Our Activity Report – March to May 2005

This Report, summarised below describes our main activities during March to May 2005 period.

Meeting with Mrs De Sola, 1/3/2005

Following our invitation, Mrs De Sola (DG ADMIN/C Director) came to Luxembourg to meet us. During this meeting, we informed her about staff’s concern about the worsening of social conditions in Luxembourg including the European School and the Early Childhood Centre (CPE). We also told her how staff felt they had been cheated over the social levy (renamed special levy) and felt that this money should be invested in the areas for which it was originally intended. Mrs De Sola explained that she was preparing a new social policy and that she would inform staff in due course.

Meeting with Mrs De Sola in the CLP,
12/4/2005

We met Mrs De Sola once again but this time in the CLP where she presented her proposal for a social action plan which was based on improving aid for the disabled and families with disabled persons, security and hygiene at work, conciliation of family and work, reforming the medical service to include the management of risks (psychological and stress reduction), and of reducing harassment (moral and sexual). Also, as Commission pensioners are living longer and often need special care towards the end of their lives (something not covered by the current medical insurance), Mrs De Sola would like to introduce a compulsory “assurance de dependence”.

A&D pointed out that after the introduction of a social levy and the increase in contribution for pensions, this compulsory “assurance de dependence” should not be paid by staff but by the Institutions. A&D also told Mrs De Sola that the Reform and the annual CDR exercise have certainly contributed greatly to demotivating staff and in increasing their stress. A&D also raised the question of reimbursing the costs of school trips and reinstating the former “colonies de vacances” (abolished as part of the penny-pinching policy of former Commissioner Likkanen) and Mrs De Sola said she would be ready to consider this as part of her future proposal for social policy. She asked A&D to prepare a proposition.

It was also pointed out that even though her new social action plan proposed an increase in budget, the amount ear-marked by the Commission for its social programme still represented peanuts and was nowhere near what was invested in this area in the private sector.

It has to be said that the above proposals come in the wake of complaints by the EU Ombudsman of Commission’s responsibilities towards its personnel and that this social agenda is a proposition and still has to be approved by the Commission.

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Meeting with TAO/AFI, 15/4/2005

We met with our colleagues in TAO/AFI in Brussels to discuss ways of strengthening our cooperation.

Meeting with Mrs Emer Daly , 15/4/2005

On our request, Mrs Emer Daly (DG ADMIN/D Director) met us in her office in Brussels. She was then the Commission representative in the Board of Governors of the European schools. Mrs Daly listened with interest as we conveyed the current worries of the parents regarding the site of the second school, the vertical division of the school, the security of buildings, the canteen budget cut, the percentage of failures particularly in 4th and 5th year secondary. We also discussed the Commission proposal on the future of the European schools with her and reminded her of our tract on the same which she had, in fact, already read. She asked us to make a more comprehensive contribution to that document and we have since sent her our remarks.

Legal aid to Officials

Our legal section has so far aided approximately 500 colleagues in the various institutions, principally in the Commission and the Parliament, over the problem of transferring Belgian pension rights. In reality the Belgium law of 2003 has improved, at times by 100%, the pension transfers to Commission. This law only applies to transfers from 2002 onwards. Our colleagues who did not benefit from this law feel discriminated against and are actively seeking our legal assistance. This affair continues and has currently moved to the stage of “reclamation sur l’article 90 paragraph 2”.

In the same period we have aided other colleagues to introduce affairs in the tribunal of First Instance regarding their CDR of 2003 and for others regarding their non-promotions.

Early Childhood Centre

A&D participate in the “Comité paritiaire” for the Early Childhood Centre (CCPE). We have demanded that the playground in the CPE III should be equipped with games and play apparatus for the children (at the present time there are 2 swings for 500 children and a mud bath euphemistically called a “football pitch”). OIL has finally agreed to equip the area of the playground which will not be touched by the future extension (since 1998 an extension of the CPE III building has been planned but never started) and A&D have participated in drawing-up the technical specifications of the request for offers.

A&D have also raised many points concerning hygiene and security in the CPE and have demanded and been promised a serious follow-up of these issues (It is to be noted that an external firm audits the security and hygiene of the CPE every year and prepares a report. Up to now, the report was largely ignored by the competent body and the points were carried over from one year to the next.)