WRITTEN QUESTION E-2045/99 by Jeffrey Titford (EDD) to the Commission. Full list of allowances claimable by European Commission staff.
Date: 1999-11-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Commission, European official, allowances and expenses, family benefit, regulations for civil servants

C 219 E/76

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

1.8.2000

3. What is the legality of this unit? When was it authorised by either the Council of Ministers, the
Commission or the European Parliament?

4. When did its operations commence?

5.

To which Commissioner is this unit responsible?

6. What reports have ever been published by the (cid:145)Soul for Europe(cid:146) department?

I am aware that substantial grants have been made by the (cid:145)Soul for Europe(cid:146) department, or the
7.
Forward Studies Unit of which I believe it is part. Can the Commission supply a full
list of those
organisations that have been grant-aided by the (cid:145)Soul for Europe(cid:146) department, in each case indicating how
much has been paid to those organisations?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(6 December 1999)

There is no (cid:145)Soul for Europe(cid:146) department within the Commission. On the other hand there is an initiative
taken by President Delors in 1994 and supported by President Santer under the name (cid:145)Soul for Europe.
Ethics and Spirituality(cid:146). This initiative aims to stimulate the dialogue with religious or humanist commu-
nities and to promote projects which contribute to the recognition and understanding of the ethical and
spiritual dimensions of the European unification process and the policies of the Community.

In order to involve the partners (religious or humanist communities) in the context of the initiative (cid:145)Soul
for Europe. Ethics and Spirituality(cid:146), the Commission invited (in 1994) the partners to establish a screening
committee (composed by their representatives) which recommends projects. These projects should
explicitly promote the idea and the values of European integration and should promote reflection on the
spiritual or ethical dimension of building a new Europe.

The screening committee is supported by a co-ordinator who is a staff member of the church and society
commission of the conference of European churches (KEK). The meetings of the screening committee
(about three a year) and of the work of the co-ordinator (on a half time basis) are subsidised by the
Commission.

The grants for co-financing the projects recommended by the screening committee and accepted by the
Commission are taken from the budget line A 3024. This is justified by the following remark, introduced
by the Parliament in 1997: (cid:145)This appropriation (cid:133) is also intended to support activities connected with
reflection at European level on the ethical and spiritual foundations of Europe.(cid:146) The budget line A 3024 is
now (since 1999) managed under the responsibility of the member of the Commission in charge of
education and culture.

The co-ordinator presents (since 1997) every year a report on the evolution of the initiative and the
evaluation of the projects which have been realised.

A full list of those organisations that have been grant-aided via the (cid:145)Soul for Europe(cid:146) programme is sent
direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament(cid:146)s Secretariat.

(2000/C 219 E/091)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2045/99

by Jeffrey Titford (EDD) to the Commission

(3 November 1999)

Subject: Full list of allowances claimable by European Commission staff

Can the Commission list, in full, all allowances that are paid to or can be claimed by Commission staff in
addition to their salaries?

1.8.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 219 E/77

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(9 December 1999)

Under the terms of article 62 of the Staff Regulations, the remuneration of an official may comprise in
addition to a basic salary, a number of family and other allowances that are set out below. The following
information does not infer that the remuneration of any official is composed of the sum of all allowances.

Family allowances: a household allowance fixed at 5 % of the basic salary for married officials; a child
1.
allowance of € 213,61 per month per dependent child; an education allowance of maximum € 190,90 per
month per child in regular full-time attendance at an educational establishment; a grant of € 198,31 on
the birth of a child. Family allowances are granted after deduction of any sums of the same nature that the
official would receive from another source.

2.
Allowances linked to active service before entering the service of an institution of the European
Communities: for expatriated officials, depending on their situation, either an expatriation allowance equal
to 16 % of the total amount of the basic salary + household allowance + dependant child allowance, or a
foreign residence allowance equal to 4 % of basis salary; for C grade officials, a secretarial allowance of
€ 99,55 or € 152,63 per month depending on the grade; payment once a year of the annual travel
expenses between the place of employment and the place of origin of the official;

Annex VII of the Staff Regulations also provides for the payment of: a fixed rate allowance for
3.
entertainment expenses (only the heads of the Representations of the Commission in the Member States
and the heads and deputy heads of the private office of a Commissioner may currently benefit); a rent
allowance or a transport allowance in places where the problem of either accommodation or transport is
recognised as being particularly difficult (these places are determined in a Council Regulation and Brussels
is not one of them); a fixed allowance not exceeding € 892,42 a year for those officials whose duties
constantly require them to make journeys for which they are authorised to use their own car to cover
normal travel within the boundaries of the town where they are employed (fewer than 10 officials
currently receive this allowance).

4.
Allowances when taking up duties, when transferring between places of employment, or upon
termination of service: an installation allowance equal to one month(cid:146)s basic salary or to two months(cid:146) if the
official is entitled to the household allowance; a resettlement allowance equal to one month(cid:146)s basic salary
or to two months(cid:146) basic salary if the official is entitled to the household allowance; reimbursement of
travel expenses; reimbursement of removal expenses; a daily subsistence allowance.

5.
Other allowances linked to working conditions: compensation of overtime work for categories C and
D in cases of urgency or exceptional pressure of work; compensation for those officials who work
regularly at night, on Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays; compensation for standby duty because of the
exigencies of the service or safety rules.

6.
For the officials who occupy posts in nuclear science and who are paid from appropriations in the
from the
Research and Development budget: pecuniary advantages, granted on a special proposal
Commission, for a small number of officials who belong to grades A1 and A2; awards granted in
appropriate cases for officials who are authors of a patented invention; awards granted for exceptional
service; special allowances to compensate for particularly arduous working conditions.

(2000/C 219 E/092)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2046/99

by Jeffrey Titford (EDD) to the Commission

(3 November 1999)

Subject: Full list of allowances claimable by the President and the European Commissioners

Can the Commission list, in full, all allowances that are paid to or can be claimed by the President and the
Commissioners in addition to their salaries?