promotion from a given grade to the next grade above (Council of Europe — E. C. S. C. — Customs Co-operation Council, in the case of technical officers) ;
after attainment of a minimum seniority in the grade (E. C. S. C.—Customs Co-operation Council, in the case of technical officers);
and with the possibility of reaching the highest classified post in the hierarchy or in the cadre or category (Council of Europe— E. C. S. C);
(2) or :
— in special cases promotion to higher functions, not necessarily respecting the hierarchy of classified posts or the principle of seniority (NATO—W. E. U.—C. E. R. N — O. E. E. C. and Customs Co-operation Council for staff other than technical officers).
In the second case, promotion is simply a form of preferential recruitment. On the other hand, the first system, while not actually enabling staff to gain promotion, since it merely provides possibilities without laying down rights, does reflect a tendency, more marked in some organisations than in others, to offer something like a regular career.
(b) Guarantees of promotion may be of an organic or of a jurisdictional nature.
(1) Guarantees of an organic nature :
these may be positive guarantees providing for the systematic examination of claims to and suitability for promotion (system of reports and promotion board in the Council of Europe—staff administration Committees at O. E. E. C.—Reports Committee at E. C. S. C. and Administrative Committee at the Customs Co-operation Council).
or negative guarantees protecting staff members against arbitrary relegation to a lower grade (E. C. S. C—O. E. E. C— C. E. R. N.).
(2) Jurisdictional guarantees :
these offer the possibility of appealing to an independent body on which in some cases the staff is represented and which, generally, has powers of decision. However, the actual powers of these bodies in regard to complaints of this kind still appear to be ill-defined (Council of Europe—E. C. S. C—O. E. E. C.—C. E. R. N. —Customs Co-operation Council).
(c) Policy with regard to vacancies is governed by the desire to safeguard the rights of the staff to promotion while respecting the principle of equitable geographical distribution.
— the principle of competition for vacant posts between staff members of the organisation in question and candidates from outside, is explicitly or implicitly accepted by all organisations;
— a number or organisations give priority to their own staff members when filling vacancies either as an absolute right (E. C. S. C. —N. A. T. O.—W. E. U.) or in the form of a principle which in practice affords staff members ample guarantees (Council of Europe).
(a) This is in some cases expressly guaranteed either for all regular staff throughout the duration of their career (E. C. S. C), or only for certain members of the staff (Council of Europe—O. E. E. C.—Customs Co-operation Council).
(b) Most organisations guarantee security of tenure by virtue of rules whereby the organisation cannot at its own discretion terminate a staff member's appointment,
— either during the whole career (E. C. S. C—Council of Europe—O. E. E. C. and Customs Co-operation Council in the case of permanent staff with indefinite contracts);
— or for the duration of fixed-term contracts (Council of Europe—O. E. E. C.— C. E. R. N.—Customs Co-operation Council— E. C. S. C, with regard to temporary staff).
These rules governing dismissal are precise and restrictive.
(c) Security of tenure is guaranteed :
by procedures designed to obviate arbitrary assessment of grounds for dismissal as defined in regulations, when these relate to incompetence or professional misconduct (E. C. S. C. Note—O. E. E. C—C. E. R. N.—Customs Co-operation Council);
by giving staff members the possibility of appealing against unfavourable decisions to an independent body, a tribunal or an advisory committee (Council of Europe— E. C. S. C-—O. E. E. C.—Customs Co-operation Council—C. E. R. N.).
Neither at N. A. T. O. nor in W. E. U. is there any provision for security of tenure.
In the E. C. S. C. the system is statutory. On the other hand, N. A. T. O. and W. E. U. have adopted the contractual system. The Council of Europe, O. E. E. C, C. E. R. N. and the Customs Co-operation Council use a combination of the two.
It will be seen from this brief survey that, except for N. A. T. O. and W. E. U., the European organisations, irrespective of whether they have adopted a statutory or combined system, tend to offer their staff roughly equivalent conditions as regards their future careers. This is another positive and significant factor and a further argument in favour of a regular European Civil Service.
15. In most of the organisations the principle of geographical distribution of posts plays an important part in recruitment policy. Except for the E. C. S. C. where new members of the staff are appointed to the lowest grade in each category and in each branch, and where competition is the rule, methods of recruitment are somewhat empirical and more akin to co-opting.
In some organisations (such as the Council of Europe), the rule is that vacancies will be filled as far as possible by the promotion of existing staff.
16. In the survey made in the preceding chapter it was seen that posts fall into five main groups, which are shown in the comparative table, certain posts having been omitted because their disparate character makes classification impossible. These groups are as follows :
17. This classification is of twofold importance from the point of view of the standardisation of staff regulations in the European Civil Service. Although the similarities between posts in the different organisations make it possible and, in fact, necessary to introduce uniform regulations, these are bound to affect staff in the five categories to a very variable extent.
18. Thus the special posts peculiar to international organisations (group (d)) should be subject to identical regulations. As regards comparable posts (group (c)) each organisation need only base its regulations on the recommendations made in the present report, it being understood that they should as far as possible aim at standardising the privileges and guarantees regarded as indispensable to a genuine European Civil Service.
It should not be forgotten that one of the chief aims is to facilitate the transfer of officials from one organisation to another.
19. On the other hand, officials occupying posts classified under (a) and (b) would in principle remain outside the scope of European Civil Service regulations, either because their holders are appointed for their personal status and may at any moment leave the service of an organisation for major reasons which cannot he provided for by regulations, or because their posts are necessarily subject to special conditions. However, each organisation may at its discretion extend to these posts any of the benefits offered by the European Civil Service regulations which it felt able to guarantee.
20. Junior posts (groupe (e)) should also be outside the scope of the regulations. Holders of these posts are normally recruited in the country where the organisation has its headquarters, and are subject to local employment conditions. Where this is not yet the case, and save under very exceptional circumstances where special security requirements must be observed, organisations should be recommended to conform to this principle. This would have the two-fold advantage of, in many cases, reducing costs and of eliminating friction with the authorities of the country in question which sometimes complain of the difficulties created on the local labour market by international organisations.
21. It is suggested that, if the organisations are prepared to continue these efforts to create a structurally uniform European Civil Service, an ad hoc group should be set up for the purpose of making a detailed comparative study of posts in group (c) in order to determine the equivalence of these posts as between different organisations.
This preliminary study would be unnecessary so far as the special posts in group (d) are concerned, these being identical in each organisation. On the other hand, such a study is needed where the posts in question present definite similarities and may be finally reduced to a few classes, having regard to the nature and responsibility of the work.
22. Hence it seems possible to suggest already at this stage the main principles on which future work in this field might be based.
Posts in group (c) might be divided into two categories—A and B—according to the hierarchical level.
23. Category A would be made up of senior posts classified according to the general qualifications required of the holders; the particular sphere of activity would be only a secondary criterion. In this category, appointments to the different posts within a given specialised field should depend only on the experience, initiative and aptitude for authority and responsibility of those concerned.
However, if distinctions are made as between different specialised activities within this class they should be aimed solely at facilitating the transfer of officials from one organisation to another.
Category A might be subdivided as follows :
24. Category B would comprise intermediate posts. Here the classification is by speciality (administration, finance, accountancy, economics, etc.) rather than by general qualifications.
This category would be sub-divided as follows :
(1) Executive posts.—These entail duties :
In the executive class a distinction might be made between the case of a head of an administrative or technical section and posts where the holder is not required to exercise authority over a number of subordinates.
(2) Posts of technical management and control (equipment, building, working sites, etc.) involving initiative, material responsibility, the giving of instructions and supervision.
(3) Posts involving supervision of sections of junior staff; for satisfactory results a large section needs a single person in charge who is responsible for the organisation of work.
