WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3186/97 by Eva KJER HANSEN to the Commission. Commission sickness fund administration
Date: 1997-10-09
Institutions: European Parliament, KJER HANSEN
Subjects: EU institution, European official, health insurance, invitation to tender, management, operating cost, organisation chart, size of business

C 134/110

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

30. 4. 98

(98/C 134/142)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3186/97

by Eva Kjer Hansen (ELDR) to the Commission

(9 October 1997)

Subject: Commission sickness fund administration

Can the Commission confirm the claim made in BT of 19 September 1997 that it employs 130 people in its
sickness  fund  administration?  Will  the  Commission  provide  an  establishment  plan  for  its  sickness  fund
administration?

What does the Commission have to say about the claim that 20 people in the private sector could manage its
sickness fund?

Does the Commission intend to call for tenders?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(21 November 1997)

The Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme set up under Article 72 of the Staff Regulations encompasses the Economic
and Social Committee, the Commission, the Council, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the Parliament,
the Committee of the Regions, the Ombudsman, the Joint European Torus (JET), the European Centre for the
Development of Vocational Training, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working
Conditions, the European Training Foundation, the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products,
the  European  Environment  Agency,  the  Office  for  Harmonisation  in  the  Internal  Market,  the  European
Monitoring  Centre  for  Drugs  and  Drug  Addiction,  the  Translation  Centre  and  the  Community  Plant  Variety
Office, thereby providing cover for 77 000 persons in about a hundred countries.

The  Commission  unit  in  question  also  manages  the  schemes  for  teachers  in  the  European  Schools  and  the
Florence University Institute.

The number of officials employed in Commission unit IX.B.5 who deal with sickness insurance can be broken
down as follows:

Category A: 4
Category B: 26
Category C: 79
Category D: 1

A directory of the unit, not including officials who deal with cover for accidents and occupational diseases, is
being  sent  direct  to  the  Honourable  Member  and  Parliament’s  Secretariat.  It  should  be  noted  also  that  tasks
performed by certain officials straddle the sickness sector and the accident and occupational disease sector.

The figures quoted by the Honourable Member do not appear in the Court of Auditors’ report, which merely
makes  comparisons  by  way  of  guidance,  with  a  national  insurance  scheme.  It  is  well  known  that  such
comparisons are difficult because a national scheme is usually monolingual, operates in only one country and
one currency and benefits from economies of scale.

Nonetheless  the  Commission  has  carefully  noted  the  comments  in  the  Court  of  Auditors’  report  on  ways  of
reducing the administrative costs of managing the fund, and an interinstitutional group is currently analysing the
situation.

On  the  basis  of  the  Court’s  report,  which,  moreover,  does  not  suggest  calling  in  the  private  sector,  the
Commission does not intend to contract out the management of the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme.