WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3316/97 by Klaus LUKAS to the Commission. Opinions on the Central and Eastern European states which are candidates for EU accession
Date: 1997-10-20
Institutions: European Parliament, LUKAS
Subjects: Central and Eastern Europe, EU financing, EU programme, Germany, accession to the European Union, ethnic group, legal status, protection of minorities

C 134/134

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

30. 4. 98

(98/C 134/179)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3314/97

by Herbert Bo¤sch (PSE) to the Commission

(20 October 1997)

Subject: Grading of officials

Over the last few years both arms of the budgetary authority have endeavoured to stop spiralling staff costs.

It is all the more surprising therefore to hear reports that the Council has recently given officials a higher grade
after passing a recruitment competition: thus a person recruited following an A7 competition might well be given
the grade A5 in the Council. If he subsequently switched to the Commission, he would be recruited as an A5,
while a colleague who had begun in the Commission as an A7 would remain at this grade. Will the Commission
say:

1.

2.

Is it aware of such recruitment practices?

Does it consider that these practices are compatible with a coherent staff policy in the EU institutions?

3. What steps does it intend to take to remedy the situation?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(4 December 1997)

In his question, the Honourable Member states that a successful candidate in an A7/6 competition was recruited
to an A5 post in the Council. This practice is totally unknown in the Commission, which could never accept such
a recruitment procedure. A successful candidate in a competition organised for a specific career bracket is always
appointed to that career bracket and never to another.

What can happen, as might have been the case with regard to the recent A5/4 enlargement competition, is that a
successful candidate in a A7/6 competition recruited by one institution could be eligible for a A5/4 competition
organised  by  the  same  institution  or  another  institution.  An  A7/6  official  may  have  the  requisite  practical
experience for that type of competition and his application could be lawfully accepted. If he is successful in that
competition, the candidate can lawfully request to be recruited to an A5/4 post in his institution or in another
institution.

If a Commission department has a vacant post and wishes to recruit the successful candidate to that post, the
administration cannot refuse. Where the successful candidate in question is on a reserve list from a competition
held by another institution, the (cid:145)appointment and transfer(cid:146) procedure is applied. Although this procedure is well
known to the administration, the Commission keeps a very close eye on it.

(98/C 134/180)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3316/97

by Klaus Lukas (NI) to the Commission

(20 October 1997)

Subject: Opinions on the Central and Eastern European states which are candidates for EU accession

The European Council meeting in Copenhagen instructed the Commission to examine the situation of the ethnic
minorities within the framework of its opinions on the candidate countries for EU accession. The Commission
has managed to produce a document of over 1400 pages without making a single reference to the situation of the
ethnic German or German-speaking minorities in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Slovak Republic,
Slovenia, Romania or Lithuania.

Can  the  Commission  draw  on  the  results  of  its  lengthy  research  and  indicate  the  size  and  legal  status  of  the
German  ethnic  group  in  each  of  the  countries  in  question  and  describe  the  measures  taken  to  protect  the
minorities in each instance (parliamentary representation, local self-government, right to use of mother tongue in
official business, own schools, newspapers, electronic media, bilingual signposts, etc.)?