25. The position may be summed up as follows :
| Posts in Group (c) — Senior and intermediate posts of an administrative, financial, etc., nature comparable as between different organisations — Senior and intermediate technical posts | Category A - Senior posts classified according to general qualifications | — Senior ' administrative posts — Senior supervisory posts — Planning and research posts |
| Category A - Intermediate posts classified according to nature of work — Executive posts — Technical management and control — Posts involving supervision of sections of junior staff |
26. It should be noted that the contents of the present chapter apply only to staff in groups (c) and (d) as defined in the preceding chapter.
27. The expansion and permanent nature of European institutions, of which some are now consolidating their position while others are in process of formation, requires the formation of a body of qualified staff. These will have no incentive to work in a European Civil Service unless they are guaranteed material benefits and a certain security of tenure. Candidates from the national civil services who in their own country enjoy the benefits of a regular career will expect to find some of these benefits in the international organisations they enter. Hence, if the organisations are to secure the services of first-rate staff they must, to the extent compatible with the special conditions of employment in the European Civil Service, meet the requirement of all those concerned, that they should be enabled to make a career of their work in these organisations.
The term " career " refers to the occupation of successive posts without being regarded as a new recruit, and the regulations governing such transfers.
28. As we have already seen, there are certain categories of personnel (group (d)) peculiar to international organisations, and this suggests the possibility of forming a cadre of specialists common to all the European institutions. In a later chapter on recruitment it is suggested that these posts might be filled by joint competitive examination. Indeed, it is desirable that this body of specialists should come under a common administration.
29. Finally, the harmonisation of the rules of the various organisations would make possible inter-organisational transfers. This would considerably expand the range of activities open to these officials and solve some of the problems facing the organisations, thereby helping to open up the prospect of a regular career in the European Service.
30. We have said that when we speak of a career we mean essentially the prospects of progress and promotion it offers, together with security of tenure.
31. These terms are here understood in the general sense of a system in which officials, throughout the duration of their service, can climb the rungs of the ladder, with rising salary scales and opportunities for promotion to higher-ranking or more responsible posts.
(1) Financial advancement has to be viewed with reference to an entire career in the organisation, the possibility of transfer to other European bodies affording further opportunities which could not be provided by a single organisation.
There should in the first place be definite salary-scales with automatic increments over a given period of service and provision for more rapid advancement as a reward for special merit.
(2) With rare exceptions, the only form of advancement normally open to specialist staff in group (d) would be of a financial nature. For group (c) (posts comparable as between organisations) there would also be opportunities of promotion to higher ranks or more important duties.
In principle, such promotions would take place only within the same category of posts, A or B. As far as qualifications are concerned the only criterion would then be wider experience and improved abilities. Promotion from one category to the other should take place only through the normal channels of direct access to this category or to a given post within it.
Although warranted by ability, promotion should, in the interests of regular progress in the careers of the staff as a whole, be subject to a minimum period of service in the previous post.
(3) The terminal point of promotion should be such as to offer every official an incentive, if only financial, to remain with the same organisation or with the European Civil Service for a substantial period of time.
(4) Promotion should be safeguarded by a procedure for assessing the claims of officials and a policy for the filling of vacancies.
The claims of officials to promotion should be assessed at regular intervals by an advisory committee which would include staff representatives and which would make proposals with the aid of a rational system of periodical individual reportsNote.
With regard to the filling of vacancies each organisation would endeavour to strike a balance between, on the one hand, the observance of geographical distribution and the need for fresh talent, and, on the other hand, the desire to keep a number of vacancies open to their own staff. It is on the attitude of organisations in this matter that opportunities for promotion will depend.
32. Security of tenure is to be judged by two criteria : the period for which staff are recruited and the guarantee that they will retain their post during the whole of that period. Linked with this is the question of conditions for the renewal of contracts. Lastly, there is a connection between the problem of security of tenure and that of staff discipline, which is discussed in Section III below.
33. It would seem desirable, consonant with the need for stability and also in keeping with the trend of development in the European organisations, that European officials—at least those who enter the Service with a lifetime career in mind—should be offered permanent contracts.
34. Until this desirable aim can be realised, and since it must be recognized that at present the position of European officials is somewhat precarious, an effort must be made gradually to improve the situation by measures to ensure permanent employment.
35. Organisations which cannot as yet give their staff, particularly those in group (d), a permanent position guaranteed under their regulations, will adhere to their system of fixed-term contracts (the two-year contract at present offered by many organisations is considered too short) or indefinite contracts.
(1) As the holder of a temporary contract is in a precarious position, he should, for reasons explained above, at least be assured that it will run its full course. It should not be possible for an organisation to terminate such contracts at its discretion.
The following steps should accordingly be taken :
(a) the grounds on which contracts may be terminated, the procedure for assessing these grounds and the possibilities of appeal open to dismissed officials should be defined under staff regulations applying to the whole staff of the organisation. These regulations would be statutory in form, in the sense that the organisations would be free to amend them. Their provisions, which will be outlined in. a later chapter of this report, should be detailed and precise.
(b) Contracts should not carry clauses concerning matters already dealt with in staff regulations; they should simply refer to those regulations. There are two objects in recommending this practice : first, to leave the organisations free to amend their staff regulations and so to avoid disputes with their staff concerning the scope of particular clauses and of the regulation as a whole and, secondly, to assure staff of the guarantees offered under the staff regulations.
In practice, contracts should merely specify :
the post for which the official is recruited;
the step in the grade to which he is appointed;
the duration of the contract and the terms of renewal.
In regard to all other clauses, contracts would refer to the staff regulations as a whole, specifying that these are of a statutory nature.
This would result in a semi-contractual system, situated midway between the statutory systems current among national administrations and the system adopted by private undertakings.
(c) Security of tenure as defined under (a) should be guaranteed as follows :
The grounds on which a contract may be terminated should be clearly defined and be confined to professional misconduct, incompetence (this should be an exceptional case, since the official's abilities will have been tested by an effective probationary period), ill-health for a duration exceeding a stipulated period and the abolition of posts. As regards assessment of the grounds for termination, provision should be made in all cases for calling in an advisory body on which the staff is represented. This body would be asked for its opinion, which the authority empowered to terminate contracts would have to take into consideration before taking a decision. Particular care should be taken over the rules governing the working of disciplinary boards.
(d) Lastly, coupled with the guarantee of tenure for the duration of a fixed-term contract is the question of conditions for renewal, which should be explicitly stated. The system of automatic renewal is recommended as being more compatible with the idea of a career in a given organisation and as providing, subject to periodical review, a certain de facto security in keeping with the evolution of European institutions referred to above.
(2) The Working Party therefore considers that indefinite contracts, even if they do not embody all the legal guarantees defined under points (a), (b) and (c) of the preceding paragraph, which would amount to an almost statutory position for those concerned, could nevertheless be more advantageous than fixed-term contracts carrying the same guarantees. Experience has shown that it is in practice more difficult to terminate an indefinite contract than not to renew a fixed-term contract.
However, it would also seem essential to add to these moral guarantees a legal guarantee that, except in the case of dismissal for professional misconduct, an official whose contract is terminated would be given several months' notice and receive substantial compensation. It would be helpful if these guarantees were strengthened, pending the establishment of the Appeals Tribunal recommended under Section III below, by allowing those concerned to appeal to a board set up in each organisation, on which the staff association is represented.
Lastly, it would be appropriate to the lines on which the European Civil Service is evolving if organisations endeavoured to secure an equivalent post in another organisation for staff members dismissed on grounds other than professional misconduct or incompetence; This principle might be set out in the terms of the contract, and, if effect were given to it and a break of continuity in employment were avoided, no severance allowance need be paid to the official concerned.
