WRITTEN QUESTION E-2480/99 by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) and Mauro Nobilia (UEN) to the Commission. Housing safety standards.
Date: 1999-12-16
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European social policy, building safety, legal basis

C 280 E/52

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

3.10.2000

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(9 February 2000)

A complaint of harassment lodged by a member of staff of the Commission can lead to an administrative
inquiry decided on by the competent Appointing Authority (AA). The Commission provided specific
information to its staff concerning procedures relating to the protection of the dignity of the person, in an
administrative notice dated 29 February 1996. The purpose of the administrative inquiry is to establish the
existence of the facts and may lead to disciplinary proceedings against a person found to be responsible.

Measures can be taken to protect the victim of the harassment by his or her hierarchy, such as a transfer
to another post whilst the inquiry is being carried out.

Disciplinary proceedings are initiated by the appointing authority on request of the hierarchy of the person
concerned or on its own initiative. They may lead to the imposition of a sanction as laid down in the Staff
Regulations.

During the phase of administrative inquiries no time limits apply.
that disciplinary
proceedings are opened according to the decision of the appointing authority, the Commission has (cid:129)
depending on the individual case (cid:129) to obey the time limits provided for in Article 87 and Annex IX of the
Staff Regulation.

In the event

In order to determine the appropriate sanction the AA has to establish all facts in respect of the person
being subject to a disciplinary proceeding and is therefore entitled and obliged to eliminate all doubts.

The AA, can take a decision without an opinion from the disciplinary board in cases of disciplinary
measures such as a written warning or a reprimand, but must consult the disciplinary board to take other
measures. The AA takes a final decision after the disciplinary board has delivered its opinion.

Article 7(3) of Annex IX of the Staff Regulations provides that the appointing authority must take its
decision within one month from the delivery of the reasoned opinion of the disciplinary board; it shall first
hear the official concerned.

However, the case law of the Court of Justice and of the Court of First Instance states that the time limits
laid down in Article 7(3) are not mandatory but are only rules of good administration.

Disciplinary proceedings are subject to the principle of the presumption of innocence. The regularity and
the impartiality of the entire procedure are under the control of the Court of First Instance.

As to compensation for victims of harassment, the institution may be liable to compensate them where
damage is proved to have resulted from a service-related fault of the institution.

(2000/C 280 E/052)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2480/99

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) and Mauro Nobilia (UEN) to the Commission

(16 December 1999)

Subject: Housing safety standards

Recent instances in which residential buildings have collapsed (last year in Rome, this year in Foggia),
apparently without any specific cause, in other words not as the result of gas leaks or earthquakes, have
not only led to casualties but given rise to fears amongst the inhabitants and justified concern among
public officials over the minimum safety standards for buildings.

3.10.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 280 E/53

By analogy with the action taken to lay down minimum standards for electrical installations and to ensure
that the lifts are in proper working order in residential buildings, so as to guarantee the safety of the
general public, can the Commission answer the following questions:

1. Can it indicate whether any directives exist, or are being drawn up, which lay down technical safety

standards for the construction of dwellings?

2. Does it know what percentage of dwellings in the Member States might be a safety risk, either because
of natural causes (earthquakes and floods) or because of the age of the building and the use of
completely out-dated technologies?

3. Does it believe that part of the Structural Funds could be earmarked for construction work to make

buildings safer?

4.

5.

In the alternative, and without waiting until 2006 to reform the objectives of the present Funds, can it
provide in future budgets for the setting-up of an ad hoc Fund to give an incentive to use special bank
loans for this purpose?

In view of the climatic changes which have occurred in various European regions and have led to
many natural disasters in the past few years, can it initiate a study of the current situation in Europe
to monitor sites at risk because of their geological features and to lay down, therefore, new technical
standards for buildings?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(19 January 2000)

The Commission shares the fears expressed by the Honourable Members regarding the risk of residential
buildings collapsing within the Community, apparently without any specific cause.

The Commission is aware of the need to harmonise the various types of works, products, materials and
building systems, and is currently concluding work on the implementation of Council Directive 89/106/
EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the
Member States relating to construction products (1).

This Directive is based on the six fundamental requirements (cid:129) structural stability being the most
important (cid:129) which products must meet in order to be incorporated permanently in construction works.
It is therefore what is called a (cid:145)new approach(cid:146) directive, in that it establishes a link between the works and
the products, whose suitability must be proven. Suitability is assessed on the basis of compliance with the
(cid:145)harmonised(cid:146) technical specifications currently being drawn up by the standardisation bodies.

It is the responsibility of the Member States to assess risks to the stability of buildings in a natural disaster,
as a function of their age.

In addition, Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 (2), laying down general provisions
on the Structural Funds, does not provide for any earmarking of funds to restore and secure existing
buildings, and at present there is no budget heading which provides a specific fund for this purpose.
However, Article 2.2.(e) of the new Regulation (EC) No 1783/1999 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 12 July 1999 on the European Regional Development Fund (3) provides the possibility of
cofinancing measures for (cid:145)the protection and improvement of the environment,
in particular taking
account of the principles of precaution and preventative action in support of economic development (cid:133)(cid:146).

The monitoring of regions considered to present a geological risk because of climate changes is also solely
the responsibility of the Member States, while the development of technical parameters based on progress
and new knowledge (cid:129) for example, binding measures (cid:129) will normally be taken into account
in
establishing harmonised technical specifications.

(1) OJ L 40, 11.2.1989.
(2) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999.
(3) OJ L 213, 13.8.1999.