4.1. The Commission framework for reorganisations

The Commission has laid down a framework for reorganisations in a policy document called Communication²⁶ and in implementing guidelines in 2007. The documents are still valid and constitute the basis for all reorganisations which have happened since 2007.

This Communication addresses the issue of reorganisation with a focus on organisation charts. The term reorganisation is defined as “an organisation chart change which requires the creation, elimination, move or adaptation of one or more organisational entities (Directorate General, Directorate, Unit) as from a specific starting date”.

It sets rules for sound administration and benchmarks for all DGs and services, for instance benchmarks defining the number of hierarchical management levels, a manager’s span of control (i.e. the number of staff a Commission manager oversees directly), the number of middle management functions, as well as minimum and average staffing. These are adapted according to the business complexity of tasks being performed by a given DG. The benchmarks are monitored by DG Human Resources and used for annual reporting and analysis.²⁷

The Communication also recognizes that the Commission’s traditional hierarchical line of command is not always best suited to the promotion of lateral thinking, the management of projects, the professionalism of scattered specialist communities or the coordination of matrix-like constellations in some of the DGs. In general, there are no strong incentive systems for pro-active networking and sharing functional knowledge within the Commission from the bottom-up and across the confines of organisational entities. It is therefore not easy to set up common ways of working on a larger scale. Ways to make working arrangements and organisational structures more flexible without obscuring the line of command are therefore needed. In this context, the Communication proposes more frequent use of temporary Taskforces, outsourcing of resource management to larger DGs, and functional reporting, for instance in the context of a matrix organisation.

²⁶ European Commission: Communication on Organisation Charts of Commission DGs and Services and Implementing Guidelines (SEC 2006/ 1702), Brussels 2007
²⁷ European Commission: Annual Human Resources Report , Brussels 2012