(3) In the light of the observations made in Chapter II and the desirability of offering a secure career to staff in group (d)— special posts peculiar to international organisations, it would seem advisable as a general practice to grant the latter indefinite contracts. Officials coming under group (c)—posts comparable as between organisations, particularly those previously employed by national administrations, could be offered fixed-term contracts, assuming they do not already enjoy more favourable treatment.
36. It is essential that officials should be able to appeal to an independent body, either against decisions taken in violation of the rules designed to guarantee security of tenure, or against refusal to grant them the promotion to which they consider themselves entitled.
Such a body must enjoy sufficient independence of the organisations for the latter to have no direct means of influencing its decisions, which would not be the case with a simple administrative Committee. Only a tribunal could meet these requirements.
37. However, it seems unlikely that enough cases of this type will arise in any single organisation to warrant the setting up of a tribunal for that organisation alone. The possibility might therefore be examined of setting up a single tribunal to serve all the European organisations.
38. It would seem desirable for the European Civil Service to have its own judicial organ, in view of the number of cases likely to arise, particularly with the increase in the number of officials that will result from the setting up of new institutions. It would unquestionably be an advantage to have a specialised juridical authority whose decisions will gradually form a body of case-law from which a code for the European Civil Service will be evolved.
39. It would then have to be determined whether this body should be an arbitral tribunal or a court of justice. In the former case, only the chairman would be appointed permanently; the parties to a dispute would each appoint an arbitrator, of whom one would be selected by the organisation and the other by the organisation's staff representatives. A court of justice would be more appropriate if the permanent staff were larger. The choice will depend on the number of cases to be anticipated and on the importance attached to building up a body of law relating to the European Civil Service, which would be an argument for establishing a court of justice with a permanent, homogeneous and specialised composition.
40. Lastly, it would be necessary to determine the nature of the powers conferred upon the appellate court or tribunal, as regards both its sphere of competence and the effect of its decisions.
As regards its field of competence, it would be empowered to pronounce upon the propriety or otherwise of decisions taken by organisations.
Its decisions might take effect in two ways : in reversing or reviewing a contested decision and in ordering financial compensation. The power to review decisions would confer upon the appellate body a hierarchical precedence over the organisations, which is not to be recommended. On the other hand, it is possible to conjecture that it should have power to reverse a decision, though, where the case is one of contested dismissal, this would be more appropriate in regard to officials with indefinite contracts, that is officials intending to make a life-time career in one organisation.
Probably the appellate court or tribunal would be mainly concerned with financial compensation.
41. The immediate consequence of establishing a career offering greater security to European civil servants will be to place greater emphasis on the quality of new entrants.
The problem of staffing European organisations has several facets : the field of recruitment; competition, selection and training, to say nothing of the delicate matter of geographical distribution. The latter question may be said to be less complex in a European context than elsewhere; the geographical rule is in any case sometimes set aside in favour of other considerations for groups (a), (b) and (c) and, for technical reasons, is less applicable to group (d) than group (c). It is none the less a significant factor, and will remain so for some time.
42. This is mainly a practical problem arising from the expansion of European institutions. A secondary aspect to it is that, for technical reasons or from political necessity, certain spheres of national activity may come to be more closely concerned in the work of the European organisations.
43. In either case the problem is to find qualified staff. It is natural to suppose that any given post should be open to the whole field of potential European candidates with the requisite qualifications and an inclination towards international public service. But, for the time being, pending arrangements for the systematic training of European civil servants, the organisations will in practice have to rely , on certain milieux most likely to provide them with qualified staff—persons who by their previous training are broadly, if not specifically, fitted for the tasks awaiting them. The favoured sources are typically the European organisations and the Civil Services of their member countries.
44. It must be realised that this preferential recruitment, temporary in character, does not absolve us from taking thought for the future. It may be possible to introduce training schemes, which are discussed later, but in the meantime it is open to the organisations—at least those which offer their staff a career—to recruit in certain branches junior officials who, after acquiring the necessary experience and ability, may take OA'er responsible posts in the intermediate and senior grades.
45. One of the fields of recruitment or favoured sources referred to above is the staff of existing organisations. Such officials are particularly suitable, by their experience of the workings of international bodies and their knowledge of the subjects handled, to occupy higher posts which may be offered them when their personal qualities are sufficiently developed.
46. National civil servants are also a valuable reservoir of qualified candidates. In the first place, as was pointed out above, posts which are comparable as between one organisation and another are also generally comparable with those in national Civil Services, so that work done in the latter is a fitting preparation for European appointments. Secondly, the devotion to the common weal which is expected of national civil servants and the ability to see problems in general terms will find a natural place in the European organisations, which, for their consolidation and development, have need of utter disinterestedness and a profound sense of public service in their senior officials. Finally, the introduction of new blood by means of the rotation of staff, as is systematically fostered by some organisations, will be greatly facilitated by employing staff who do not wish to compromise their careers at home by being absent too long and will usually want to stay only a comparatively short time with the European Civil Service.
47. It should be added that the presence of national officials in organisations responsible for promoting European ideas and institutions will encourage valuable contacts between representatives of national Civil Services. The exchange of views and the habit of working together on European questions will enable civil servants to take back a European mentality and methods to the Government departments of their own countries, infusing into these powerful bodies, with their great influence on national life, a European outlook and approach. The European institutions might thus become, to a certain degree, meeting-places and training centres for civil servants of the participating countries.
48. Since the object must be to secure the services of the best qualified men, recruitment should be mainly by competition and selection.
49. Competition for a given post may be open or to a certain extent restricted, but within the chosen field the range of entries must be as wide as possible. The following recommendations, for reasons given above, only concern comparable posts (group (c)) and conference staff found in all organisations (group (d)).
(a) Choice of the field. — This must be guided by the need for staff who have had previous training suited to the needs and spirit of the European organisations and who may immediately be of service to them.
With regard to linguistic and conference staff, it would be best, in view of the conditions in which the technical training and experience for such posts is acquired, to look to all the appropriate fields of recruitment of member countries.
On the other hand, it is clear that the recruitment of staff for comparable posts (group (c)) must, in the absence for the time being of specialised training institutions, be mainly directed towards the preferred sources described under Section I of this chapter : the European and national Civil Services. If requirements cannot be fully met from these two sources, other fields can be explored. This might happen equally well through the lack of qualified candidates or through the desire to associate certain circles more particularly with the activities of an organisation.
Two choices would therefore have to be made :
first, between preferred sources and outside circles—-a choice which should occur somewhat rarely;
secondly, between staff already employed in the organisations and national civil servants.
As the idea of a European Civil Service career acquires form and substance, and the appropriate regulations begin to take shape, there will be a growing tendency in the coming years to recruit mainly for junior posts.
(b) Public announcement of vacancies is the method likely to ensure the widest competition.
In the case of conference staff (group(d)), this would be done both by notices in the publications of international organisations and by advertisements in the press of member ountries. These should appear in good time to allow prospective candidates to apply for particulars.
With regard to comparable posts (group (c)), notices of vacancies would be published officially by the organisations and Member Governments jointly. Sufficient time should be allowed for the latter, in particular, to make full enquiries. It would simplify the examination of applications on a competitive basis if a standard method of submitting information about the candidates nominated were adopted by all the national and international bodies.
50. (a) Linguistic and conference staff (group (d)) should be selected by competitive examination. As this involves considerable expenditure for the organisations, candidates having in some cases to travel from distant countries to reach the examination centre, a single examination should be held for all the European organisations, according to current and foreseeable future needs. The same tests would be held simultaneously at a number of centres, each the seat of a different organisation, and possibly at other centres in member countries in order to reduce the travelling distance for candidates. The candidates shortlisted after a first set of papers might later, if necessary, take the final tests at a single centre.
(b) With regard to the selection of candidates for comparable posts (group (c)), the method of recruiting by examination might be replaced, at least until specialised basic training has become general, by selection on qualifications, provided these are of a purely objective character (degrees, appointments held, attainments etc.) and that the selection procedure excludes all other considerations.
