European and international mobility for local and regional authority staff

EDUC-V/015
Adopted

European and international mobility for local and regional authority staff

 Adoption: 12/10/2011
 Theme: Constitutional and Institutional Affairs
Contribute to the debate on educational and professional mobility of local and regional authority staff; Notes that, if the Europe 2020 Strategy is to become fully operational, local and regional authorities must be involved in its design and implementation; Considers that strengthening the role of local and regional authorities in EU enlargement will require introducing appropriate changes in human resources, to enable staff to grasp and anticipate European policies.
The opinion on "European and international mobility for local and regional authority staff" stresses that alongside democratic governance encouraging public participation, cooperation between local and regional authorities is a powerful factor for local development by virtue of the variety of its areas of activity and of the public and private actors on which it can call. It can also stimulate the organisation of production and commercial and economic activity which benefits local people and the environment. The opinion also calls for more account to be taken of the role played by local and regional authorities in cooperation, given their close involvement in this sphere. In compliance with the principle of subsidiarity, they would seem best placed to help facilitate access to mobility. Indeed, local and regional authorities should be involved in developing cooperation programmes, designed with the local and regional authority staff responsible for managing local and European public policies.
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS - observes that, given local and regional authority staff's close day-to-day contact with both the public and elected representatives, their role in putting across the European message could be boosted by making mobility part of their continuous training via temporary secondments to other local authorities; - notes that European and international mobility for local and regional authority staff can help countries across the European Union develop modern and efficient administrations, with the structures, human resources and management skills needed to implement the EU acquis; - points out that mobility will help reduce linguistic barriers in Europe by encouraging civil servants and other staff to learn additional languages; - draws attention to the latest ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU, which stipulates that those employed by a public authority of a Member State and transferred to another public authority, should not suffer "a substantial reduction in salary by reason only of the transfer".
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