WRITTEN QUESTION P-1274/03

by Gabriele Stauner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(27 March 2003)

Subject: Conflict of interests at Eurostat

In its answer to my Written Question P-3742/02(1), the Commission refers to a series of decisions and documents which apparently justify the participation of Eurostat, represented by its Director-General, in the establishment and management of Eurocost A.s.b.l., a private company.

That company was involved in serious irregularities (falsification of accounts, double and triple financing of projects, theft of IT equipment) at a cost of more than EUR 1 million to the Community budget.

Can the Commission forward to me copies of the decisions and documents referred to SEC(94) 389, SEC(95) 1684 and SEC(98) 1217?

The Commission states that the Director-General of Eurostat was also a member of CESD-Communautaire and a founder member of CESD-Madrid, CESD-Lisbon and CESD-Rome, remaining a member thereof until 2000.

Can the Commission forward to me copies of the documents on the basis of which the Director-General applied for authorisation to carry out those activities and/or which gave Commission authorisation for those activities?

Can the Commission forward to me a list of all the payments which CESD-Communautaire, CESD-Madrid, CESD-Lisbon and CESD-Rome respectively received from the Community budget?

Can the Commission list all the instances in which contracts were concluded with those associations without a prior call for tenders and indicate the amounts involved in each one and why calls for tender were dispensed with?

(1) OJ C 161 E, 10.7.2003, p. 136.

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(7 May 2003)

The Honourable Member's request to access the three Commission documents will be handled in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2001, concerning access to documents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission(1).

The Commission approved the continued participation of Eurostat in the CESD-COM and decided that it would be phased out. This was followed and since 1997, no Eurostat official has had any participation in the CESD-COM.

The entities CESD Madrid, Lisbon and Rome were created at the request of the Statistical Institutes of the corresponding Member States on the basis of the experience of CESD Paris, created by INSEE and the Commission (Directorate General (DG) Eurostat and DG Development) in the early 60s an experience which proved positive in promoting the training of statisticians and the statistical cooperation with developing countries. The Director Generals of the National Statistical Institutes of Member States which are parts of the public administration were members of these entities as was also the Director General of Eurostat, in recognition of the central role that Eurostat is ensuring in the development of the European Statistical System and statistical cooperation in general. CESD-Lisbon was created in 1990, CESD-Madrid in 1991 and CESD-Rome in 1996. No specific authorisation for the participation in these entities was requested as it was considered that the activities were ancillary and complementary to those of the CESD-COM. Following the Commission's policy of phasing-out the participation, all Eurostat staff progressively resigned and this process was completed in 2000. The resignations were rather later than for CESD-COM (completed in 1997) but this was because the entities concerned had to be restructured whilst continuing to ensure an acceptable level of participation in statistical cooperation with developing countries.

CESD-COM received subsidies from Eurostat from the time it was set up until 1999, when the last subsidy was granted. The Director-General of Eurostat, Mr Yves Franchet, was its President until 1995.

Tables giving the lists of data required by the Honourable Member and mentioned in the two final paragraphs of the written question are in the process of being established and will be transmitted as soon as available.

(1) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001.