The 3,500 staff working for the Council of the European Union, one of the bloc's key institutions, stopped work Tuesday in protest at an EU austerity drive. Unions say staff face a 60 percent drop in purchasing power over the next 15 years if the 27-nation bloc maintains its belt-tightening policies. They are also protesting an increase in the retirement age from 63 to 67.
Proposals for the next almost trillion-euro 2014-2020 EU budget include a seven-billion cut for EU civil servants. The pay and other advantages enjoyed by Europe's 55,000 staff are a constant source of controversy, the last being a claim by German daily Die Welt this year that 4,365 EU civil servants earn more than the chancellor - that is, 21,000 euros a month.
The European Commission, whose staff was not on strike Tuesday, denied the claim, saying the top salary in Brussels has been pegged at 18,000 a month. The EU says office staff are paid between 2,600 to 4,400 euros a month while experts receive between 4,400 and 18,400 euros monthly. But perks are substantial, with expat bonuses set at 16 percent of salary and 400 euros paid monthly for each child up until the age of 26. School fees are covered by the EU.
The Commission has been working on a reform that would see a five percent cut in the number of staff employed with the work-week upped from 37.5 hours to 40 and retirement pushed back from 63 to 65. It also wants to index wages on those of the public sector in all EU nations. Currently they are pegged on variations in eight countries - Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain. Officials from the European Commission and the European Parliament may go on strike later this month depending on a decision by staff unions.
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