Kinnock tevreden over administratieve hervorming van de Europese Commissie (en)

maandag 9 februari 2004, 1:55

The European Commission today adopted the latest in its series of Reform Progress Reports. The Report which covers 2003 - shows that the Commission has successfully installed 95 out of the 98 modernisation commitments listed in the March 2000 Reform Strategy White Paper Action Plan, that the remaining Actions are in the course of application, and that profound updating of the Staff Regulations will come into effect, on schedule, on May 1st. The Report includes numerous practical examples of the way in which comprehensive Commission Reform is meeting the strategic objectives of promoting higher quality service to the public, employing new means of effective planning of tasks and resources, modernising personnel policy, implementing the highest modern standards of internal control and financial management, and generating cost savings. The report also details - inter alia - the further reinforcing measures being taken in response to irregular practises detected in Eurostat; it incorporates new proposals relating to the work of the EU's anti-fraud office, OLAF; and it sets out guidelines to improve the use of existing rules to facilitate 'Whistleblowing'.

Commenting on today's report, Neil Kinnock, Commission Vice-President for administrative reform, said: "The Commission has designed, developed and substantially implemented the profound Reforms which we promised. Tangible evidence of the extensive modernisation, including valuable cost savings from greater efficiency, is included in this latest progress Report . Reform is necessarily a continuing process rather than a single event. Further advances are therefore coming as the improvements in systems, methods, management and attitudes take full effect. The Reform Strategy was motivated by strong commitment to strengthening the performance of the Commission as an international public service organisation. Even after just four years of inevitably gradual and incremental implementation of that Strategy, the list of practical changes show clear fulfilment of that undertaking. We are honouring our mandate. The Reform programme is operational. And, with the reforms taking firm root across the organisation, we have provided solid foundations for further development which reinforces the accountability, effectiveness, efficiency and essential independence of the Commission. I commend the efforts of staff who have striven to put improvements into effect, often in addition to fulfilling their normal work obligations. We remain willing to refine changes on the basis of experience of the use of the innovations, and we do not accept any complacency. Neither do we claim that change is complete indeed we hope that, in an Institution that is determined to keep ahead of the times as an organisation, modernising evolution will be continually sustained."

Achieving comprehensive administrative reform is central to the Prodi Commission's commitments to strengthening the Institution as a well managed international public service organisation and to contributing to better European governance in general. Both objectives are served by the implementation of Reform measures that among other things - establish higher standards of service to the public, raise the efficiency and accountability of the Commission, radically improve financial management and control, make better use of human, technical and funding resources, make career advance heavily dependent on proven individual merit, and emphasise and promote management skills.

Main pillars of reform already in place

The White Paper set out four main, and related, areas for Reform: creating a culture based on service; introducing strategic planning and programming of tasks and resources; modernising personnel policy; tightening internal control and financial management. Very substantial and measurable progress has been achieved in all four areas. The reforms that have yet to be fully achieved - the application of a central invoice register to all Services, the creation of a contracts database, and the completion of test of electronic tendering will all be put into effect this year.

Meanwhile the changes are already showing tangible results:

    Creating a culture based on service:

  • The average delay in payment to contractors has been reduced from over 54 days in 1999 to under 43 days in 2003 and the improvement is continuing;

    • Over 80 per cent of public mail was responded to within the standard deadline in 2003, up from 70 per cent in 2002. Pre-reform figures are not available there was no response deadline;

    • A detailed online directory of Commission services is available to the general public for the first time;

    • The rate of positive responses to public requests for documents has been sustained at over 70% despite large increases in such requests;

    • As a result of reform, the public register now includes agendas and minutes of Commission meetings.

        Introducing strategic planning and programming:

    • The Activity Based Budgeting process is fully operational and the 2004 budget was the first prepared with full use of the system;

    • More demanding standards for consulting the public on policy development are integrated into working methods;

    • Impact Assessments for all major legislative and policy initiatives are fully integrated in the planning cycle;

    • The management of infringement procedures has been improved by the introduction of new measures;

    • The Inter-Institutional Agreement on "Better Lawmaking" was signed in December 2003;

    • Four permanent high-level inter-Service groups have been created to increase operational coordination among the Services and to reduce duplication and delay.

        Modernising personnel policy:

    • The new individual staff appraisal and promotion system became operational in 2003;

    • Investment in staff training as a share of total employment costs has been more than doubled from 0.53% in 1999 to 1.11% in 2004 and the increase continues,

    • The average number of training days per official has increased from less than 3 pre-Reform to 6.9 in 2002 and 8.3 last year, and the rise continues;

    • Pre-Reform, few officials had access to financial training courses. In 2003, 7,100 officials undertook such courses, up from 3,800 in 2001;

    • Management training has been made compulsory for current managers as well as future Heads of Unit;

    • No Director General has been in his or her post for more than 5 years. In 1999 12 A1 officials had been in their current post for more than 5 years;

    • In 1999 22 out of 262 A1 and A2 officials (8.4%) were women, by December 2003 that had been increased to 39 out of 270 (11.5%). The proportion of middle managers who are women has increased from 12.2% in 1999 to 15.2% in 2003;

    • The annual recruitment of women to A-grade posts increased to 33.3% in 2003 from 27.6% in 2002;

    • The job vacancy rate has been reduced to 1.9% from the pre-Reform figure of 5.1%;

    • Assessment Centres that involve external human resource experts are being used to select external recruits for middle and senior management, including those who will come from new Member States.

