HMG complacency over Commission staffing

Lord Howell yesterday dismissed the concerns of Lord Pearson, both as the fairness of the Croation EU accession referendum, but also the numbers and costs of new Croatian staff that will be employed.

how many Croatian nationals they estimate will take up posts in the European Union institutions following Croatian accession and what will be the United Kingdom's share of the cost of those jobs.

The Minister's response was brusque and failed to answer the question.

The UK supports the principle that nationals of all member states should hold posts within the EU institutions, and expects that the EU will actively support the recruitment of Croatian nationals after accession. We believe that this should be achieved without increasing the human resources available to the EU institutions or imposing additional costs on the EU budget.

We believe, he says. He might as well believe in faries.
Take a look at this press release from the Commission today about the employment of staff from Bulgaria and Romania the last two accession countries. In it the Commission fair boast about the fact that they have overshot their target by 23.%. At a time of austerity, these extra 228 recruits don'tcome cheap.

The Commission recruited 478 Bulgarians and 727 Romanians, exceeding its overall recruitment target by 23.3% - or 228 recruitments.

Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič said: "I am delighted we managed to identify and attract some of the brightest and best people from Bulgaria and Romania to come and work at the European Commission. Both countries have made a big contribution to European history and culture in the past, and they have much to offer today, as Europe continues to integrate."

If the Minister really thinks that in some way they won't impose extra costs, how are they to be paid for? By cutting UK and other country staff and thus his fabled  'influence' in Brussels.