EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/397

(2004/C 84 E/0459)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0433/04

by Seán Ó Neachtain (UEN) to the Commission

(9 February 2004)

Subject: Status of Gaeilige for recruitment to the EU Institutions

The revised Staff Regulation agreed by the Commission on 18 November 2003 amend Article 45 (Promotion), second indent, to state that Officials shall be required to demonstrate before their first promotion after recruitment the ability to work in a third language among those referred to in Article 314 of the EC Treaty'. Article 314 refers to the Treaty languages, including Gaeilge (Irish), and consequently this language will henceforth be given equal consideration with other Community languages for promotion purposes.

Does the Commission admit that an anomaly now arises in that Gaeilge can be considered for promotion purposes but not for recruitment purposes and that a modification of recruitment procedures is required in order to give equal treatment to Gaeilge as regards language requirements for recruitment to the institutions of the Union? How and when does the Commission propose rectifying this situation?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(16 March 2004)

The General Affairs and External Relations Council decided on 19 May 2003 that the revised Staff Regulations should permit officials demonstrating a working knowledge of Irish as a third language, to be able to rely on that to assist them in qualifying for their first promotion. For this purpose, when the new Regulations come into force on 1st May 2004, knowledge of Irish will therefore be treated in the same way as the other languages referred to in Article 314 of the EC Treaty — i.e. the languages in which the EC and EU Treaties are written.

On initial appointment, Article 28 of the Staff Regulations requires officials to have ‘a satisfactory knowledge of another language (in addition to the first Community language) of the Communities to the extent necessary for the performance of his/her duties’. The term ‘Community language’ is not defined in the Staff Regulations, but it has always been interpreted by reference to the ‘official languages and working languages of the Institutions’, as defined in Regulation 1/58.

In the context of the accession negotiations with Ireland in the early 1970's it was agreed by the Council that Gaelic, which is the first official language of Ireland under the Irish Constitution, would be considered as a language of the Treaties and of all acts with Treaty status, but not as an official language of the Community Institutions under Regulation 1/58. Gaelic is therefore not currently accepted as one of the languages necessary for recruitment. If the Irish Government (or any qualified authority) wished to change this position it could, of course, seek to secure the support of the Council for a proposal to make the necessary amendments to EEC Council Regulation 1/58 (1), pursuant to Article 290 EC. To date, the Commission understands that no such formal action has been taken.

The uniqueness of Irish in terms of provisions relating to languages in the Community is evident in the fact that, whilst no Community legislation or formal document is produced in Irish, citizens nonetheless have a right under Article 21 of the EC Treaty to write to any Institution in Irish and to receive a response in the same language. The position of Irish under the revised Staff Regulations which provide for Irish to be considered as a third language for promotion purposes but not as a second language for initial appointment purposes now reflects a similar uniqueness. The Commission does not propose to put forward further amendments to the revised Staff Regulations. Due account would obviously be taken of any change in the Treaty provisions relating to the Irish language and of any implications arising from that.

(1) EEC Council Regulation 1/58 determining the languages to be used by the European Economic Community, OJ Β 17, 6.10.1958.