        Improving internal control and financial management:

    • The new Financial Regulation entered into force in 1 January 2003, radically modernising the internal control system;

    • The extensive reform of the accounting system moved ahead rapidly in 2003, and the introduction of full accrual accounting by the start of 2005 is on track;

    • Proposals for the application of financial liability to officials were adopted by the Commission in July 2003 and necessary discussion with staff representatives is ongoing;

    • The decision on the establishment and procedures of the Financial Irregularities Panel was adopted up in July 2003 and a former President of the Court of Auditors has been appointed to lead it;

    • 24 Commission-wide internationally recognised Internal Control Standards have been introduced and each Directorate General uses the relevant standards for the organisation and operation of its management and control systems;

    • Standard models for public procurement contracts have been introduced;

    • The Commission now has comprehensive and up to date whistleblowing arrangements. They include provisions for officials reporting alleged wrongdoing to provide information to outside bodies if the Commission or OLAF do not undertake investigation and reporting within a reasonable period. Measures to further ensure safeguards for the careers of bona fide whistleblowers are being put in place;

    • The Commission has proposed a revised OLAF Regulation which should further enhance the protection of individual rights and improve the information flow between OLAF and the Commission.

        Reform brings significant savings:

    • Implementation of the new Staff Regulation will generate real terms employment cost savings of over €1 billion in the coming 15 years;

    • The Offices for administrative activities are producing annual savings on overall operating costs of 15% (around €12 million a year);

    • The reform which brought the establishment of the inter-Institutional European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is generating cost savings of over €5 million annually;

    • Improved management and the Commission's ecological policy has secured stabilisation of average electricity and water consumption, the Commission has reduced the number of pages printed in its workshops from several billion pre 1999 to around 420 million in 2003 and, for Commission specific documents, printed pages were reduced from 220 million in 2001 to 55 million in 2003. Modernised systems for purchasing office equipment have saved over €1 million a year since 2001, while service quality and delivery has been improved. A further €400,000 a year is being saved by the use of recycled cartridges for computers.

    More clarity for 'whistleblowers'

    Under existing rules, staff already have an obligation to report concerns about potential wrongdoing to their hierarchy or directly to OLAF. Among the improvements made through Reform is the provision that, if the Commission or OLAF have not taken appropriate action within a reasonable period, the 'whistleblower' can bring the complaint to the attention of the Presidents of either the Council or Parliament or Court of Auditors, or to the Ombudsman.

    In order to encourage the use of the 'whistleblowing' arrangements, the Commission is improving information to staff about how the rules work, introducing the opportunity for staff who fulfil their duty to report evidence of possible wrongdoing to move to other departments if they anticipate hostile reactions at work, and reinforcing the existing guarantee that staff who report alleged wrongdoing will face no adverse consequences in their future career.

    Need for better information flow

    Means of detecting and following up allegations relating to fraud and irregularity have been reinforced considerably over the past five years with the establishment of OLAF, the creation of the Internal Audit Service and of internal capabilities (IACs) in all DGs, the introduction of a specialist Disciplinary and Investigative Office (IDOC) as a Directorate in DG ADMIN, and additional provisions in the new Staff Regulations which come into force in May.

    However, the Eurostat affair showed that current arrangements do not guarantee that the Commission has a sufficiently complete overview of all available information. The Commission is therefore establishing a Group of relevant Services the Secretariat General, and the DGs of ADMIN, BUDGET and IAS, to ensure that all relevant information and/or allegations of fraud, irregularity and other reprehensible acts are collected from all sources and rapidly analysed and communicated to the President, the Commissioners responsible for Personnel and Administration and Internal Audit, and the Commissioner responsible for the Budget to ensure rigorous follow-up and all procedurally and legally possible action. The group of Commissioners will bring the most important cases, in particular those of a financial nature, to the attention of the Commission.

    Arising from recommendations by the Internal Audit Service after its examination of contracts and grants at Eurostat, changes will be made to ensure that Internal Audit Capabilities systematically transmit all their finalised audit reports to the IAS. In addition, a new database will be established to ensure that, before they sign a contract, authorising officers will have validated information about all companies with which the Commission has had contractual relationships since 1999.

    Revisions will be made to the September 1999 Code of Conduct to further specify the type of information which Commissioners and DGs must get from Services. That information must be comprehensive and it must include detail of the quality of the implementation of internal control standards, the content of audit work and follow-up to previous audits. There will be a specific procedure for informing Commissioners on all facts about management - especially financial management - that could affect the responsibility of a Commissioner or that of College.

    In parallel, the Commission is proposing changes to the 1999 OLAF Regulation to strengthen the operational efficiency of the Office, to improve information flow between OLAF and the EU Institutions, to further safeguard the rights of individuals who may be involved in the subject of inquiry, to deal with factors which appear to jeopardise the effectiveness of OLAF investigations, and to enhance the role of the independent OLAF Supervisory Committee.

    Challenges ahead

    Reform is - by definition - a process and, as it advances and deepens implementation, the Commission will continue to make improvements and refinements on the basis of experience. Meanwhile, a main focus for this year will be on ensuring the smooth integration of new personnel from the 10 accession States. The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) has launched 32 separate recruitment competitions for the enlargement states, and procedures will also be developed for recruiting managers from the new Member States. Those procedures will include the use of Assessment Centres in which external human resources experts examine the management capabilities and potential of all external candidates from all current and future Member States short listed for managerial posts in the Institution.