Two possible arrangements are to be considered :
1. Applications are invited from national civil servants only. The Governments make a preliminary selection according to their own criteria. If the situation as regards geographical distribution makes it possible to appoint a candidate from any of several member countries, a second selection is made by the organisation, normally on the basis of qualifications alone.
2. Applications are invited from both national civil servants and from the staff of the recruiting organisation or of other organisations. The qualifications of both groups are examined concurrently with a view to making the best appointment.
It should be made clear that national civil servants whose candidatures have been approved must be placed by their Governments in a position in which during their secondment they are responsible only to the employing > organisations. The ties they retain with their home departments, to which they must continue to belong if replacement by rotation is to be possible, should concern only the administrative course of their career, the continuity of which must be assured, and should leave in abeyance any other form of allegiance.
51. The question of educational qualifications has already been mentioned.
We have seen, in particular, that fields of recruitment might be chosen with an eye to the kind of professional training which candidates from those fields have presumably undergone. After entry into the European Civil Service there is again the problem of further training.
(a) The European institutions have as yet no system of preliminary training which would ensure them their own supply of suitable recruits. Therefore they often turn in practice—and they are well advised to do so until further notice-—to persons in occupations involving a basic training more or less fitting them for employment with European organisations.
For higher and intermediate appointments, in the category of comparable posts, the preparatory training of national civil servants, as has been emphasised, has both immediate technical advantages and also a certain psychological value. There are public or private schemes in various European countries for preparing undergraduates for international, or more specifically European, life, with a view to assisting the training of future international officials.
But it may be asked whether it should not be the concern of the European Civil Service, if not to create new training establishments, at least to turn to its own purposes the conventional or specialised training facilities available to the States, by suggesting curricula and activities adapted to its own particular methods and spirit. The Universities and specialised Institutes of European States might be requested by the organisations to include in their programmes certain subjects or teaching methods considered essential to the training of future European civil servants.
As regards staff in group (d) the creation of inter-organisational training establishments might be considered as an immediate possibility, while for group (c) the method for some time to come must be to bring influence to bear on universities and national institutes.
(b) Though these arrangements for the future may work out very well, we - must realise that steps must be taken immediately, on the lines already suggested; previous training, however, adequate to its purpose, does not mean that we can dispense with further training and the continual adaptation of officials to their tasks. This second aspect of training is immensely important, since it presents itself whatever the nature of the previous training.
Methods of further training should be directed towards preventing the European administration from becoming a world apart, detached from national realities, composed of expert technicians working in a vacuum. This insistence on realism is for the sake of efficiency, for Europe can only be a success if its genius and the spirit animating its institutions are an active force arising naturally from the genius of the nations which compose it and from the traditions of national administrations. Methods of approaching and dealing with the technical problems confronting European organisations must therefore be co-ordinated on the basis of the practice of national Civil Services, just as the latter must aim at adapting their own methods to European administrative life. Hence European officials must have a thorough knowledge of the context of their action, not only at the stage of conception (in the organisations) but also at the stage of execution (in the national administrations), irrespective of the extent to which the Governments have delegated powers to the organisations.
52. In the light of the foregoing considerations, the following recommendations may be made for the training of higher and intermediate officials.
I. To enable the European civil servant to gain familiarity with the administrations of member countries other than his own, the following steps should be taken :
In the first place, officials should be seconded for a time to national Civil Services, thus acquiring a practical insight into their structure, administrative machinery and working methods. National administrations should co-operate closely both before and during secondment.
Secondly, as a preparation for and to supplement this secondment, constant use should be made of documentary material specially prepared by the national administrations. The attention of national civil servants should be drawn to the importance, in drafting these papers, of presenting the material in a form suitable to officials who are new to their conceptions and traditions and may not have in their mind the necessary general picture.
II. In order to co-ordinate methods of approaching and dealing with problems, it would be useful to arrange meetings between officials of different organisations.
Meetings of this kind are already arranged—in some cases systematically—for national civil servants, with the object of promoting a European outlook by studying in common a given subject, composing ideas and working out a constructive synthesis of them. The experiment might be extended to European civil servants, meeting either among themselves or with the participation of officials of national administrations.
53. Social benefit schemes are today considered an essential element in the system of remuneration of civil servants. Indeed, with the developments that have taken place since the beginning of the century in the conditions of employment in general, provident schemes to protect workers against certain contingencies, in particular old age, have become the general rule. All employers now recognise this obligation towards their employees. Thus, where a comprehensive system of social insurance is not compulsory by law, or only minimum protection is provided, the necessary steps have been taken by private undertakings, individually or in groups.
54. Our study of the problems of the European Civil Service, therefore, must include the question of insurance. In the second part of this report, we shall endeavour to arrive at the general principles of social insurance which should be laid down in the regulations of the European Civil Service. We shall then examine the conditions in which the system might be introduced and briefly review the measures already adopted by the international organisations taking part in this study.
55. By the expression " social benefit scheme " is generally meant a set of provisions to afford civil servants or their families adequate protection in certain eventualities such as illness, accident, temporary or permanent incapacity, old age or dealth.
In national and international public administrations, the scheme is usually twofold. A provident fund provides for an income on final cessation of work (permanent disability, death or retirement) and a system of social security gives guarantees of compensation in case of illness, accident or temporary disability.
For convenience of exposition this distinction will be observed in the following chapters of this report.
56. Although many provident systems are technically possible, a pension scheme—where employment can be expected to be of long duration—offers the best safeguards for the persons employed (also in cases of premature disability) and the best inducement that the administration can offer for its officials to remain in its service.
It is thus understandable that most national or international public administrations have opted for pension schemes, since it is an essential characteristic of the public service that it offers its permanent officials the possibility of making a career, in other words it holds out definite prospects. In such conditions, a pension scheme is the most effective and appropriate form of security.
It may be noted that many large private concerns in which similar conditions obtain have also set up staff pension schemes.
57. It follows that the adoption of a Statute for the European Civil Service would entail the establishment of a pension scheme for the staffs of the institutions concerned. It will be seen later (para. 65) that, in the view of the Working Party, it would even be an essential element in the creation of a European Civil Service.
While it would be premature to embark on a detailed study of the form which a scheme might take, we may suggest certain general principles on which it should be based.
58. The staff of the European Civil Service must essentially be independent of Member States of the international organisations. The pension scheme should accordingly rest on international foundations.
There could be no question, for example, of affiliating each official to a public pension scheme in his home country.
59. The pension scheme of the European Civil Service should have a permanent character in the sense that the disappearance of one of the participating organisations should be no obstacle to the payment of benefits. From that point of view, a pension scheme common to a number of international organisations would be an excellent arrangement and, apart from its financial advantages, would enable the pension problems arising on transfer of officials between organisations to be settled without difficulty. The common pension scheme should of course be worked out on an actuarial basis.
60. A difficulty which arises with all pension schemes is the question of maintaining the purchasing power of the benefits.
This is an important point which cannot be neglected, especially as our study concerns officials who are nationals of different countries.
61. The high percentage of the staff of participating organisations who are recruited internationally raises special problems which do not occur in the case of national schemes. These problems, the most important being the payment of benefits in the currencies of different member countries, should be carefully examined. It would not be premature to lay down as a fundamental principle that an official should be able to draw his benefits from the pension scheme in the currency of his country of origin or in the currency of the country where he will take up residence on retirement.
62. In drawing up a pension scheme, it will be advisable to determine the conditions in which the pension regulations may be amended. Provision must, of course, be made, having regard to the legal status of members of the staff in their organisation, for taking into account the rights acquired up to the time the regulations are amended.
