WRITTEN QUESTION E-2585/01

by Juan Ojeda Sanz (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(25 September 2001)

Subject: Direct relations between citizens and the Union

The Commission and more recently its President, Romano Prodi, when he addressed Parliament in Strasbourg on 4 September, maintain that direct relations between citizens and the Union are one of the key concerns for Europe's future. In his speech Mr Prodi declared that communication between the EU and its citizens left something to be desired. The European Ombudsman likewise takes exception to the Commission's lack of interest in citizens.

In 1998, at the time of the Cardiff Summit in the United Kingdom, the former Commission President, Jacques Santer, and the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, were instrumental in setting up a service to answer questions from citizens about the Union. Europe Direct, as the service is called, is also intended to offer legal advice on any matter connected with the Union. As is common knowledge, that service has not been available since March 2001.

Citizens rely on the telephone or e-mail to clear up their doubts. However, because the telephone lines and e-mail archives are hopelessly overloaded, the desired information cannot always be supplied immediately.

How much importance does the Commission attach to the above initiative, and what budget is it allocating to it? Should it not focus its efforts on activities currently in operation?

On the basis of what criteria has the contract to run Europe Direct been awarded to the TechTeam firm?

When is the Commission planning to resume the legal advisory service for all citizens of the Member States?

What will be the Commission's policy regarding this information service in the run-up to the accession of new countries?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(31 October 2001)

The Commission wants to ensure that citizens have fast, easy access to the information they need. Europe Direct is one means of ensuring a dialogue with people, listening to their questions and replying to their concerns. It handles enquiries in all 11 official languages of the Union. Naturally, it should be expanded to the candidate countries, as soon as they become Member States.

The Europe Direct service is located on the Union's portal website Europa which is the internet gateway to all Union institutions. Many citizens in the Union, however, still prefer to use the telephone to ask questions in their own language. Europe Direct, therefore, enables them to ask questions by phone using a toll free number in each Member State. It also enables people to ask questions and receive responses by e-mail.

The Europe Direct service was launched in June 1998 precisely in order to give a user-friendly direct access to information and advice about the Union.

Europe Direct could have been developed as an in-house operation, however, the Commission decided to outsource the service. Following the usual public procurement requirements, a tender was granted and the service is now operated under a contract to the company Global One, a member of the France Telecom Group.

The Commission is currently conducting a review of Europe Direct to ensure that it provides an efficient and value-for-money service.

The service is structured in such a way that it operated on two levels. The call centre agents have been trained to reply to general questions on the Union and a back-up team inside the Commission takes care of questions requiring additional research.

Questions concerning practical problems that people encounter in exercising their rights in the single market used to be transferred to the Sign Post Service a specialised service that could be accessed through either Europe Direct or via e-mail. The Commission plans to resume this Citizen's Signpost Service in the first half of 2002. It will deal with enquiries from Union citizens and others who enjoy Internal Market rights.

A further service is provided for people who require legal assistance on points of Community law. This service is called Eurojus and it is managed decentrally by the Commission representations in the Member States. Following a thorough review of its operations, taking into account both quality and effectiveness, a decision has recently been taken to continue the Eurojus service. The service is in the process of being modernised and reoriented to ensure that it meets the changing needs of citizens.

As new Member States join the Union the scope of the above services will, of course, be extended.