WRITTEN QUESTION P-3446/01

by Marianne Thyssen (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(6 December 2001)

Subject: Official languages within the EU institutions

On 10 July 2001 the Commission published in Official Journal S 130 a call for tenders (D1/ASS/2001/0053) for the provision of assistance and technical support for the tasks relating to the actions in the LIFE environment programme which are funded in the 15 EU Member States and certain applicant countries.

Paragraph 1.6(c) of the Technical Annex to the call for tenders is concerned with the selection criteria and the required composition of the team and it is clearly stated.

The team-leader and the deputy team leader as well as other staff with co-ordination responsibilities vis-à-vis the Commission should, in addition to an active knowledge of English and/or French, have at least a passive knowledge of the other language. These two languages will be the official languages for all contacts with the Commission.

Under Articles 21 and 290 of the Treaty, which lay down the rules relating to language use within the EU institutions and are enacted by means of Article 2 of Council Regulation No 1/58(1), there are 11 official languages through the medium of which the EU institutions are required to work, communicate, establish contact and divulge their activities, decisions, documents and acts.

What is the legal basis for the stipulation that English and French are the official languages of the European Union for all contacts with the Commission in this tender and is this not contrary to the Treaty and Regulation No 1/58?

Does not the Commission think that it has introduced linguistic discrimination into this call for tenders and is thus guilty of distortion of competition?

Can the Commission supply precise details and results relating to all those who responded to this call for tenders in accordance with the selection criteria laid down in the Technical Annex?

(1) OJ 17, 6.10.1958, p. 385; OJ English special edition: Series-I (52-58) p. 59.

Joint answerto Written Questions P-3404/01, P-3405/01, P-3446/01 and P-3447/01given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(26 March 2002)

The LIFE Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1655/2000(1) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 concerning the Financial Instrument for the Environment) provides that 5 % of the available appropriations are to be allocated to accompanying measures, in particular to evaluate, monitor and promote the actions undertaken under LIFE.

Under this provision of the Regulation, the Directorate-General for the Environment published call for tenders ENV.D1/ASS/2001/0053 for the provision of assistance for tasks relating to actions under the LIFE-environment programme.

The technical annex to the call requires that the selected team cover all EU languages so that it can maintain contacts with the beneficiaries in all Member States and monitor the projects they receive in all EU languages.

For practical reasons, and to facilitate communication between all team members and with the Commission, the working and communication languages are limited to two (English and French). The team leader and staff responsible for coordination with the Commission should, in addition to an active knowledge of English and/or French, have a passive knowledge of the other language. These are the working languages which are used by the staff of the LIFE programme management unit and in the working documents of that unit.

As it is contained in a specific technical assistance contract, this language requirement does not call into question the rules governing languages in the EU.

Such a requirement is not a distortion of the market. The aim is to ensure the quality and coherence of the team's work and thereby its efficiency.

Out of the five tenders received, three complied with the linguistic selection criteria.

The results of the evaluation of the selection criteria for all tenders received are being sent directly to the Honourable Members and to the Secretariat-General of the Parliament.

(1) OJ L 192, 28.7.2000.