63. The pension scheme should be based on those in operation in other international organisations.
Thus, it should make provision for the grant of revertible pensions to officials reaching the retiring age. It should also offer reasonable advantages, for example proportionate pensions, in cases of premature retirement but after reasonable length of service.
Provision should also be made for the following :
pensions in respect of disability before reaching the retiring age;
widows' and orphans' pensions, in case of death before the retiring age;
bounties in respect of dependent children for recipients of retirement, disability or widows' pensions;
reduced widows' or orphans' pensions, in case of the death of an official drawing or entitled to a proportionate pension.
64. The provident scheme outlined above is based largely on the arrangements adopted by national Civil Services and some international organisations. The system would be ideally suited to the organisations taking part in this study if the fundamental problems of the European Civil Service were the same as those of national administrations. The question arises whether this is in fact the case.
It has already been pointed out that an essential characteristic of a Civil Service is the possibility of making a career. Does this important factor, which presupposes the indefinite duration and a particular solidity of the tie between staff and employer, exist in the case of the organisations concerned or can it exist? That is the crux of the matter.
65. The factual data analysed in Part I of this report show that in most of the participating organisations the chief factors making for the possibility of a career do not at present exist in the form of statutory provisions or regulations.
Nevertheless, experience has shown that, even without absolute guarantees, security of tenure—the essential criterion—often exists in fact, especially for staff in the groups (c) and (d) defined in Chapter II of Part I. The suggestions of the Working Party are designed to strengthen henceforward this de facto security.
The Working Party feels, in these circumstances, that a common pension scheme could be introduced forthwith for those organisations whose permanent character—having regard to the work it has undertaken—is sufficiently marked, provided that the staff structure and conditions of service of these organisations are, first of all, co-ordinated as closely as possible.
Secondly, the Working Party considers that the inauguration of a pension scheme common to a number of organisations would in itself be an important step towards the creation of a European Civil Service.
66. The foregoing considerations suggest that, in some organisations at least, a pension scheme appears to be a somewhat remote prospect. But since the problem cannot in the meantime be ignored, interim arrangements must be made.
67. The Working Party therefore believes that the Organisations which have not already done so should as a minimum transitional arrangement, set up a Provident Fund for their staff. The Working Party considers, however, that such a scheme would be an insufficient safeguard for the staff if it did not include provision for maintaining, as far as possible, the purchasing power of the sums contributed by organisations and staff and if the most important contingencies, particularly death, were not covered either by the scheme itself or by special clauses in the staff regulations.
68. The Working Party does not consider it outside its terms of reference in going on to examine the essential provisions of a Provident Fund, including those derived from the principles stated in paragraph 67 above. It believes that this study might contribute to co-ordinating the systems already adopted and also serve as a guide to organisations which as yet have no such scheme.
69. The first question to be settled is the conditions for affiliation to the Provident Fund. All organisations with such a Fund exclude from it temporary staff and consultant experts. With one exception, all the organisations have opted for the principle of compulsory affiliation.
The Working Party believes that, except in special circumstances, these two principles adopted by almost all the organisations are indispensable.
70. The Working Party finds that contributions to the Provident Fund are uniformly fixed at 7 % for the staff and 14 % for the organisations, and proposes that organisations contemplating the institution of such a fund should adopt those rates of contribution.
71. Contributions to the Provident Fund are in general calculated on the basic salary of an unmarried member of the staff.
But some organisations, including the Council of Europe and N. A. T. O., in calculating the contributions of 7 % and 14 %, have consolidated with basic salary a temporary allowance recently introduced.
72. The Working Party considers that the regulations of the Provident Fund must specify the method of calculating and paying contributions during periods of absence due to sickness or accident.
In the organisations which possess a Provident Fund it is the practice, when the salary of a member of the staff is reduced by reason of sick leave, to reckon contributions on the basis of full salary.
73. No special problem arises as regards the payment of benefits out of the Provident Fund since, by definition, the system is essentially designed to provide a capital sum to be paid on cessation of work.
The Working Party pointed out, however, that the regulations of a Provident Fund must specify :
the beneficiary or beneficiaries in the event of the death of,a member of the staff;
the rights of a member of the staff dismissed for disciplinary reasons.
74. The Working Party considers that with regard to the management of a Provident Fund the alternative between theoretical formulas such as direct management and operation by outside agency is irrelevant.
The main thing is to ensure that any privileges enjoyed by the organisation automatically apply to the Provident Fund and especially to its assets. The Working Party notes that these privileges can only be invoked on behalf of the Provident Fund if the organisation retains the Fund's assets in its own hands.
As it is important to secure the best possible management of the assets of a Provident Fund, the Working Party is not opposed to calling in specialised outside agencies, provided this does not involve transferring the ownership of the Fund's assets to such bodies.
The Working Party is not prepared to recommend any particular form of management more than another. Only experience will show whether it is better to entrust the management of the Fund's assets to a department of the organisation or to have recourse to an outside agency. The Working Party merely expresses the hope that the organisations will periodically compare results.
75. One of the most important problems for the Provident Fund is undoubtedly to maintain the purchasing power of the accumulated contributions standing to the credit of members of the staff.
Without entering upon a technical study which would be outside its province, the Working Party noted that this problem cannot be entirely solved by shrewd investment. Nor would the choice of a stable currency for the Fund constitute an absolute safeguard against depreciation. The only effective method, which the Working Party is well aware might meet with objections from Member States, would be, whenever there is a general increase in emoluments, to revalorise the sums in individual accounts with the Provident Fund. This would of course involve financial commitments for the organisations and hence for member countries.
76. The Working Party gave particular attention to the problem of covering the mortality risk and were unanimously agreed on the necessity of providing for dependents.
Having noted the amendments recently made by the Council of Europe to the Regulations of its Provident Fund, the Working Party agreed that payments to dependents of a deceased member of the staff might take the form of a capital sum.
There was, however, some difference of opinion as to whether the premiums of the life assurance taken out for that purpose should be paid by drawing upon the individual accounts of members of the staff by other means, such as a special contribution from the staff and the organisations.
77. The provident schemes now operating in the organisations participating in this study are of three kinds :
Pension scheme : European Coal and Steel Community.
Combined pension and provident scheme : European Organisation for Nuclear Research.
Provident Fund : Council of Europe, Customs Co-operation Council, Organisation for European Economic Co-operation, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Western European Union.
78. The schemes instituted by the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Organisation for Nuclear Research are comprehensive in that they provide for retirement pensions and pensions for widows and orphans. The scheme in operation in the European Organisation for Nuclear Research also makes special arrangements for certain categories of staff recruited for short periods. An interesting feature of these schemes is the method of computing benefits, which, being based on ultimate emoluments, are thereby automatically revalorized.
79. Most of the organisations have instituted a Provident Fund or are about to do so. The arrangements are virtually identical as regards the amount of the contributions by staff and organisations and the conditions in which the capital so accumulated is paid over. The only differences are in the methods of managing the fund.
It will be noted that two organisations look upon their Provident Fund as a first step towards a pension scheme.
80. With regard to social security schemes we shall observe the generally accepted distinction between benefits in kind (medical and surgical treatment etc.) and cash benefits (allowances paid for working days lost).
81. As regards benefits in kind, national civil servants are usually affiliated to the general social security system applicable to all employed persons, where such a system exists. In general, civil servants enjoy no special advantages in this matter.
82. There can be no question, in this study, of laying down an ideal system for benefits in kind. The machinery of the system and the extent of the protection depend largely on local conditions of medical practice, the cost of medical care, the organisation of hospital services and the scale of hospital charges.
We can do no more than suggest an average level of benefits which should be available under a social security scheme.
83. Under most schemes a proportion of the medical and hospital expenses—usually a fixed percentage—must be borne by the beneficiary. Part payment is often waived when the necessary treatment is costly.
