WRITTEN QUESTION E-1755/99

by Klaus-Heiner Lehne (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(1 October 1999)

Subject: Costs of employing Mr Hombach and his staff

On 10 June 1999 EU foreign ministers appointed Mr Bodo Hombach Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe.

This gives rise to the following questions:

1. Which persons are on Mr Hombach's staff, and by which Member States have they been sent?

2. What are the staffing costs for employing Mr Hombach and his staff?

3. What proportion of the costs of employing Mr Hombach and his team comes from the EU budget?

4. What contribution does each Member State have to make towards the staffing costs?

5. Has the Federal Republic of Germany promised the other Member States that it will provide the majority of staff and bear the main share of staffing costs?

6. Have individual Member States indicated that they will not contribute to staffing costs?

7. How are staffing costs to be financed in the next few years?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(9 November 1999)

1. The staff of the stability pact co-ordinator has only been partially constituted. Currently, 20 staff members have taken up their functions: three deputy special-coordinators (1 Netherlands, 1 Finland, 1 United States); one head of cabinet (Germany); one deputy head of cabinet and spokesman (United Kingdom); one advisor (Italy); one personal assistant (Germany), one accountant (United Kingdom provisional); one expert (presidency: Finland until 31 December 1999); 8 experts (Denmark, Germany, France, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovenia, United States); 1 secretary (Netherlands/Commission); 1 regional affairs expert (Macedonia, resident in Berlin, provided on fully funded basis). Nine other team members, including one financial affairs expert, one expert and seven secretaries are not yet appointed.

2, 3. and 4. The total personnel costs of the mission of Mr Hombach and his staff supported by the Community budget are for the period August-December 1999 foreseen to be 168 419 (mission costs not included). This amount does not include salaries and related costs of those staff members seconded, as a contribution in kind, by Member States. The Commission is not informed of the total financial cost involved in the referred secondments and is consequently unable to provide an estimate of the total personnel costs involved.

5. No. There is no specific provision on the number or percentage of staff members to be provided by Germany or any other state.

6. No Member State has excluded the possibility of seconding staff to the team and consequently of assuming the respective salary and related costs.

7. The relevant Joint Action (1999/523/CFSP, Article 1, paragraph 3) establishes that the EU shall, by providing its Special Representative with the necessary human and logistical resources, make a substantial contribution to his functions also as special Co-ordinator. The European Union looks to the other participants in the Stability Pact also to make an equitable contribution to the functioning of the Pact. The Community contribution for future financing of the stability pact structure will have to be determined both by the requirements of the Pact and by the willingness of other participants to make such an equitable contribution.