EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/753

(2004/C 78 E/0801)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2751/03

by Gabriele Stauner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(10 September 2003)

Subject: Criminal practices involved in the award of a contract to CESD-Roma

In its 28 August 2003 edition, ‘Der Stern’ magazine reported that, in December 2001, the Commission had awarded a contract for technical assistance with the population census in Macedonia to CESD-Roma, despite that company's involvement in the Eurostat scandal.

Can the Commission confirm that that contract, for an amount of around EUR 1 million, was approved by it at the instigation of Commissioners Nielson and Patten, although the Court of Auditors and the Commission's departments responsible for financial control had already expressed reservations about contracts with CESD?

Can the Commission confirm that the contract was awarded to CESD-Roma without any prior public call for tenders, although such a call was obligatory under the relevant Community guidelines?

In particular, can the Commission confirm that, at the time when it took its decision, it had been aware for some months that it would need technical assistance with the carrying out of the census and that, therefore, there was no sudden and imperative urgency involved which might have justified the decision not to issue a call for tenders for the contract?

Is the Commission aware that, pursuant to Belgian law (Section 314 of the Criminal Code in the version dated 24 December 1993), it is a criminal offence for anyone to restrict the freedom to make a bid in connection with the award of contracts? Will the Commission refer the course of events outlined above to the Belgian courts?

Can the Commission forward to me copies of all the relevant documents and memoranda relating to this matter within the period laid down in the Regulation on public access to EU documents?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(1 December 2003)

The project, as agreed by the Commission, was intended to achieve the Union's objective of promoting good governance and improving the political climate in the Former Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) by providing a reliable and acceptable portrait of the country's demographic composition, thus building confidence between the ethnic groups in FYROM. The Commission's agreement to support this work came in response to an urgent request from the Government of FYROM, and was in line with the Framework Agreement for FYROM signed on 13 August 2001. This called for a census under international supervision, the swift implementation of which was recognised as an essential underpinning to the Lake Ochrid agreement securing the future of FYROM's democracy. The urgency of implementation of the Lake Ochrid agreement was widely recognised at the time, including by the Council and the Parliament.

The company which was awarded the contract, CESD, had been directly involved in the previous census in FYROM and was considered at the time to have the best possible technical expertise to carry out the monitoring activities set out by the Commission and government of FYROM in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The advice of Eurostat, agreed by the responsible Commission services, the Council of Europe and the FYROM authorities, was that CESD was the sole organisation capable of meeting those objectives, and it was on that basis that the Commission accepted this choice. The procedure followed was in line with the Financial Regulation (1) in force at the time, which allowed for the award of a contract without prior public call for tenders under the given circumstances.

Furthermore, the contract was awarded in the context of external aid, where the Council directive relating to the co-ordination of procedures for the award of public service contracts does not apply.

As part of the decision-making process, specific concerns about the status of CESD as a former BAT (Bureau d'assistance technique) for Eurostat were examined. The contract went ahead on the basis that CESD's activities as a BAT were being discontinued, and that it would be subject to the direct supervision of Eurostat and the steering group. To ensure that a high degree of control could be exercised, it was agreed at the time to structure the contract as a service rather than a grant contract.

The funding was designed to support a team of experts to monitor and check the census field operations, to increase confidence in the impartiality and objectivity of the work carried out by the census enumerators, ensure data confidentiality and to help achieve a wide acceptance of the census results. In order to ensure the success of the observation mission, the Commission asked the FYROM Government to agree a MoU which set out precise conditions under which the contract would be carried out. In addition, it was decided that monitoring would be implemented through a steering group chaired by Eurostat, with the participation of the Commission, the Council of Europe, UNECE (2), and the OSCE (3). The steering group was charged with following the operation as a whole, together with facilitation of the work of a High Level Experts Group and of observers in the field.

The organisation has subsequently implemented the project to the satisfaction of the steering group, often in difficult circumstances. Most of the fieldwork for the census has now been carried out, apart from three follow-up missions which are necessary to finalise the results.

Additional information about CESD has emerged in the context of the Eurostat affair. However, EuropeAid was not made aware of allegations about financial mismanagement by CESD until July. It subsequently terminated the FYROM contract in line with the Commission's decision of 23 July 2003. Following that termination, the Council of Europe has exceptionally agreed to provide support for the remaining limited work of the census observation mission.

The Honourable Member requests access to documents. This request is based on Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to Parliament, Council and Commission documents (4).

The Commission will assess the request of the Honourable Member according to the procedure foreseen in that Regulation.

(1) Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 applicable to the general budget of the European Communities, OJ L 356, 31.12.1977.

(2) United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

(3) Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

(4) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001.