WRITTEN QUESTION E-1531/02

by Robert Goebbels (PSE) to the Commission

(3 June 2002)

Subject: The Commission's management of its advisers

The internal assessment exercise entitled Designing tomorrow's Commission (Decode), completed in July 1998, aimed to provide an up-to-date analysis of all activities carried out by the Commission, as well as the resources and working methods used, to enable it to plan its future and begin the process of reforming its organisation and operation. The Decode exercise also examined the role of advisers who are not part of the permanent establishment plan. It revealed, inter alia, that the function of these advisers was ill-defined, that they were used in an inappropriate way and that their role needed to be rethought.

It should be noted that a report drawn up at the request of the Commission by a specific Task Force on advisers states in its analytical section that the Commission is guilty of dysfunction in this area. Nevertheless, it makes proposals which, in contradiction to this analysis, mainly penalise the advisers, who are not responsible for this regrettable state of affairs. The report offers no solution, although it would be quite possible to devise one, which would solve the problem without incriminating these officials.

Could the Commission say:

1. What action has been taken on this report?

2. What practical steps it intends to take in response to it?

3. What progress has been made on this matter and, more particularly, what is the present position of the advisers in question?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(17 July 2002)

On 28 February 2001the Commission asked the Directorate General for Personnel and Administration and the Secretariat General to set up a high level Task Force which would make an in-depth analysis of each Adviser post and identify the real political and/or technical added value for the Commission.

The Task Force was established on 19 July 2001with the remit of presenting a report to the Secretary General and to the Director General of Personnel and Administration:

- evaluating the tasks performed by Advisers and Advisers ad personam within each Directorate General;

- identifying problems(and, inter alia, formulating possible recommendations and proposing transitional measures which might be necessary);

- defining the role of the Advisers within the Commission and presenting recommendations for the future.

The report of the Task Force was finalised in November 2001 and then sent to all Directors General and Heads of Services. The Secretary General and the Director General of Personnel and Administration have asked the Members of the Task Force to meet with the individual Directors General to present the report and also to discuss its conclusions. Those arrangements are underway.

According to the analysis provided in the report, Advisers tasks are often badly defined and the procedures for their nomination have not always been very clear. The report concludes that this situation is not consistent with the orientations of the Commission and it shows that resources are not used in the best possible way. The Task Force recommends the adoption of measures which give better definition to which indicate clearly which Advisers posts should be maintained and which should be suppressed, the job descriptions of Advisers, and which clarify the selection and nomination procedures.

For the above reasons, it is evident that the conclusions of the report do not contradict the analyses made, and they cannot be regarded to be penalising the Advisers particularly since the report focuses more on structures and procedures rather than on individual persons.

A consultative document on Advisers will be proposed and subjected to a concertation process. When new guidelines are adopted by the Commission, the measures which they contain will have to be implemented on a case by case basis, taking into account both the interest of the service and the interest of the individuals concerned.