Excerpt
Regulation of Public Service in European Countries
A. General Outline: Public Service Systems in Europe in Comparative Analysis
I. Employment System
II. Career System
III. Hybrid System
B. Regulation of Public Service in Germany and France
I. System of Legislation on the Matters of Municipal Service in Germany
1. German Civil Servant Law in the Legal System
a.) Legislative Competences
b) Legal Sources of Civil Servant Law
aa) Constitutional Provisions
(1) Article 33 para. 2 GG
(2) Article 33 para. 3 GG
(3) Article 33 para. 4 and para. 5 GG
bb) Legal Acts, Statutory Instruments and Administrative Regulations
2. Differences to the Regulation of Other Members of Public Service
II. System of Legislation on the Matters of Municipal Service in France
1. The Local Administration of the Communes
2. The French Concept of Public Services
a) The Notion of Public Service
aa) Definition
bb) The Principles of Public Services
(1) Continuity of the Service
(2) Adaptation of the Service
(3) Equality
b) Classification
aa) The Administrative Public Services (SPA)
bb) The Industrial and Commercial public Services (SPIC)
3. Legal Sources of Public Service Law
Abbreviations and Acronyms:
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Literature
Auby, Jean-Marie / Auby, Jean-Bernard, Droit de la fonction publique, 1991.
Auby, Jean-Marie / Auby, Jean-Bernard, Institutions administratives, 7th Edition, 1996.
Bundesministerium des Innern (Editor) (German Federal Ministry of the Interior), Der öffentliche Dienst in Deutschland - Ein Überblick (English title: The public service in Germany: An overview), 1st. Edition in three languages (German, English, French), January 2007, available at: http://www.bmi.bund.de/cln_028/nn_164578/Internet/Content/Broschueren/2007/Oeffentlicher_20Dienst.html, cited as: BMI, Public Service in Germany.
Council of Europe, Civil Service Reform in Europe, Report, Committee on Economic Affairs and Development, Rapporteur: Mr Giovanni Crema, Italy, Socialist Group, 19 February 2003, available at: http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/doc03/EDOC9711.htm, cited as: Council of Europe, Civil Service Reform.
Dreier, Horst (Editor), Grundgesetz, Kommentar, 2nd Edition 2006.
Krzywanek, Oliver, Öffentliche Dienste Europas im Vergleich: Blick über den Tellerrand, in: Deutsche Steuergewerkschaft Magazin, December 2005, p. 26-27, available at: http://www.dstg.de/dateien/Europa_Tellerrand.pdf, cited as: Krzywanek, in: DSTG Magazin, 2005.
Morand-Deviller, Jacqueline, Cours de droit administratif, 8th Edition, 2003.
Robbers, Gerhard, An Introduction to German Law, 4th. Edition, 2006.
Trotzewitz, Sabine, Die Abschaffung des Beamtentums in der Schweiz zum 01.01.2002, 7 January 2003, available at: http://www.landtag.nrw.de/portal/WWW/GB_I/I.5/PBGD/Archiv_Veroeffentlichungen_der_13.WP/Berufsbeamtentum/Abschaffung_des_Berufsbeamtentums_in_der_Schweiz,_Jan2003.pdf.
Wagner, Fritjof, Beamtenrecht, 9th Edition, 2006.
A. General Outline: Public Service Systems in Europe in Comparative Analysis
Public service both national and local in Europe is characterised by a great diversity and specificity[1]. The institution of public service itself exists in all European countries,[2] but the regulation differs considerably. This is due to several factors which are, among others, the structure of the State, conception of the notion of general interest, impact of decentralisation movements and cultural pluralism of local authorities.[3] The regulation depends mainly on the weighting of the public law governed career system and the civil law governed employment system of public service. Most of the European countries have chosen a hybrid model.[4] Thus, the field of law regulating the personnel of the public service is a mixture of public and civil law.
