Row brewing over proposed 1.7-per-cent pay rise for EU officials

Nov 25, 2011, 16:52 GMT

Brussels - A row between the European Union executive and national governments was expected to break out in the coming weeks over a proposed 1.7-per-cent salary rise for EU officials, diplomats in Brussels said Friday.

On Thursday, the European Commission suggested the 2011-2012 increase using a fixed formula based on previous year's changes in the purchasing power of civil servants' salaries in eight EU states.

But the scheme has drawn criticism in the past for delivering results which are out of sync with the prevailing economic mood - such as a 3.7-per-cent rise in 2009-2010 amid a Europe-wide recession.

EU governments launched a legal battle against that salary rise, but lost. This year, they asked the commission to use a special clause that allows to set aside the wage-increasing formula in case of a 'serious and sudden deterioration in the economic and social situation.'

The EU executive said Thursday it found no evidence of such developments in the European economy, despite signs of a looming recession.

It also stressed that the proposed salary hike was below the expected inflation rises in Belgium, where most EU officials are based, meaning that they face a 1.8-percentage-point pay cut in real terms.

But a national diplomat strongly criticized the commission's findings on Friday, also expressing outrage at its additional suggestion that EU governments pay a bigger share of EU officials' pension contributions.

'We were asking EU officials to make a gesture, to show that they are making a contribution in these austerity times,' he protested, indicating that governments wanted to block the salary increases.

'The council (of EU governments) is now considering how to react to this outrageous situation,' he said.