These principles are rarely if ever questioned and might be adopted by the organisations taking part in this study.
The proportion paid by the insured person should be about 20 % except where treatment is expensive (for example surgical operation), when the contribution should be nil. These suggestions are, of course, only general principles : the details of the system of benefits in kind should be settled by each of the organisations concerned, having regard to local conditions (cf. 82 above).
84. National administrations and international secretariats usually have their own system of cash benefits. There are several reasons why special arrangements are made for civil servants, particularly :
the special nature of the public service;
the need to co-ordinate the system of allowances for temporary incapacitation, which is generally embodied in the Staff Rules, and the provisions of the pension scheme, which ensures pensions in case of permanent incapacitation (disability pension).
Under these arrangements staff are usually entitled to sick leave with full or part salary and allowances.
But there are other possible arrangements. The international organisations, in particular, while granting sick leave for a limited period, make use of public or private institutions in the host country to finance allowances payable after the exhaustion of sick benefits, in the event of prolonged incapacitation. But, though the nature of the allowance for temporary incapacitation may be different, the principle of a special scheme for members of the Civil Service remains unchanged.
85. In all the organisations concerned the staff are entitled to benefits in kind in the event of illness or accident. Protection extends to the spouse and dependent children. The source of these benefits varies with the seat of the organisation. Thus in the Council of Europe, the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the Western European Union offices the staff are affiliated to the ordinary French Sécurité Sociale, and the organisations subscribe to an insurance policy which provides benefits additional to those payable under French social security legislation. The staff of the London headquarters of Western European Union benefit under the National Health Service and, together with the organisation, subscribe to supplementary insurance.
The European Coal and Steel Community follows a similar practice, the staff being affiliated to the Luxembourg Caisse de maladie des Fonctionnaires et Employés publics. Where necessary, the Community pays supplementary benefits to bring reimbursements up to 80 % of the actual expenses incurred.
The European Organisation for Nuclear Research has a sick benefit fund.
In the case of the Customs Co-operation Council, owing to certain aspects of the social security legislation of the host country, it has not been possible for the staff to qualify for benefit. The Council has, however, taken out sickness and accident insurance for its employees and their families, covering only major risks by benefits in kind.
86. On the whole, the benefits in kind provided by the participating organisations appear satisfactory, representing a reasonably high percentage of the expenses incurred. The principle that members of the staff should pay a share of the expenses due to illness is common to all the systems in force. The percentage may be as much as 50 % or as little as 5 %. Some organisations relieve their staff of any contribution to expenses in certain cases such as operations.
87. Although the rates and maximum duration of allowances paid may differ considerably, the cash benefit systems in force in the organisations concerned employ similar methods.
The organisations grant sick leave to members of the staff when unfit for work owing to illness or accident. The periods of sick leave on full or part salary allowed are :
six months on full pay in the Customs Co-operation Council;
three months on full pay in Western European Union and N. A. T. O. ;
three months on full pay and three months on half-pay in the Council of Europe;
two months on full pay and two months on half-pay for O. E. E. C.
A number of Organisations (Council of Europe, O. E. E. C, N. A. T. O. and W. E. U.) have an arrangement whereby members of the staff who at the expiry of their period of paid leave are still unable to return to duty receive supplementary payments over and above the cash benefits of French social security.
One organisation has announced its intention of introducing a similar system in the near future.
88. The pension scheme instituted by two of the organisations also provide against the contingencies of disability or death. One of the organisations has also taken out accident insurance on behalf of its staff, providing for payment of a lump sum in the event of death or permanent disability, total or partial. These benefits are additional to those payable under the pension scheme.
The Council of Europe and O. E. E. C. have an insurance policy to cover death or disability. In the event of death, a lump sum equal to one year's emoluments is paid; in the event of disablement to a degree of more than 66 %, an annuity representing 40 % of emoluments.
Western European Union and N. A. T. O., which have instituted Provident Funds for their staff, do not as a general practice insure against death. In the event of the death of a member of the staff, the sum standing to his credit in the Provident Fund is paid to the heirs. But during the earlier years of service this sum would be inadequate, and these organisations have accordingly taken out a life policy to provide a sum which will bring the amount up to a maximum of one year's emoluments.
These two organisations also provide, by means of an insurance policy, for a cash payment equal to five years' emoluments in the case of fatal accident.
Moreover, one of them, in the event of permanent disability greater than 66 %, provides an annuity equal to the difference between the pension paid by the Social Security and two-thirds of the basic salary. A reduced annuity is also paid when disability is between 33 % and 66 %.
Finally, the Customs Co-operation Council has taken out accident insurance on behalf of its staff. This insurance guarantees the payment of a sum equal to :
five years' emoluments in case of death;
eight years' emoluments in the event of permanent total disability.
Belgian members of the staff come under special provisions.
89. As indicated in the introductory note, we have attempted in these pages to propose solutions both to the problems which have already arisen in connection with existing European organisations and to the new problems which current developments in European planning are bound to create. It is hoped that these proposals will make possible a gradual advance from the state of affairs in which staffs exist without mutual ties, belonging to organisations with no institutional co-ordination at the administrative level, to the stage at which a European Civil Service will begin to take shape. Our approach has been realistic, and we do not contemplate a rapid transition from one stage to the other, nor do we count on the universal application of such principles and rules as may be established. The creation of a European Civil Service will take time; the pace will vary according to tasks of the organisations, the categories of staff and the fields of competence involved; but the main point is that the whole trend of development and planning should be towards the same ultimate goal.
90. There is no disputing that the success of European projects, and hence the future of the very idea of Europe, is linked with or largely dependent upon the quality of the institutions whose task it be to give them form and substance. It must be realised that an international institution, especially in its early days, is in a very precarious position. Being by definition a body superimposed upon national institutions whose activities cover the same ground, it is handicapped in their regard by inexperience and absence of tradition. Again, by definition, it is the product of concessions of sovereignty by the participating nations and is therefore almost bound, at least at first, to come up against a certain understandable wariness on the part of national departments. It follows that an international institution, more than any other, must make its mark by its technical qualities and by the utility and efficiency of its work. That is why the quality of its staff is so important in carrying out the plans of the directing organs.
91. But it must be observed that in Western Europe today, with full or near-full employment, it is particularly difficult for a recently formed institution, being a newcomer to the labour market, to recruit qualified staff.
92. For some time the pecuniary incentive was thought to be decisive; salaries in international organisations were higher than in the home country for equivalent work, and this was sufficient to attract the best material. But with the changing economic circumstances we are inclined to think that this factor, while it may still count for much, is less important than formerly; in any case, though not without influence on the field of recruitment, it cannot alone ensure high quality.
93. That J this is a growing problem is evidenced by the fact that the authorities responsible at the highest level have thought fit to entrust the Working Party with the present task. It is significant, moreover, that a similar body which had existed for some years in the context of the United Nations and their Specialised Agencies was at that very time given wider terms of reference by the United Nations General Assembly. Clearly, the international civil service has its own peculiar problems, which are growing ever more complex in the world of today.
94. In these pages we have not been concerned with answering the question : " Is the phased establishment of a Civil Service desirable? "—since the authorities of the European organisations have given the answer already; what we have tried to answer is the question : " Is the phased creation of a European Civil Service possible? "
95. We have shown that the answer can be in the affirmative, within limits and subject to a certain timing. Among the existing staff of European organisations, we have singled out with some degree of precision a number of branches to which the principles and rules of a European Civil Service might most fittingly be applied. We have also had an eye to the developments which will take place as the European organisations continue with their work; we have visualised, and suggested plans to meet, situations for which it would be premature to make practical arrangements as yet.
