The ninth meeting of the Council of the European Communications Office (ECO) was held last 20-21 November in Copenhagen, chaired by Geir Sundal of Norway. Represented by Marta Leandro, the Portuguese administration was appointed vice-chair for a three-year term and formally took office at this meeting.
The Council authorised the ECO director (Mark Thomas of the United Kingdom) to sign the future contract for the Office’s new facilities for a minimum period of 5-6 years. The move to new offices should take place by the end of April 2014 and will enable substantial future saving in the cost of rent, estimated at around 40 percent. The opportunity to try to find an office with lower rent, considered by the Council in the past, now coincides with the fact that the landlord informed the ECO that he has received a commercially more appealing offer to rent the whole building where the Office has been housed since 2002. The Council agreed with the director’s recommendation to opt for an office in a building 20 to 40 years old, also located in the centre of the capital and well served by public transports, namely train and metro, with easy airport access and able to accommodate the nearly 90 days of annual meetings held at the ECO. Following a presentation by Germany, the possibility of partially remote work in the
Office was discussed. The director and some administrations defended the advantages of the principle of physical presence at the workplace.
The Office’s budget for 2014 was approved and the 2015-2016 Financial Plan noted. They keep the contribution unit (c.u.) that states pay the Office unchanged. For next year the IOS index recommends a 1.2 percent salary cut, given the 0.6 percent inflation (August 2013) in Denmark.
The council members again debated the matter of the Office’s reserve fund (net capital). Portugal welcomed the reference (a contribution from the director) to the openness to launching the proposal that the 48 CEPT members – not just the 33 in the ECO – should eventually pay part of the common costs: for example, 50 percent of the Office’s rental costs would be borne by the CEPT budget and not the ECO. Sweden supported the proposal, holding that it needed to be approved in a CEPT Assembly. Regarding how to lower the excess net capital, agreement was reached that this would be considered after the move to the new offices, which will have a significant impact on that reserve fund. The creation of an ad hoc Council group to examine the financial issue was therefore postponed.
The start of the process to hire a new ECO director took up a good deal of time. Due to the difficulty reaching consensus about conditions applicable to current or former ECO staff who want to apply for the position (rule of eight years as maximum time limit), a decision was made to create a small correspondence working group, in which Portugal will take part. The matter will be discussed again at the spring Council meeting, after which the hiring process will be launched; the aim is to have a new director appointed in December 2014. The contract of the current director was therefore extended for three months until the end of March 2015.
Regarding the remaining staff, a decision was made to hire a new expert, with responsibilities extended to spectrum management, to begin working in early August. Portugal was asked to join the selection panel for this process, which also includes the Council chair and the head of the Spectrum Engineering group (WG SE). Note that this hiring announcement will be the first to give preference to candidates from ECO Convention signatory countries, i.e. those which finance the Office. This matter may be raised again, given the director’s manifest reservations. Also approved was the director’s proposal to extend the contract of the current financial advisor, who reaches the age of 65 in April and should remain in office for approximately one more year.
Various changes to the staff rules and internal instructions were approved, with the triple aim of limiting future hiring of staff to nationals from ECO Convention signatory countries, as decided at the previous Council meeting, to make clear and strengthen control of the Council regarding the director himself as a staff member (vis-à-vis contract renewal and termination, disciplinary measures and performance evaluation) and, lastly, to eliminate the 6 percent salary increase rule for administrative personnel hired in the future.
Regarding the ECO Convention’s status, the Council was informed that following the recent signing by France and the recent ECO membership of Bosnia-Herzegovina, seven of the 33 states have completed the process of ratification, acceptance, approval or adherence to the last Convention amendment.
The next ECO Council meeting has been scheduled for 21-22 May 2014.
