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EU wants 1.8-per-cent pay rise for its officials
Nov 24, 2011, 16:49 GMT
Brussels - The European Union's executive on Thursday proposed a 1.8-per-cent pay rise for its officials over the period 2011-12.
According to the European Commission's own estimates, that is well below the inflation rate in Belgium, where most of them are based. Belgian inflation should average 3.5 per cent in 2011 and 2 per cent in 2012, the commission predicts.
The remuneration of EU officials is a politically sensitive issue, as many of the bloc's governments struggle with ballooning deficits by slashing spending and raising taxes.
But EU salary levels are determined by the previous year's changes in the purchasing power of civil servants' salaries in eight EU states - a fixed formula which sometimes delivers results which are out of sync with the prevailing economic mood.
The commission called upon EU governments to approve its proposed salary hike before the end of the year.
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