Parliament pushes for change to the MFF

As you may know on Wednesday 13/3 the Parliament voted a resolution against the long-term budget 2014-2020 (MFF) as agreed during the last Council summit held in February (during our last R&D Cafè given on the same day  - 13/3 - we gave this information "live"!)

The vote of last Wednesday does not imply that the whole MFF negotiations will have to start from scratch, it was only an intermediate step in the co-decision procedure. The Parliament will give or refuse its consent on the MFF in July 2013.

With the vote of last Wednesday, the Parliament expressed its concern about the following main points:

- a lack of transparency and respect of the EP role during the negotiations of February

- the need for flexibility in the budget between different items of expenditure

- the need for a mid-term review of the MFF, after the establishment of the new Commission and EP

- no roll-over of 2013 unpaid bills into the new MFF

The EP is clearly showing to the Council that its increased power given by the Treaty of Lisbon has to be taken into account. The fact that the EP is counterbalancing the Council is positive for the defense of the European project and the public service that makes it possible!

In this context the reform of the staff regulation is not expected to enter into force before Jan 2014 at least.

For more information on the vote of Wednesday we invite you to have a look at the Parliament press relase and the Commission press release.

We remind that you can find more information on the MFF and the reform on the R&D website.

Latest update on the reform

As you know, during the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework negotiations that took place early February, the European Council decided to cut the administrative spending by Euro 1.5 Billion. This comes on top of the Euro 1 Billion saving that the Commission proposed on a voluntary basis with the reform of the Staff Regulations tabled in December 2011 (see our previous message).
In order to find the extra 1.5 Billion saving, the Commission proposes to freeze the salaries and pensions of all the staff employed in the EU Institutions, agencies and other bodies over the next 2 years (2013 and 2014). This means that the provision of the method that expired on 31 December 2012 to align the evolution of EU staff remuneration and pensions to that of national civil servants will not be applied for 2 years, even when the method will be reinstated following the reform.  

R&D café on Multiannual Financial Framework: 13/03/2013

We are pleased to confirm the previously announced R&D Café on the topic of the recently agreed MFF. As you will be aware, the agreed budget includes a further reduction to the administrative heading beyond that already proposed by the Commission. This will naturally reflect on the future administrative spending and the proposed "Reform" of the Staff Regulations.
On 7th March the "Groupe technique Rémuneration" (GTR) will meet and a discussion of the method for salary adaptation and other aspects of the reform are on the agenda. R&D will be present and we have decided it would be most useful to hold the R&D Café after this meeting so we can present the latest possible scenarios and listen to your views.
The R&D café will therefore take place on 13/03 at 13:00 in Room 3 (bld. 36). Please come along and share in the debate over a coffee!