Up to 38,000 EU civil servants will strike next week in Brussels over the blocking of a planned, inflation-busting 3.7% pay rise. 15 member states, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, are blocking the rise because of the economic recession. The news comes as Chancellor Alistair Darling this week announced a pay freeze for millions of public sector workers in the UK, as well as a £1.2 billion increase in Britain's net contributions to the EU
Civil servants working in the European Council and the Commission will strike on Monday between 9am and noon, and again next Friday. Belgian newspaper De Standaard reported that it's likely national governments will have to agree to the pay rise, because they are contractually bound to the agreement and could lose the case if it went to the European Court of Justice. (Mail <http://openeu.bluestatedigital.com/page/m/4b660970/1ba8da05/85da712/7c556f14/358939631/VEsH/> , 10 December; European Voice <http://openeu.bluestatedigital.com/page/m/4b660970/1ba8da05/85da712/7c556f15/358939631/VEsE/> , 11 December)
The basic pay for EU civil servants ranges from between €2,556 and €17,697 a month, in addition to a host of other perks. Some of the benefits available to them include living allowances of 2% of their wage, a child allowance of €350, an education allowance of €240, places for children in highly subsidised European schools and an annual travel allowance.
A German newspaper also reported that "On top of that, many shops, banks and car dealers give EU civil servants special reductions of up to 30% when they buy something." An anonymous senior EU bureaucrat told the paper that living abroad, which is one of the rationales behind the generous compensation, is "really not such a pain any more... actually it's hard to get most bureaucrats to leave Brussels these days." (FAZ Die Welt <http://openeu.bluestatedigital.com/page/m/4b660970/1ba8da05/85da712/7c556f2a/358939631/VEsF/> , 2 December)
The 15 opposing member states are seeking to use a 'crisis' clause in the staff regulations, which says that "in times of serious and sudden deterioration of the economic and social situation" the Commission can impose a new wage proposal.
One of the EU civil servants' trade unions wrote a letter to its members arguing that "the member states are misusing the economic crisis to rob us of our fundamental right to preserve the purchasing strength of our salaries", and demanding that member states "respect the rules". One trade union President, with 38 years of experience working at the Commission, defended the strikes saying, "This money has already been put aside", adding that if the rise was rejected the money "will end up being lost in the EU budget and will go on milk quotas." (Swedish Radio