Three systems of regulation of public service can be observed across Europe, depending on the amount of implication of public law in the public service sector: the employment system (I.), the career system (II.) and hybrid systems (III.). It has to be stated though, that the realisation of pure systems do not exist and that every system is more or less hybrid.[5]
I. Employment System
The position model consists in applying civil law to the public sector and especially to public service. Public service employees do not have a special status. Their employment relationship is governed by civil law and there are only marginal differences between the public sector and the private sector in the area of public service.[6] This model has been almost completely realised in the United Kingdom and Sweden.[7]
II. Career System
The career system in Germany and France is very pronounced.[8] The characteristics of the career model are the existence of civil servants with special status governed by public law in lifelong employment.[9] However, the structure of public service remains complex, as other categories of public service employees exist, whose employment relation is governed by civil law.[10] Therefore these countries could also be considered as partly hybrid.[11]
III. Hybrid System
Hybrid (or mixed) models are characterised by the existence of civil servants with a special status and other public service employees whose employment relationships are governed by civil law. Examples for such hybrid models are the Netherlands, Hungary and Switzerland.[12] Especially in Switzerland, the situation differs in the different levels of the State structure, as the category of civil servants with a special status (”Beamte”) has been almost totally abolished on the Federal level[13], but still exists in various forms at Substate levels.[14]
B. Regulation of Public Service in Germany and France
Paying special attention to municipal service, the regulation of public service will be assessed in Germany (I.) and France (II.).
I. System of Legislation on the Matters of Municipal Service in Germany
The German public service law (”Öffentlicher Dienstrecht”) is still based on the concept of a career civil servant for life (”Beamter”),[15] whose status is governed by public law[16]. However, other categories of members of the public service (”Angehörige des öffentlichen Dienstes”) exist, mainly the employees and workers in public service (”Angestellte und Arbeiter im öffentlichen Dienst”), whose situation is governed by civil law.[17] First, the German public service law in the legal system will be outlined. Then, the differences to those, who are not public servants but only workers or employees in public service, will be briefly outlined.
1. German Civil Servant Law in the Legal System
According to Article 70 Grundgesetz (Basic Law – Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, in the following GG) the legislative powers are divided between the Federation and the Federal States (”Länder”). Therefore, first, the legislative competences (”Gesetzgebungszuständigkeiten”) on the matters of public service will be established (a)) and then other sources of civil service law will be outlined (b)).
a) Legislative Competences
The constitutional provisions on legislative competences[18] give the Federation the exclusive competence (”ausschließliche Gesetzgebungsbefugnis”) to regulate the legal relationships with Federal public servants.[19] Before the recent constitutional reform the Federation had the concurrent legislative power (”konkurrierende Gesetzgebungskompetenz”) for remuneration, pensions and related benefits of members of the public service insofar as the Federation does not have the exclusive legislative power. The Federation had also the framework legislation power (”Rahmenkompetenz”) for the regulation of the legal relationships for the public services in the Federal States and municipalities.[20] Now, these provisions are abolished, which means that the Federation only has the legislative power for general status provisions of the public service.[21] Consequently Federal public service law and Federal State public service law might differ in future.[22] Anyhow, the Federal States have not taken any legislative measures on the subject yet.[23]
b) Legal Sources of Civil Servant Law
For the regulation of public service law mainly the following sources are of importance: constitutional provisions of the GG (aa)), legal acts (”Gesetze”) concerning the rights of Federal civil servants, statutory instruments (”Rechtsverordnungen”) and (internal) administrative regulation (”Verwaltungsvorschriften”) (bb)).[24]
aa) Constitutional Provisions
Article 33 paras. 2-5 GG is of significant importance to civil servant law.[25] This article sets out general principles for the civil service. The different paragraphs will be assessed separately.
