National governments have objected strongly to a 1.7% increase in pay for EU staff proposed by the European Commission, but can do little to stop the plan, diplomats and officials admit.

Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and the UK are leading opposition to the increase that the Commission recommended last Thursday (24 November).

“Politically, it is very difficult for us,” said one UK diplomat. But a legally binding agreement on annual reviews of staff pay means their scope for action is limited to little more than delaying tactics. Commission officials refer to a European Court of Justice ruling last year that confirmed that member states have to accept salary adjustments proposed by the Commission, provided they are backed by reliable data. “All they [member states] can do is to review the accuracy of the figures they submitted as part of calculating the increase,” said a Commission official. But some member states are considering a second legal challenge, if only to send a political message.

Salary changes

The Commission proposed the increase for EU staff in Brussels and Luxembourg, taking into account the changes in salaries of national civil servants in eight member states, plus the rate of inflation in Belgium. Poland, which holds the presidency of the EU’s Council of Ministers, hopes for a first discussion on Tuesday (6 December), with the aim of getting agreement by the end of the year.

Maroš Šefcovic, the European commissioner for inter-institutional relations and administration, last week rejected a call from member states to suspend this year’s pay adjustment because of the eurozone debt crisis.

Šefcovic said that the conditions for triggering a suspension clause had not been met. 

The Commission will propose reforms to the staff regulations in December, including altering the pay formula to reflect changes in the pay of civil servants in all 27 member states instead of the current eight.

The Commission’s reforms aim to save €1 billion by 2020. They include cutting staff numbers by 5%, increasing working hours, and raising the retirement age.

Staff unions have backed down from strike action, which they had threatened after saying that the plans make too many concessions to national governments.

Günther Lorenz, president of the Union Syndicale staff union, said that unions were divided over whether to take strike action now or wait for the outcome of negotiations next year.