European Civil Service

Recommendation 725 (1974)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 22 January 1974 (22nd Sitting) (see Doc. 3381, report of the Committee on the Budget). Text adopted by the Assembly on 22 January 1974 (22nd Sitting).

The Assembly,

1. Having regard to the interim report presented by the Committee on the Budget to the Standing Committee on 10 December 1970 (Doc. 2835) ;

2. Recalling that for many years it has consistently held the view that the long-term objective of governments should be to set up a European Civil Service ;

3. Believing that the main lines of the staff regulations of the European Communities (which apply to some 10 000 civil servants) should serve as a basis for the harmonisation of conditions of the six coordinated organisations, which would naturally assist the evolution of a European Civil Service ;

4. Convinced that a first step in this direction is to guarantee to the permanent staff members of the Council of Europe security of employment, reasonable career prospects and adequate pension and gratuity schemes, thus ensuring that recruits of high quality offer themselves and that existing employees are fairly treated ;

5. Welcoming that there has been instituted in the Council of Europe a statutory Staff Committee and other organs of staff participation similar to those of the European Communities and with corresponding rights and responsibilities ;

6. Affirming the principle that ability and suitability for a particular post must be the decisive criteria in recruiting and promoting European civil servants,

7. Recommends that, with the view to achieving the above immediate and long-term objectives, the Committee of Ministers :

A. Immediate harmonisation measures

i. undertake a general review of the Staff Regulations with a view to ensuring that they fully apply the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights and of the European Social Charter, more particularly those relating to equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women ;

ii. take urgent steps to align the terms and conditions of employment and pay offered to the Council of Europe staff with those applying to the staff of the European Communities ;

iii. bring into force at an early date the common pension scheme which is now in process of being drawn up for the coordinated organisations ;

iv. take the necessary steps to develop, in cooperation with the Staff Committee, further training schemes covering all grades and categories of staff employed, whether male or female, and examine what aspects of such training might profitably be organised in common by several European organisations ;

v. introduce the possibility for members of the staff who apply for it to be granted non-paid leave for training purposes ;

vi. introduce, in order to allay certain criticisms, an internal organisation tax on the salaries of Council of Europe staff, similar to that in force in the European Communities and incorporating the same principles as were adopted when that tax was introduced ;

vii. ensure that any arrangements made in respect of Council of Europe staff for the taxation of pensions are at least as favourable as those applicable to the European Communities ;

viii. improve the system of remedies and appeals in the Council of Europe and examine an extension of competence of the judicial authority concerned so that it should have powers similar to those invested in the European Communities in administrative matters, and in the administrative tribunals of other international organisations ;

B. Longer term approach

i. take action with a view to ensuring harmonisation within the six coordinated organisations and with other European organisations having international staff, in order to arrive, as far as possible, at common conditions of recruitment, grading, pay, pension, career and transfer from one organisation to another ;

ii. harmonise the systems of remedies and appeals in force in various organisations, in order to set up a common appeals system and a single appeals authority.