22.07.2021 – 22:28
By Maia de la Baume and Sarah Wheaton, Politco.eu
The hottest debate in Brussels this fall will not be about the rule of law or the budget. It will be about telecommunications and online voting. Organizations around the world are developing online tutorials and adapting to the ZOOM app revolution.
And the two largest institutions of the European Union are no exception. There has been much debate in the European Commission and the European Parliament about how traditional work can be combined with distance work.
Both institutions are working towards finalizing the rules that will take effect when the coronavirus disappears.
“Negotiations on what we call the ‘new normalcy’ will be very tense,” said Cristiano Sebastiani, a Commission official and president of Renouveau et Démocratie, one of the largest unions representing EU civil servants.
Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, the Commission and Parliament had already established flexible working rules and had reflected on the future of work. The coronavirus accelerated this process, reports abcnews.al
The three main EU institutions – the Commission, the Parliament and the Council of the EU – took emergency measures, including mandatory masks, rules of social distance in meetings and online work for all. Parliament also removed plenary sessions from Strasbourg and expanded online voting to plenary and committee meetings.
Now, as institutions consider getting employees back to their offices, some of those measures have become the basis for new work plans that are set to take effect next fall. Given Covid’s situation, the Commission requires that half of the people who have the opportunity continue to work from home.
According to a document, the Commission is proposing that its employees spend at least 40 percent of their working week (equivalent to two days a week) in the office and at least 20 percent (one day a week) working from home.
The commission is also seeking to expand the joint work spaces used by different employees on different days. The proposed changes are the subject of a heated debate.
But there is a “gap” between the general directors of the Commission who oppose remote work because it means a loss of control and command over staff.
Plenary sessions online
Parliament is also setting up a system to run the work remotely. With some critical exceptions, almost everyone who works for the secretariat, including national trainers and experts, will be eligible to work from home at least once a week.
They also called for other changes in the quality of life – shortening the morning voting sessions. In a recent reflection letter entitled “Return to normalcy”, Parliament staff said the new rules would allow people to go to their offices to guarantee the founding principles of the European project, which is the spirit multicultural immigration driven.
The official dismissed the arguments that such an action meant “the end of the European civil service”.
“They are swimming against the tide,” the official said.
‘The end of parliamentarism’
As staff discuss work from home, MEPs have debated under what conditions they should perform their democratic functions remotely. Parliament Speaker David Sassoli formed five “groups” among MEPs in April to discuss, among other things, whether they would continue to vote online in plenary sessions and committees – and whether they could give up travel to Brussels.
The groups are expected to finalize their recommendations this week, with the final results to be discussed after the summer holidays. Most MEPs agree that some meetings – including testimonies from outside experts or debates on laws – should be held online.
Wieland is opposed to MEPs like Niklas Nienaß, 29, a German, who argues that distance participation allows parliamentarians to perform their duties while being closer to the people they represent.
“There is more participation. We have 98 percent turnout at the moment, “compared to about three quarters ago,” he said.
His colleague Manuela Ripa, 45, said it was important for MEPs to be present at the plenary sessions.
Bubble burst
Prior to the pandemic, the Brussels bubble was in a state of constant inflation. Lobbyists, journalists and citizens are now waiting to see what these institutions will decide before drafting their travel plans.
Brussels is still an “essential center where these things come together,” Powrie-Smith said. “But maybe it doesn’t need to be as focused as it used to be, because it can be a kind of isolation.”
Then the question arises whether these decisions are positive. On one side of the debate is a vocal minority who want to work online everywhere – except in Brussels or Luxembourg. But a majority have returned to offices.
They are opposed by those who think such a scenario would be “the biggest mistake”, according to a Commission official at the executive agency, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The most important thing is the European feeling,” said one employee. “We have to learn how to work together, and that is the brilliance of the European bubble.”
If everyone, except the EU’s toughest bureaucrats, leaves Brussels, they could become even stricter.
“We have to be there to serve European citizens. “If we do not see them and become more and more isolated, then this can have a negative impact,” said the employee. “We do not want to be in the ivory tower.”