EU civil servants reject 40-hour week plans
by Daniel Mason
The European Commission plans to save €1bn by reducing the number of bureaucrats working for the EU by 5 per cent, and increasing staff office hours from 37-and-a-half to 40 a week. Forty per cent of commission civil servants earn a salary of more than €80,000 but unions said changes to their working conditions would have a "very negative impact on reconciliation of working and home life".
In a letter signed by union leaders, the Equipe d'Union Syndicale told its members: "The unions and staff associations replied to this proposal with a categorical 'Niet!'. The attractiveness of the European civil service would deteriorate. It would be a socially-backward step that the unions and staff associations reject emphatically."
They also opposed plans to exempt senior officials earning six-figure salaries from a scheme which entitles 2,000 staff to a total of three months holiday on full pay every year. As well as 24 days holiday, seven public holidays, and time off over summer and Christmas when EU institutions shut down, civil servants can take another 24 days if they work an extra 45 minutes a day.
UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage said: "You really couldn't make it up. Greece looks like it is about to implode and yet the eurocrats responsible for the mess are moaning about working slightly longer every week to justify their bloated salaries that we are paying for."
And Stephen Booth, research director at the think-tank Open Europe, said it would "border on comedy" were the EU not facing its "worst crisis in history". He added: "It shows a complete lack of self-awareness and is an insult to taxpayers all over Europe, who face falling living standards and the threat of redundancy."
Such an outright rejection really doesn't reflect well on the EU. From a non-EU perspective, the EU is still hailed as one of the premier forces in the world, for its rich political and diplomatic legacy, but also in equal measure for its brilliant workforce. In India, for example, a civil servant is, more often than not, looked upon as a Govt stooge, spineless, often uneducated, itching to accept money under the table and a criminal waste of the taxpayers' money. Of course there are exceptions, but in general that is the case.
In stark contrast, the EU civil service is looked upon as the model of efficiency, well-versed in all aspects of his job, hopefully honest - the number of corrupt civil servants has been rising worryingly - and working for the betterment of the EU and its people.
This rejection, in the time of slow, even negative, economic growth, seems to indicate that the EU civil services have lost their brilliance.
I do not disagree that high salaries, perks and holidays are essential to attract bright minds to the elite civil services, but on the other hand, if they fail to realize that their first and foremost duty is to the EU, maybe they do not deserve to be civil servants at all, no matter how brilliant they may be.
Aritra - India
Aritra, I totally agree with your comments-it is a poor show on behalf of the EU if these cost-cutting measures cannot be adopted. As a Briton, I worry about the staggeringly high amount that the UK pays into the EU coffers every year & if we are receiving value for our money; with a headline such as this-I fear not.
Laskovar - UK