96. Subject to these observations, the Working Party proposes that the organisations concerned in this study, assuming they are agreed upon the aim and the general lines of advance suggested, should adopt the measures recommended below. These may to some extent prove incompatible with the structure of certain organisations and the work they do. On the other hand, some organisations have already made arrangements such as are recommended in this report.
97. Although the aim is a European Civil Service, it cannot—at the present stage at least—be conceived as a really unified career embracing a single corps of public servants all subject to identical regulations. The establishment of a Civil Service must rather be conceived in terms of a set of measures to create a de facto body of officials which would be rendered homogeneous by the following combination of factors :
a similar conception of the duties involved by responsibility to an international authority;
similar qualifications for corresponding posts;
conditions of service sufficiently uniform to make the staffs of European organisations to some extent interchangeable.
98. In order to achieve this degree of homogeneity among these diverse structures, the Working Party recommends the following measures :
(1) Preparation of a comparative classification of posts, an essential condition of the other co-ordination measures. The Working Party proposes to place this task in the hands of an ad hoc group of its own members.
(2) A sufficient degree of uniformity in conditions of service, aimed at making the service a regular career :
(a) Measures to promote security of tenure :
the final aim is to provide a life-time career with unlimited opportunities for promotion within a given branch;
if this aim is not immediately attainable, it may be reached by stages, to which end the Working Party recommends modifying the various types of contract in current use so as to increase security in practive, pending a system of statutory safeguards.
Various methods by which this may be done are recommended in the report (Chapter III, Section 2).
(b) Parallel scales of remuneration, already largely comparable in practice.
This question will be examined by the Working Party at a later stage.
(c) The introduction as soon as possible of a pension scheme offering the staffs of the various organisations equivalent advantages.
This point is dealt with in more detail below.
(d) Establishment of a common Administrative Tribunal to consider matters of interpretation of staff regulations and to determine disputes arising out of their application.
(3). Adoption of similar methods of recruitment :
(a) As the ultimate objective, the Working Party recommends that recruitment should be mainly by direct intake, into the lower ranks of the branch concerned, of young people likely to make the organisation their life-time career.
It would then be necessary to give serious consideration to the question of training. Here the choice lies between a preparatory training college and training after admission, but the Working Party is not prepared to say which method is to be preferred.
(b) During the formative stage of international institutions, especially in the case of higher and intermediate posts, it is essential to find qualified staff already trained in national administrations or in international organisations.
(c) With regard to the technical aspects of recruitment, the Working Party recommends that, to the fullest extent possible, appointments should be on a competitive basis having regard to the qualifications of the candidates.
The linguistic and conference staff found in all organisations (group (d) in Chapter II of the report) might from now on be appointed by competitive examination.
The Working Party appreciates the fact that the technical aspect of recruitment is also affected by the principle of geographical distribution of posts and by the question of knowledge of the official languages of the organisations.
(d) In any event, the Working Party recommends that the question of further training for staff already employed should be seriously examined by the organisations forthwith and that practical steps should be taken in this matter, especially meetings between officials at the same level in different international organisations and regular contacts with the staff of national Civil Services.
(4) Arrangements between organisations with a view to attaining certain of the objectives defined above.
(a) Measures to facilitate inter-organisational transfer :
(i) An official permanently transferred would not be in the situation of a new recruit;
— he would not be subject to age-limit on entry;
— he would retain all acquired salary and pension rights;
(ii) Possibility of temporary secondment for special assignments, the official retaining his full rights in his own organisation ;
(iii) Arrangements for junior officials of the staff to spend short periods with other organisations to gain experience;
(b) Establishment of certain common services, particularly conference staff (group (d) in Chapter II of the report);
(c) Common entrance examinations, particularly for staff referred to in (b) above;
(d) Common arrangements for further training.
99. In order to achieve the purposes defined above and to implement the measures recommended, it is essential to set up a permanent co-ordinating body.
Without in any way encroaching upon the independence of the responsible organs and authorities of the various organisations, this permanent committee would be available to them for information, advice and negotiation in matters concerning the European Civil Service.
This function might be entrusted to the Working Party, whose terms of reference would then need to be suitably amended.
100. (a) A comprehensive pension scheme, if possible common to all the organisations concerned, seems to the Working Party essential to a European Civil Service. It would also contribute towards the establishment of a regular service by promoting continuity of employment.
(b) Without going into the technical details, the Working Party considers that the institution of a common pension scheme is conceivable in the immediate future, at any rate for those organisations whose tasks give them a reasonably permanent character and whose structure and staff regulations—particularly as regards continuity of employment— are sufficiently analogous.
(c) If a pension scheme is not thought expedient at present, the Working Party considers that the organisations cannot but accept an obligation which falls upon all employers and, if they have not already done so, introduce a satisfactory provident scheme on the lines indicated in this report.
(d) Before the Working Party goes any further into the subject, and in particular before it undertakes a study of the technical aspects of a pension scheme, the organisations must decide which course they propose to take, whether they will set up a provident fund or introduce a pension scheme forthwith.
The Committee of Ministers,
Having regard to the views expressed on a number of occasions by the Consultative Assembly, concerning the problem of a European Civil Service;
Having regard to the interest to be attached to the general study of the various problems arising from the existence of active officials in European organisations;
Having regard to the interest to be attached to the general study of the various problems arising from the existence of active officials in European organisations;
Having regard to the study being made for the establishment of regulations for a European Civil Service applicable to the greatest possible number of European organisations and included by the Committee of Ministers in its Special Message concerning the programme of work of the Council of Europe,
Resolves :
1. That the Secretary-General be instructed to invite the following organisations to participate in a Working Party to study problems connected with the establishment of a European Civil Service :
the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (together with the European Conference of Transport Ministers);
Western European Union;
the Customs Co-operation Council;
the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ;
the European Coal and Steel Community;
the European Centre for Nuclear Research;
the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine.
2. The Working Party shall be asked to put forward proposals on the following points in turn :
standardisation of terms of employments by means of uniform regulations, particularly with regard to remuneration and pensions;
establishement of joint machinery for a number of organisations in such matters as a pension fund, linguistic services, etc.;
special arrangements between certain organisations in respect of recruitment, training periods, transfer of officials from one organisation to another, and temporary transfers;
ways and means of achieving these aims.
3. The Working Party shall be composed of :
representatives of those organisations which may have decided to participate in this work;
Government-appointed experts of countries wishing to be represented on this Working Party.
4. The Working Party shall make reports.
Each organisation shall decide what action shall, in its own case, be taken in the light of these reports.
The Secretary-General shall submit the reports to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
5. The Working Party shall be empowered :
6. Each organisation shall meet the expenses of its representatives in the Working Party.
Travelling expenses of Government-nominated experts shall be met by the Council of Europe as is now the case for Committees of experts.
Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine : M. H. Walther, Secretary-General;
European Coal and Steel Community : M. C. Calmes, Secretary-General of the Special Council of Ministers (Observer), represented by M. A. Zipcy, Director; Customs Co-operation Council : MM. G. Annez de Taboada, Secretary-General ; L. Roux, Director; J. Feldmeyer, Technical Director (Observers);
Council of Europe : MM. A. Daussin, Director of Administration (Vice-Chairman); J. Lambotte, First Secretary (Secretary);
Organisation for European Economic Co-operation : MM. S. J. Bernier, Director of Administration and Conferences; R. Grégoire, Director of the European Productivity Agency (Chairman); E. A. Kern, Head of Finance Division; J. F. Papy, Administrative Officer;
European Organisation for Nuclear Research : MM. R. W. Penney, Head of Personnel; G. Ull-mann, Deputy Head of Personnel (Observers);
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation : MM. W. J. de Vries, Head of Personnel; A. Bastin, Director of Administration (Observers);
Western European Union : MM. P. B. Fraser, Assistant Secretary-General; Colonel W. J. H. Courtis, Head of Administration.
