2000 budget : other sections

In adopting the report by Mr Kyösti VIRRANKOSKI (ELDR, Fin), the European Parliament approved in its second reading the 2000 budget of the other institutions. The Parliament instructs the Secretary-General to adjust the new staff promotion policy to take account of the shortcomings noticed so far, in particular concerning promotion possibilities for the lowest grades in each category. It also considers that the new mobility policy for staff in the A grades is in principle a useful means of making Parliament's Secretariat more dynamic, but stresses that unless professional training in specialised areas such as the environment, transport and agriculture is stepped up, there will be huge loss of human capital. Therefore, it instructs the Secretary-General to submit a report by 31 March 2000 proposing the action intended to overcome this loss of human capital in the short and medium term. In addition, the Parliament emphatically underscores that the policy on mobility, promotion and assessment must form a coherent whole and insists that promotions, in particular of A1 and A2 grades, must be based strictly on professional performance and on personal and managerial skills. It expects its Secretary-General to submit a report by 31 March 2000 on the coherent implementation of mobility, promotion and assessment policy. Lastly, the Parliament is in favour of the continuation of the agreement between the Ombudsman and the Parliament on administrative, financial and logistic matters.