A4-0046/97

Amended proposal for a Council Regulation (EURATOM, ECSC, EC) amending the Staff Regulations of Officials and Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities in respect of equal treatment of men and women (COM(96)0077 - C4-0565/96 - 00/0904(CNS))

The proposal was approved with the following amendments:

(Amendment 1)

Recital -1 (new)

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Whereas Article 2(4) of Directive 76/207/EEC1 states that it shall be without prejudice to measures to promote equal opportunity for men and women, in particular removing existing inequalities which affect women's opportunities as regards access to employment, including promotion, and to vocational training and as regards working conditions;

1 OJ L 39, 14.2.1976, p. 40.

(Amendment 2)

Recital 1a (new)

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Whereas the Community institutions must set an example by showing particular determination to implement the principles and objectives laid down in Directive 76/207/EEC as well as the positive action referred to in Council Recommendation 84/635/EEC1;

1 OJ L 331, 19.12.1984, p. 34.

(Amendment 3)

Recital 1b (new)

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Whereas the European Community should take into account the fact that an increasing number of people, primarily young people, are living together without contracting marriage, and should therefore change its rules governing the conditions of employment of the Community's public service, following the example set by the European Monetary Institute;

(Amendment 4)

Recital 2

>Original text>

Whereas the institutions should be asked to determine, by agreement, positive actions to promote equal opportunities for female and male officials in the areas covered by the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants;

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Whereas the institutions should be required to determine, within the powers conferred on them by the Treaty establishing the European Community, positive actions to promote equal opportunities for female and male officials in the areas covered by the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants;

(Amendment 5)

Recital 2a (new)

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Whereas positive actions, in the sense of actions simply to promote genuine equal opportunities, have proved insufficient to achieve the objective of balanced representation of men and women in the Community's public service; whereas the institutions should therefore be required to bear this objective in mind when selecting, training and promoting officials and other servants, taking into account the circumstances in individual cases, and particularly the personal circumstances of those concerned;

(Amendment 6)

Recital 2b (new)

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Whereas age limits for the recruitment of applicants should be declared inadmissible, since they are not indispensable for avoiding friction within the hierarchy, do not apply anyway to the Community's internal selection procedures and have already been banned in legislation in one Member State; whereas such age limits glaringly contradict a generally recognized theme of the Member States' present-day labour market policy, namely that of easing the reintegration of the unemployed into working life and enhancing the status of older citizens' contribution to work;

(Amendment 7)

Recital 2c (new)

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Whereas equal opportunities committees, where they already exist on a voluntary basis, e.g. the Commission and the European Parliament, have proved their worth as a means of turning the principle of equal opportunities for women and men into reality in the Community's public service; whereas they should be established for all the institutions;

(Amendment 8)

ARTICLE 1(1)

Article 1a (1) (Staff Regulations)

>Original text>

1. Officials shall be entitled to equal treatment under these Staff Regulations without reference, direct or indirect, to race, political, philosophical or religious beliefs, sex or sexual orientation without prejudice to the relevant provisions requiring a specific marital status.

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1. Officials shall be entitled to equal treatment under these Staff Regulations without reference, direct or indirect, to race, political, philosophical or religious beliefs, sex or sexual orientation.

(Amendment 9)

ARTICLE 1(1)

Article 1a(2) (Staff Regulations)

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2. The institutions shall determine, by agreement, after consulting the Staff Regulations Committee, measures and actions to promote equal opportunities for female and male officials in the areas covered by these Staff Regulations, and shall adopt the appropriate provisions, notably to redress such de facto inequalities as hamper opportunities for women in these areas.

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2. Within the powers conferred on them by the Treaty establishing the European Community, the institutions shall determine, after consulting the Staff Regulations Committee and the Equal Opportunities Committee, measures and actions to promote equal opportunities for female and male officials in the areas covered by these Staff Regulations, and shall adopt the appropriate provisions, notably to redress such de facto inequalities as hamper opportunities for women in these areas, in particular through positive action programmes.

(Amendment 10)

ARTICLE 1(1)

Article 1a(2a) (new) (Staff Regulations)

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2a. Details of officials' entitlements in respect of non-marital partnerships stemming from the principle of non-discrimination expressed in paragraph 1 shall be laid down in rules adopted by the Community institutions, after the Staff Regulations Committee and the Equal Opportunities Committee have been consulted.

(Amendment 11)

ARTICLE 1(1)

Article 1a(2b) (new) (Staff Regulations)

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2b. When reference is made in the Staff Regulations to marital status as a basis for rights of officials and other servants, including remunerations and social security benefits, it shall apply also to a partnership which is registered or acknowledged in a Member State or by the European Communities as having equal status with marriage with respect to social security benefits and legal consequences related thereto.