(a) Article 33 para. 2 GG
This article sets out the achievement principle (”Leistungsprinzip”) on constitutional level.[26] According to this provision ”every German shall be equally eligible for any public office according to his aptitude, qualifications, and professional achievements.” Even if the hiring authorities have a wide range of discretion and assessment (”Ermessens- und Beurteilungsspielraum”),[27] with regard to the question whom to offer the vacant position, they are only allowed to consider qualifications for the concrete vacancy.[28] For example, the decision of a municipality to prefer local candidates for a vacancy would be illegal.[29]
(b) Article 33 para. 3 GG
Article 33 para. 3 repeats the principle of equality (”Gleichheitsprinzip”) for the public service, set out in general in Article 3 para. 3 GG. Especially the eligibility for public office and rights acquired in the public service shall not be dependent upon religious affiliation and ”no one may be disadvantaged by reason of adherence or non-adherence to a particular religious denomination or philosophical creed”. Only for offices bound to religious denomination (”konfessionsgebundene Ämter”), e.g. theology professors, exceptions are possible.[30]
[...]
[1] Council of Europe, Civil Service Reform, I para. 14.
[2] Krzywanek, Blick über den Tellerrand in: DSTG magazin 2005, p. 26 (26).
[3] Council of Europe, Civil Service Reform, I para. 21.
[4] Krzywanek, Blick über den Tellerrand in: DSTG magazin 2005, p. 26 (26).
[5] Simplification may lead to adulterand assessments. See Council of Europe, Civil Service Reform, I para. 24, where Germany is cited to have an employment system, ignoring the existence of civil servants (“Beamte”) with special status governed by public law.
[6] Krzywanek, Blick über den Tellerrand in: DSTG magazin 2005, p. 26 (26).
[7] Krzywanek, Blick über den Tellerrand in: DSTG magazin 2005, p. 26 et seq.
[8] Krzywanek, Blick über den Tellerrand in: DSTG magazin 2005, p. 26 et seq.
[9] Krzywanek, Blick über den Tellerrand in: DSTG magazin 2005, p. 26 (26).
[10] See Wagner, Beamtenrecht, 9th edition, 2006, p. 1 et seqq, and p. 5 for Germany.
[11] See the contradictory assessments in: Krzywanek, Blick über den Tellerrand in: DSTG magazin 2005, p. 26 (26) where Germany is considered to have a career system, and Council of Europe, Civil Service Reform, I para. 24 where Germany is assessed to have an employment system.
[12] Krzywanek, Blick über den Tellerrand in: DSTG magazin 2005, p. 26 (26).
[13] See Article 8 of the Suiss Federal Personel Act (“Bundespersonalgesetz”)
[14] Trotzewitz,, Die Abschaffung des Beamtentums in der Schweiz zum 1.1.2002, 7 January 2003, p. 22 available at: http://www.landtag.nrw.de/portal/WWW/GB_I/I.5/PBGD/Archiv_Veroeffentlichungen_der_13.WP/Berufsbeamtentum/Abschaffung_des_Berufsbeamtentums_in_der_Schweiz,_Jan2003.pdf
[15] Robbers, An Introduction to German Law, 4th Edition, 2006, p. 116.
[16] Wagner, Beamtenrecht, 9th edition, 2006, p. 17.
[17] Wagner, Beamtenrecht, 9th edition, 2006, p. 4 et seq.
[18] Articles 70 et seqq. GG.
[19] Article 73 clause 8 GG; Wagner, Beamtenrecht, 9th edition, 2006, p. 19.
[20] Article 75 clause 1 GG; Wagner, Beamtenrecht, 9th edition, 2006, p. 19.
[21] Wagner, Beamtenrecht, 9th edition, 2006, p. 19.
[22] Wagner, Beamtenrecht, 9th edition, 2006, p. 17.
[23] See statement of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, available at: http://www.bmi.bund.de/cln_012/nn_884576/Internet/Content/Themen/Oeffentlicher__Dienst/Beamte/Besoldung.html
[24] Wagner, Beamtenrecht, 9th edition, 2006, p. 19 et seqq.
[25] Wagner, Beamtenrecht, 9th edition, 2006, p. 19.
[26] Wagner, Beamtenrecht, 9th edition, 2006, p. 19 et seq.
[27] Wagner, Beamtenrecht, 9th edition, 2006, p. 20.
[28] Wagner, Beamtenrecht, 9th edition, 2006, p. 20.
[29] Wagner, Beamtenrecht, 9th edition, 2006, p. 20.
[30] Wagner, Beamtenrecht, 9th edition, 2006, p. 20 et seq.