WRITTEN QUESTION E-3230/98

by Edith Müller (V) to the Commission

(26 October 1998)

Subject: Business relationships with outside companies

Over the last few years the Commission has maintained special business relations with the companies belonging to Mr Perry, an entrepreneur based in Luxembourg. (His abbreviated telephone number was listed in the Commission's internal telephone directory and he claims to have done approximately ECU 100 million worth of business with the Commission in the past.)

In connection with the accusations of fraud which have been levelled at him he has told the press (Focus magazine of 5 October 1998) that he knows of eleven other firms which have had experiences similar to his.

Can the Commission provide a list of all companies which it has contracted to hire outside staff? Can it say on what basis such companies are included in its internal directory? Can it supply figures showing the amount of business it has done with these companies over the last five years?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(19 January 1999)

The Commission would confirm that, over the years, it has called on numerous firms to perform a range of tasks involving the provision of staff.

A list of these firms, compiled for the "outside staff" data base of the Directorate-General for Personnel and Administration, is being transmitted directly to the Honourable Member and Parliament's Secretariat. However, it should be emphasised that each Directorate-General is the authorising department for the budget headings within its remit and accordingly concludes its own contracts. It would be necessary to carry out a wide-ranging analysis on a case by case basis in all the Directorates-General and departments in order to establish the amount of business done with each firm over the last five years. Unfortunately, given the current budgetary rigour, the Commission does not have the human resources required for such a survey.

The Commission would stress that in recent years, with the support of the budgetary authority, it has endeavoured to reduce the number of outside staff by the repatriation of mini-budgets and by the conversion of appropriations into posts. The rules on the use of outside staff have been clarified by the "Code of Conduct governing the use of outside staff by Commission departments".

With regard to the Technical Assistance Offices (BATs), on 22 July 1998 the Commission adopted a communication (SEC(98) 1217) laying down the following provisions relating to new/renewed programmes:

- recourse to BATs should be part of the specific legislation on the programme/action;

- an ex ante evaluation of the need to have recourse to BATs should be carried out;

- a guide to the use of BATs is in preparation; compliance with the framework of rules and procedures set out in this guide will be ensured by the BAT monitoring unit and the Central Contract Team.

In Autumn 1998, a survey was launched in the Commission departments, as part of the 1999 budget procedure, to ascertain the various forms of technical and administrative assistance, including BATS, which were charged to Parts A and B of the budget. A standard budget remark and ceilings for each budgetary heading concerned will ensure transparency whenever recourse is had to such assistance.

With regard to the inclusion of these firms' telephone numbers in the directory in the form of abridged codes, officials who have access only to local numbers can ring specified correspondents in Belgium, in Europe or throughout the world without going though the switchboard. This arrangement makes communication more efficient for users who frequently contact a small number of specific external numbers; it reduces the switchboard's workload and it limits the number of international lines which need be allocated. The abridged numbers are given to delegations, ministries and other institutions and to those private firms with which the Commission has contractual links (travel agencies, sub-contractors). Firms derive no advantage from being included in the list of abbreviated numbers (they are only for outgoing calls from the Commission) and the arrangement entails no legal obligation for the Commission.