WRITTEN QUESTION No. 4071/98 by Heidi HAUTALA Secondary occupations of Commission officials
Date: 1999-01-04
Institutions: European Parliament, HAUTALA
Subjects: European Commission, European official, administrator, duties of civil servants, higher education, holding of two jobs, power to appoint, regulations for civil servants, rights of civil servants, supplementary income

C 320/112

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.11.1999

(1999/C 320/149)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-4071/98

by Heidi Hautala (V) to the Commission

(4 January 1999)

Subject: Secondary occupations of Commission officials

In its reply to my Question E-2930/98 (1), the Commission states that its decision of 7 May 1992 laid down the
criteria for taking decisions on requests from Commission officials and other employees for permission to
pursue activities outside their official duties. The Commission has not, however, published the list which I
requested, i.e. the list of secondary occupations pursued by officials at Director-General level.

Does the Commission not keep a list of officials’ secondary occupations? Does the Commission intend to draw
up a list and can it specify when such a list will be published?

(1) OJ C 135, 14.5.1999, p. 139.

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(15 February 1999)

As already mentioned in answer to the Honourable Member’s Written Question E-2930/98, any official
wishing to engage in an outside activity is required to obtain permission from the appointing authority, thus
allowing the Commission to verify whether that external activity complies with the rules set out in Article 12
of the Staff Regulations and the Decision of the Commission of 14 May 1992.

As far as most officials are concerned (officials up to grade A4), the appointing authority has been delegated,
since 1 January 1998 in the framework of MAP 2000, to the director general of the directorate general to
which the official belongs. This is to ensure the most effective judgement as to whether the outside activity is
compatible with the professional activities of the official concerned and with the aforementioned rules. A list
of external activities for officials up to grade A4 could be established by collecting the information from all
directorates general.

In any case, an authorization given for an outside activity is valid for a maximum of one year. As already
mentioned in Commission’s answer to the Honourable Parliamentarian’s Question E-2930/98, external
activities, whether they are paid or not, implying the exercise of so-called liberal professional activities or a
position within a commercial company are not allowed. Furthermore, the maximum ceiling on the total net
income for external activities of the official is €3 500 per year. The amount received by the official over and
above this ceiling is to be transferred to the Commission. If the activity continues after that year, the official is
obliged to introduce a new request upon which the appointing authority has to take a new decision. A copy of
the decision taken by the appointing authority on the request is always kept in the personal file of the official
concerned.

The officials of grade A1 for whom an outside activity has been authorised in 1998 are as follows:

? M. Micossi, DG 3, enseignement (université à Rome)

? M. Micossi, DG 3, enseignement au Collège d’Europe Natolin

? Mme Flesch, SdT, membre du Conseil Consultatif du Club Monnet Luxembourg

? M. Vanden Abeele, DG XXI, enseignement à l’université Libre de Bruxelles.

(1999/C 320/150)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4074/98

by Daniela Raschhofer (NI) to the Commission

(14 January 1999)

Subject: Advertising campaign for clementines

An Austrian newspaper has drawn my attention to the advertising campaign for the purchase and
consumption of clementines, co-financed by the European Union.