WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2681/97 by María SORNOSA MARTÍNEZ , Angela SIERRA GONZÁLEZ to the Council. Early retirement of a high official
Date: 1997-09-01
Institutions: European Parliament, SIERRA GONZALEZ, SORNOSA MARTINEZ
Subjects: European official, early retirement, holding of two jobs, regulations for civil servants, translation

3. 4. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 102/89

Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission

(24 September 1997)

The  increase  in  per  capita  GDP  in  Portugal  between  1983  and  1993  relative  to  the  per  capita  GDP  in  the
Community, calculated in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), is due to two main factors:

The first is Portugal’s good economic performance over that period. The increase in Portugal’s per capita GDP is
greater than the Community average and Portugal’s purchasing power has increased as a result of accession to the
single market, reducing the cost of imports by abolishing customs duties. On average, Portugal’s per capita GDP
moves about one percentage point closer to the Community average each year.

There is a second factor alongside this economic aspect: the adjustment of the Community average between 1990
and 1991 as a result of the inclusion of the former German Democratic Republic (ex-GDR) in the statistics. The
per  capita  GDP  was  lower  in  the  ex-GDR  at  that  time  than  in  any  of  the  Member  States,  and  this  caused  a
reduction in Germany’s per capita GDP and a lower growth rate in the Community’s. As a result, Portugal’s per
capita GDP increased relative to the Community average by slightly less than two percentage points between
1990 and 1991, which is logical and arithmetically correct.

In contrast, the revisions applied to the methodology (inclusion of the Azores and Madeira in the Portuguese
national accounts and change in the method of calculating purchasing power parities) did not have a significant
impact on Portuguese per capita GDP.

(98/C 102/129)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2681/97

by Mar(cid:14)·a Sornosa Mart(cid:14)·nez (GUE/NGL)
and Angela Sierra Gonza·lez (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(1 September 1997)

Subject: Early retirement of a high official

1. 

Is  it  true  that  some  months  ago,  the  Council  of  Ministers  forced  a  high-ranking  official  working  in  its
Secretariat(cid:146)s  language  services  to  take  early  retirement  on  a  substantial  pension,  because  it  had  been
discovered that in parallel to his job as an official, he owned a translation agency which was having some of
its work done by translators from the Council(cid:146)s own language divisions?

2. 

If so, have enquiries been made to find out whether there were individuals who were covering up this illegal
practice?

3.  Have precautions been taken to ensure that the aforesaid former official does not continue to make use of

translators who have any kind of working relationship with any of the Community institutions?

Answer

(17 November 1997)

1.
The Director of DGA III who was responsible among other things for the Translation Service in the General
Secretariat of the Council was given early retirement at his own request on 30 April 1997 in accordance with the
second indent of Article 52 of the Staff Regulations applicable to officials and other servants of the European
Communities.

The  monies  paid  to  him  when  he  took  early  retirement  were  due  to  him  under  the  provisions  of  the  Staff
Regulations and the rules governing the settlement of holiday rights not taken before retirement.

2. and 3.
The allegations referred to in the Honourable Members(cid:146) question were the subject of an investigation
which revealed a situation which is not quite the one referred to in the question but from which the Appointing
Authority has drawn all the necessary conclusions in order to ensure that the provisions of the Staff Regulations
on the rights and obligations of officials are scrupulously complied with and that the General Secretariat of the
Council functions propertly.