4.1.2. The process of reorganisations

There is a strong legal framework for reorganisations which limits what can be done in terms of change.

All major elements of reorganisation are regulated, including smaller changes such as renaming a Unit. Depending on the scope and extent of reorganisation, different levels of decision-making need to be involved:

• For far-reaching change affecting the whole Directorate General and its normative functions (such as the creating, splitting, merger, dissolution of a Directorate General, its renaming, the creation or elimination of senior management functions) a Commission decision by the College of Commissioners is required;
• For change affecting strategic functions of a Directorate General (such as the creation or elimination of middle management functions) a simplified procedure requires the agreement of at least three Cabinets;
• For change affecting operational functions of a Directorate General (such as the renaming of Directorates and Units, the creation/move/elimination of management entities without changing the total number of staff) a decision by the Director General in agreement with the Commissioner of the service after a positive opinion of DG Secretariat General and DG Human Resources is required;

For limited change (such as changes in relations to sectors covered or the Assistants of a Director General) a decision by the Director General is sufficient.

In order to encourage DGs to plan ahead their reorganisation and related decisions on management mobility and departures, the Commission approach is to group all important modifications in three annual packages (Spring, Summer and Automn packages). This allows for greater predictability for management and staff. Given the high number of reorganisations across the Commission and their combined size, this approach makes it easier for the Secretariat General and the College to keep an overview and to deal with the needs for trade-off between competing DG proposals.

A detailed schedule for the timing of reorganisations is proposed with about three months foreseen for the overall process.²⁸

Figure 5: Proposed timeframe for large-scale reorganisations

²⁸ See European Commission: Communication on Organisation Charts of Commission DGs and Services and Implementing Guidelines (SEC 2006/ 1702), Annex 3, Brussels 2007