1. Reacting to the widespread dismay amongst ACIs at the proposals resulting from the autumn 2002 long-term recruitment exercise, the Delegation met three representatives of the Administration on Fri. 15 Nov. This was followed by an information meeting organised for ACIs on Wed. 20 Nov. At both meetings the Delegation emphasised three aspects of the recent exercise :
   
   
   1. The absence of any proposals to those local ACIs who had submitted offers containing no blocks of 4 days, though that requirement was stated in the circular letter to apply only to non-local ACIs. This issue had been largely resolved by 15 Nov., with proposals made to those locals by lunch-time.
   2. The downturn in the number of days proposed. The Administration explained, at the meeting with the Delegation on 15 Nov., that, in order to make greater use of medium- and short-term recruitment, it had been decided to reduce by 10% the needs in the French, German, English and Italian booths that would be met by long-term recruitment. Offers had, however, been received from a very large number of ACIs, and, in the interests of fairness, proposals had been made to as many as possible, even if this resulted in fewer days per ACI.. In addition, in certain booths, priority had been given to certain passive languages. This had been the case especially in the French booth, where German was particularly sought-after. As the percentage of offers for this booth where passive German was included in the combination had gone up to 50%, from 30% in previous long-term recruitment exercises, and priority in proposals was given to those offers, that meant there was even less available to make proposals to ACIs without passive German. The Administration also explained that ACIs’ offers tended to be clustered in certain months, which, combined with the Administration’s decision to ensure the budget was more evenly spread over the period, also led, inevitably, to disappointment. In addition, where offers were for isolated days, it was hard to fit them all together. It was emphasised, however, that the overall budget for 2003 is the same as for 2002.
   3. Communications. The Delegation stressed the damage done by the SCIC’s failure to communicate, within the Service (where officials seemed to be singing from different hymn-sheets), with ACIs, and with the Delegation.

The Delegation is now working on the inferences to be drawn from this exercise, for its next scheduled meeting with the Administration on 9 Dec., and will, of course, consider points made by ACIs at the information meeting on 20 Nov., as well as any detailed and specific information and/or suggestions received from ACIs afterwards.

2. SCIC had, on 7 Nov. informed the Delegation, that, for administrative reasons relating to the management of the budget, the paper contracts for the current round of long-term recruitment (Feb. to July 2003) will not be sent out until January 2003. We have however been assured that dates proposed and accepted will appear in green on your web calendar. (Once they have been changed to green as a result of the ACI clicking to accept, the position cannot be changed subsequently). The paper-based contracts for Feb., March and April will be sent out in January, and those for the following three months will be sent later. We have asked that, in order to avoid problems in gaining entry to buildings, the form required for the “Carte de service” be made available in good time, so that ACIs can have their 2003 passes by the end of Dec.
   
   
3. As a result of a complaint and suggestion from the Delegation in July, in future, when each long-term recruitment round is launched, the Administration will announce, on the website for accredited ACIs, the recruitment criteria decided for the period concerned. The ACI profile sought (language combination, professional domicile) may be different from booth to booth and from one recruitment period to another. The Delegation will obviously include this aspect in its representations to the Administration on 9 Dec.
   
   
4. The SCIC has agreed to introduce an extra facility on the web calendar, so that non-local ACIs may indicate dates when they would be available in the country of their professional domicile, but not in Brussels. This will be indicated by a lower case “l”. To avoid confusion, however, this facility will only be made available once the current long-term recruitment round has been completed.
   
   
5. Following representations by the Delegation, the Administration has changed the communication accompanying payment of “avances” by bank transfer (This now reads “reimbursement of expenses”, instead of “bav”.). It has also confirmed that in the event of a problem it will provide a statement certifying the nature of the payments.

   Should an ACI, exceptionally, be unable, because of the time and location of the assignment, to present a ticket on the first day of a contract, the ticket may be presented by 15.00 on the second day. Transfer of the “avance” will, of course, then be delayed by a day.

   The Administration is continuing to seek ways of speeding up the transfers. In particular it will examine how the Commission’s new Financial Regulation (effective from 1.1.2003) may help.

6. Deadline for submission of expenses claims : from November 2002 contracts will mention that ACIs are required to submit expenses claims within 12 months of the end of a contract. If they are not received, two reminders will be sent, 3 and 9 months after the contract. If the ACI still fails to submit the claim, the file will be closed, and, where necessary, a recovery order will be issued.
   
   
7. If the ticket for transport between the airport and the city centre is not submitted, the rate reimbursed is the rate for the cheapest form of transport.
   
   
8. At the request of the Delegation, the SCIC has contacted Willis Ltd. about medical evacuation insurance for ACIs on mission. Further information and confirmation of cover is expected shortly.
   
   
9. In 2002 the Delegation organised two information meetings for colleagues on the “insertion” scheme, and intends to do so regularly in future, most likely in spring and autumn of each year.

Should you have any problems with payments and reimbursements, please do not hesitate to contact your Delegation. Any departure from the expected pattern in travel arrangements, (outward and return journeys not immediately before and after a contract), should be brought to the attention of your payments manager, preferably in advance but at the latest with your expenses claim, in order to have a record of the fact.

Reports of the regular meetings of the AIIC Professional Delegation and the SCIC are published on the website (click on AIIC Professional Delegation, then click on the date of a meeting to access the report). They are recommended as a source of information. It is also advisable to check the accredited ACI website (where the web calendar is located) regularly, for announcements by the Administration.

The members of the Delegation are Yves Cherbut, Veerle Duflou, Maire Ennis, Isabella Romanini-Roda, Garbine Sanz Las Heras, Dirk Vannot.