(Amendment 16)

ARTICLE 1(1a) (new)

Article 9 (1) (a) first indent a (new) (Staff Regulations)

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1a. The following new indent is inserted after the first indent of Article 9 (1) (a):

'- an Equal Opportunies Committee for staff with the task of promoting and monitoring implementation of the principle of equal treatment for women and men and of proposing and drawing up programmes of positive measures to that end;'

(Amendment 18)

ARTICLE 1(1b) (new)

Article 26, seventh subparagraph a (new) (Staff Regulations)

>Original text>

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1b. The following paragraph is added to the end of Article 26:

'The work experience of an official shall, however, be made available on request to Members of Parliament or to the staff representatives."

(Amendment 12)

ARTICLE 1(2)

Article 27, second paragraph (Staff Regulations)

>Original text>

Officials shall be selected without distinction as to race, political, philosophical or religious beliefs, sex or sexual orientation and without reference to their marital status or family situation.

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Officials shall be selected without distinction as to race, political, philosophical or religious beliefs, sex or sexual orientation and without reference to their marital status or family situation. In selecting officials the objective of as balanced a representation as possible of women and men within the institution concerned at the relevant career step shall be borne in mind, taking into account individual circumstances.

(Amendment 13)

ARTICLE 1(2a) (new)

Article 45 (1), first subparagraph (Staff Regulations)

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2a. Article 45(1), first subparagraph is replaced by the following:

¨1. Promotion shall be by decision of the appointing authority. It shall be effected by appointment of the official to the next higher grade in the category or service to which he belongs. Promotion shall be exclusively by selection from among officials who have completed a minimum period in their grade, after consideration of the comparative merits of the officials eligible for promotion and of the reports on them. In promoting officials the objective of as balanced a representation as possible of women and men within the institution concerned at the relevant career step shall be borne in mind, taking into account individual circumstances.'

(Amendment 15)

ARTICLE 1(2b) (new)

Annex III, Article 1(1), third subparagraph (g) (Staff Regulations)

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2b. Point (g) of the third subparagraph of Article 1(1) of Annex III to the Staff Regulations is deleted.

(Amendment 14)

ARTICLE 2(2)

Article 12(1), second subparagraph (Conditions of Employment of Other Servants)

>Original text>

Temporary staff shall be selected without distinction as to race, political, philosophical or religious beliefs, sex or sexual orientation and without reference to their marital status or family situation.

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Temporary staff shall be selected without distinction as to race, political, philosophical or religious beliefs, sex or sexual orientation and without reference to their marital status or family situation. In selecting temporary staff the objective of as balanced a representation as possible of women and men within the institution concerned at the relevant career step shall be borne in mind, taking into account individual circumstances.

(Amendment 17)

ARTICLE 2 (2a) (new)

Article 47(2)(a) (Conditions of Employment of Other Servants)

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2a. Article 47(2)(a) is replaced by the following:

'(a) at the end of the period of notice stipulated in the contract; the length of the period of notice shall not be less than two days for each completed month of service, subject to a minimum of 15 days and a maximum of three months. In the case of a servant within the meaning of Article 2(d) the period of notice shall not be less than one month for each completed year of service, subject to a minimum of three months and a maximum of ten months. The period of notice shall not, however, commence running during maternity or parental leave or sick leave, provided such sick leave does not exceed three months. It shall, moreover, be suspended during maternity or sick leave subject to the limits aforesaid;'

Legislative resolution embodying Parliament's opinion on the amended proposal for a Council Regulation (Euratom, ECSC, EC) amending the Staff Regulations of Officials and Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities in respect of equal treatment of men and women (COM(96)0077 - C4- 0565/96 - 00/0904(CNS))

(Consultation procedure)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the amended Commission proposal to the Council, COM(96)0077 - 00/0904(CNS) ((OJ C 144, 16.5.1996, p. 14.)),

- having been consulted by the Council pursuant to Article 24 of the Treaty establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the European Communities (C4-0565/96),

- having regard to Rule 58 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Citizens' Rights and the opinion of the Committee on Women's Rights (A4-0046/97),

1. Approves the Commission proposal, subject to Parliament's amendments;

2. Calls on the Council to notify Parliament should it intend to depart from the text approved by Parliament;

3. Asks to be consulted again should the Council intend to make substantial modifications to the Commission proposal;

4. Instructs its President to forward this opinion to the Council and Commission.