The European Commission was accused on June 26 of downplaying what seem to be recent wage rises of 8.3 per cent for European Union officials.
One journalist present at today’s EC press briefing on the matter decried the Commission’s communications as being “increasingly spin”.
The reporter was referring to what appeared to be efforts by the EC to present a salary increase of above 8 per cent for EU officials as more like one of under 2 per cent.
The media queries arose following a release from the Commission’s French representation in response to an Austrian article claiming President of the EC, Ursula von der Leyen, had demanded a 15 per cent salary increase. The EC’s press release said von der Leyen had, in fact, only received a 1.7 per cent pay hike, adding that was in line with “all other officials and employees of the [EU] institutions”.
Non, le salaire de la Présidente von der Leyen n'a pas augmenté de 13% mais de 1,7% en 2023.
Ce réajustement, valable pour toutes les institutions de l'UE, est calculé automatiquement selon des critères adoptés par les Etats-membres ⬇️https://t.co/m3vspPuQNs#DecodeursUE
— Adina Revol 🇪🇺 (@AdinaRevol) June 23, 2023
Asked for clarification by Italian journalist, David Carretta, the EC gave a range of figures between those claimed in the Austrian article and those noted in its own press release.
EC spokesman, Balazs Ujvari, tried to explain, saying that from the beginning of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023, EU officials’ wages increased by 8.3 per cent.
In part, he said, that was as a result of salary adjustments made for inflation, as well as a 4.5 per cent raise originally planned in 2020, which EU officials had “graciously” turned down amid the Covid 19 and lockdown crises, only accepting the hike as those difficulties lessened.
However, when pressed as to why the EC’s French representative had claimed the salary boost had only been 1.7 per, cent, another Commission spokesman, Eric Mamer, said that was a point of confusion given the 1.7 per cent figure only related to the first three months of this year, rather than over the past two years.
Caretta, in response, stated that while journalists “have a certain confidence” in EC communications, using figures out of context, such as regarding salary hikes, means it risks “losing [media] trust” across the Commission’s dealings.
Mamer appeared to be contrite, insisting the EC “always looked to improve its communications”.
However, somewhat pointedly, he then told the gathered journalists: “I do hope you’ll be back in the press room to hear our ‘spin’ tomorrow.”
