Thousands of EU civil servants in Brussels are striking today in protest over attempts by 20 member states to block an inflation-busting 3.7% pay rise.  Saturday’s Independent described the move as “a public relations disaster”, and noted that nearly 45,000 bureaucrats are in line for the rise.

EU salaries are pegged to civil service wages in eight of the richest EU countries in an automatic legal mechanism. But some politicians have said the hikes should be put aside at a time when many EU citizens are struggling because of the recession.  On Friday Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said "I have had enough of hypocrisy. At the summit, at the level of leaders, everybody says: There is no question of higher expenditure, there is a crisis. But later, somewhere on the sly, this process goes on. So we're going to be stubborn to the end on this one.”  An unnamed ambassador from a Nordic EU country said, “It would send out completely the wrong signal to go ahead with the rise at this time. It would portray Brussels as a gravy train of fat cats that keeps on rolling while everyone else is tightening their belts.”

However, the Independent noted that the challenge could unleash a bitter wrangle, and quoted an EU diplomat saying “We’ve never managed to overturn this rule in the past,” referring to the oil crisis of 1972 when member states lost a case against the European Commission. Officials believe that the Council will eventually be forced to accept the pay increase this year but they fear that governments will try to renegotiate the method early next year. Renzo Carpenito, the EU Council delegate to the FFPE union, said: "This subject has been blown out of proportion by the media, so the member states are looking for a way out. It's all about saving face.  The personnel here work very hard, often late into the evening, to solve European problems."

Meanwhile, a leader in the FT Deutschland argues: “If EU staffers insist on their pay rise, they will prove to be criminally lacking in political instincts. Instead of threatening strikes, the bureaucrats of the institutions in Brussels should rather adopt a voluntary pay freeze. That would be a service to Europe, of which they could be proud.”

FTD Leader Independent Telegraph: Hannan blog EUobserver WSJ: Editorial OE bulletin

SOURCE: Openeurope.org.uk