Commission to take Council to court in row over pay rise

Member states block 3.7% pay rise for officials; staff unions at Council to take strike action today.

The European Commission is set to take the Council of Ministers to court after a majority of member states blocked a pay rise for EU officials. 

Twelve member states blocked a proposal from the Commission to increase officials’ pay by 3.7% at a meeting of deputy ambassadors yesterday (16 December). The UK, Germany, Poland and Latvia are leading opposition to the increase.

The Commission believes that if the Council fails to agree the pay rise based on the calculation method in the staff regulation, it will be in breach of its legal obligations to respect EU law and can be challenged in the European Court of Justice.

A senior Commission official said yesterday: “We have no choice but to go to court.” Commission President José Manuel Barroso said last week: “We have to respect the law. It’s not a political choice; it’s implementation of a legal commitment.” The Commission took the Council to court in 1972 when it failed to honour an agreement on the calculation of pay rises.

Staff unions at the EU’s Council of Ministers have called a one-day strike today (17 December) in response to the Council’s decision.

Speaking to an estimated 1,500 officials in the atrium of the Council’s Justus Lipsius building yesterday, Günther Lorenz, secretary-general of the Union Syndicale trade union, said: “There is no hope of any solution.”

“Our reaction is clear. We will go on strike tomorrow,” he said to loud applause.

Alternative proposals

Lorenz said that the Council had pushed for a number of alternatives to the 3.7% increase, but they were still not acceptable to the majority of member states.

Those alternatives included increasing pay by 2% with the remainder of the rise introduced over an undetermined period, or paying the increase in full but clawing part of it back through a levy. Lorenz said both options were “illegal” as they involved the Council reneging on its obligation to respect the method for calculating EU staff pay rises.

The strike today will coincide with a meeting of EU transport ministers. Lorenz said that Council staff unions would not prevent delegates entering the Justus Lipsius building. The interpreting service to ministers will not be affected, as the interpreters are employed by the Commission.

The Commission staff unions have lodged formal notice of their intention to strike but have not yet taken action, in large part because the Commission is sticking to its original proposal that for EU officials, pay should be raised by 3.7%. Commission staff unions are holding a general assembly today (17 December) at which they will discuss strike action.

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The Swedish presidency is planning to continue discussions with member states until Friday evening in order to get a deal. It is working on a compromise that would award EU staff the 3.7% increase, but spread over two years, rather than being paid out in full on 1 January. The presidency would need to get all member states to back the compromise in order to agree a proposal which did not have the support of the Commission. Staff unions consider that such a compromise would be illegal because it failed to respect the method.