Crisis hits day-to-day work

Date: 22/04/1999

By Gareth Harding

THE European Commission's administrative work is in danger of grinding to a halt as the institution waits for Acting President Jacques Santer and his team to be replaced.

Despite the caretaker Commission's promise to leave office as soon as possible, it now seems almost certain that it will limp on until the early autumn, prolonging the paralysis which has beset the EU's executive arm since all 20 European Commissioners resigned collectively last month.

New policy initiatives have already been put on hold, with casualties including a far-reaching plan to slash air pollution, new rules on asylum and immigration and, ironically, Santer's plans to reform the Commission.

But the effects are also being felt at the administrative level, as officials try to grapple with the problem of how to move forward without leaders telling them in which direction to go. "We are left to our own devices, which is all right when following a set programme, but if a difficulty arises, we are thrown," said one.

The confusion has been compounded by doubts over whether to apply new internal rules mooted by Santer or old ones which were partly responsible for the current Commission crisis.

" We are relying on the legal service more than ever before because we are in such a no-man's land that we no longer know what is acceptable and what is not," said one official.

One example of how uncertainty is affecting the institution is the question of the relationship between officials and the external contractors who carry out much of the Commission's business.

Before he resigned, Santer had announced his intention to introduce stricter rules for employing outside officials at the end of this month. But these, along with other proposals for reforming the institution, have now been put off until a new team of Commissioners takes office.

In the meantime, no new contracts can be awarded, leading to lay-offs in private companies and staff shortages within the Commission's services.

While activity in the directorates-general has slowed down, work in the Commissioners' cabinets has almost ground to a halt. "No one is doing anything except looking for a new job," said one cabinet member, who added that several Commissioners were also breaking the rules adopted by the College earlier this year by running for political office.

Officials say the unexpectedly long delay before a new Commission team takes office is also forcing them to interpret liberally the strict guidelines laying down what the body can or cannot do. "If we really went down the line of being a caretaker Commission, we would block the institution," said one.