Belgium : MM. A. Molitor, Director-General at the Ministry of Education; J. C. Salmon, Minister Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe.
France : MM. P. Chatenet, Directeur de la Fonction Publique; M. J. Lamorlette, Directeur de la Fonction Publique.
Federal Republic of Germany : MM. K. Haack, Federal Ministry of the Interior, U. von Rhamm, Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs;
Ireland : M. J. W. Lennon, Ministry of External Affairs.
Netherlands : MM. N. C. de Groot van Embden, Financial Attaché to the Netherlands Embassy, Paris; G. H. van Herwaarden, Ministry of the Interior.
Sweden : M. A. Faeltheim, Member of the Swedish Delegation to O. E. E. C.
Turkey : M. N. Imre, Member of the Turkish Delegation to N. A. T. O. and O. E. E. C.
United Kingdom : M. R. W. F. Johnston, Member of the United Kingdom Delegation to N. A. T. O. and O. E. E. C. (Vice-Chairman).
| Council of Europe | European Coal and Steel Community (High Authority) | Organisation For European Economic Co-operation | Western European Union | North Atlantic Treaty Organisation | Customs Co-Operation Council | European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Admin. Division and office staff) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appointments | No. | Appointments | No. | Apointments | No. | Appointments | No. | Appointments | No. | Appointments | No. | Appointments | No. | ||
| ADMINISTRATIVE CLASS | |||||||||||||||
| Director | 5 | Director | Director | 10 | Dep. Director | 1 | Secretary-Gen. | 1 | Director | 2 | Div. Director | 1 | |||
| Head of Dep. | 3 | Counsellor | Head of Div. | 26 | Legal Adviser | 1 | Dep. Secr.-Gen | 1 | Dep. Director | 3 | Head of Sect. | 3 | |||
| Counsellor | 13 | Dep. Director | Prino. A d . Off. | 68 | Head of Divis. | 3 | Assist. Sec,-Con. | 4 | Tech. Adm. Off | 8 | Dep. Head of | 2 | |||
| 1st Secretary | 19 | Dep. Head of | Admin. Offic | 106 | Head of Work.group (équipe) | 2 | Head of Divis. | 8 | Sect. | ||||||
| 2nd Secretary | 32 | Div. | group [équipe | 2 | Special Assist. | 1 | |||||||||
| Member of Div. | Head of Sect. | 1 | Head of Sect. | 33 | Chief Account. | 1 | |||||||||
| Chief Inspector | Head of Sect. | 16 | Expert | 22 | Chief Auditor | 1 | Special Assist. | 1 | |||||||
| Inspector | Sen. Adm. Off. | Admin. Officer | 70 | ||||||||||||
| Dep. Inspector | Admin. Officer | 13 | |||||||||||||
| Chief Ad . Off. | |||||||||||||||
| 72 | 160 | 210 | 37 | 13 | 9 | ||||||||||
| EXECUTIVE CLASS | |||||||||||||||
| Supervisor | 29 | Admin. Officer | SeniorAssist. | 69 | Assistant | 33 | Admin. Assist I | 7 | |||||||
| Writer | Accountant | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Accountant | Assistant | 27 | Accountant I | 1 | |||||||||||
| Qualif. Secret. | Auditor I | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Proof-reader | Manager | 10 | Adm. Assist. II | 9 | |||||||||||
| Cashier | Accountant II | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Verbatim rep. | Auditor | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Press reader | |||||||||||||||
| 29 | 100 | 79 | 27 | 33 | 1 | 21 | |||||||||
| JUNIOR AND AUXILIARY STAFF | |||||||||||||||
| Qualif. Assist | 34 | Secretary | JuniorAssist. | 106 | Secretary | 109 | Clerk | 2 | Cashier | 1 | |||||
| Assistant | 80 | Clerk | Chief Clerk | Bi-lingual Seer. | Secretary | 18 | |||||||||
| Auxiliary : | Private Seer. | 32 | Bi-ling. sh. | Assist. | 3 | ||||||||||
| Chief | 6 | Clerk | 65 | typ. | Account. | ||||||||||
| 1st class | 16 | Junior Clerk | 21 | Sh'd-hand typ. | Clerk | 16 | |||||||||
| 2nd class | 40 | Clerk Typist | |||||||||||||
| Sh'd-hand-typ. | Biling.sh'd - typ | 6 | Secretary | 9 | Usher | 108 | Secretary | 4 | Pool Supervis. | 1 | |||||
| Sh'd typist | 152 | Sh'd-typist | Chauffeur | Sh'd-Typist | Sh'd-Typist | 3 | |||||||||
| Typist | 17 | Bilingual" | Security guard | Typist superv. | Clerk Typist | 6 | |||||||||
| Bilingual Seer. | Messenger | Sh'd Typist | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Sh'd-Typist | 17 | Typist | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Typist | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Technical Staff | Techn. Staff | 135 | Techn. Staff | 27 | Technical Staff | 6 | Technical Staff | 21 | |||||||
| 176 | 350 | 534 | 57 | 380 | 16 | 69 | |||||||||
| LINGUISTIC SERVICES | |||||||||||||||
| Counsellor | 1 | Head of Dep. | Head of Div. | 1 | Head of Dep. | 1 | Interpreter | 12 | Head of Sect. | 1 | Head Translat. | 1 | |||
| 1st Secretary | 1 | Chief Interpr. | Chief Interp. | 3 | Interpreter | 4 | Translator | 23 | Interpreter | 1 | Translator | 1 | |||
| 2ndSecretary | 13 | Reviser | Head of Sect. | Translator | 9 | Translator | 1 | ||||||||
| Translator I | Translator | ||||||||||||||
| Interpreter I | Interpreter | 45 | |||||||||||||
| Translator | Translator | ||||||||||||||
| Interpreter | |||||||||||||||
| Assistant Tran. | |||||||||||||||
| Assistant Int. | |||||||||||||||
| 15 | 50 | 49 | 14 | 35 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||
| 1. Including European Productivity Agency and Secretariat of E. C. M. T . |
| Groups | Central Rhine Commission | E. C. S. C. ( High Authority) | Customs Cooperation Council | Council of Europe | O. E. E. C. | C. E . R. N. | N. A. T . O. | W. E. U. | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Top-ranking appointments (made by the central committee of the organisation) | 68 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 14 | 5 | 105 | |
| 2. Higher technical officers, short service (posts held for limited periods by highly qualified exper | 3 | 17 | 220 | 43 | 283 | ||||
| 3. Higher and intermediate posts in administration, finance, etc. comparable as between organisations (includes higher and intermediate technical officers : long service) | 3 | 214 | 9 | 181 | 679 | 160 | 107 | 64 | 1,417 |
| 4. Linguistic and conference staff employed by all the organisations interpreters, translators, bi-lingual short-hand typists, etc.) | 8 | 307 | 9 | 49 | 58 | 10 | 150 | 44 | 635 |
| 5. Auxiliary staff | 3 | 72 | 10 | 62 | 135 | 151 | 271 | 27 | 731 |
| Total | 14 | 661 | 34 | 295 | 892 | 550 | 585 | 140 | 3,171 |
| Posts | Central Rhine Commission | E. C. S. C. ( High Authority) | Customs Cooperation Council | Council of Europe | O. E. E. C. | C. E. R. N. | N. A. T . O . | W. E. U. | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Translators | 33 | 1 | 12 | 38 | 2 | 41 | 9 | 136 | |
| Interpreters | 15 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 35 | |||
| Bilingual short-hand typists | 5 | 189 | 4 | 34 | 6 | 7 | 89 | 30 | 364 |
| Others | 3 | 70 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 100 | ||
| Total | 8 | 307 | 9 | 49 | 58 | 10 | 150 | 44 | 635 |
| 1. At W . E . U . , interpreters also act as translators. |