WRITTEN QUESTION P-1557/00 by Lousewies van der Laan (ELDR) to the Commission. Appointment of Ricardo Levi to the post of Director of the Forward Studies Unit at the Commission.
Date: 2000-05-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Commission, administrator, appointment of staff

20.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 89 E/53

The problem is that all these institutions arrive at totally different results from those produced by the
Commission, which in fact represents an additional and crucial reason for questioning the use of the PPPs
published by Eurostat.

Does the Commission not believe that the complete absence of harmony among the results obtained by
the various methods of calculating PPPs, together with the lack of legal basis and theoretical foundation,
constitutes a basic argument for discontinuing the use which it has made of PPPs up to now?

(1) OJ C 219 E, 1.8.2000, p. 124.
(2) OJ C 330 E, 21.11.2000, p. 114.
(3) OJ C 330 E, 21.11.2000, p. 113.
(4) OJ C 303 E, 24.10.2000, p. 170.

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(13 July 2000)

The Honourable Member cites three arguments for discontinuing the use of purchasing power parities
(PPPs) within the euro area: a lack of legal basis; an absence of harmony among the results of different
price surveys; and the lack of theoretical foundation of using PPPs. The Commission does not support
these arguments.

With regard to the first argument, the Commission(cid:146)s reply to the Honourable Member(cid:146)s Written Question
E-0272/00 (1) has indicated the regulations concerning structural policies which have been adopted by the
Council on the Commission(cid:146)s proposal and with the assent of the Parliament. These regulations oblige the
Commission to calculate and apply gross domestic product
(GDP) per capita in purchasing power
standards for all Member States and their regions. Furthermore, in the reply to the Honourable Member(cid:146)s
Written Question E-2218/99 (2)
the Commission supported a specific legal act setting up a stable
framework in which the current methodology and work underlying the PPPs would be collectively
accepted. This is the reason why in the next months the Commission will take an initiative in order to
reach this goal.

Regarding the second and third arguments, all price surveys (cid:129) although they may vary in methodology
and details (cid:129) have the common result that prices of non-traded goods (in particular housing and services)
are lower in countries with a lower GDP per capita and higher in countries with a higher GDP per capita.
This correlation has been confirmed for the Member States in a study recently published by the
Commission (3). The explanation for this phenomenon has been given by Balassa and Samuelson
(in 1964) and is mainly due to the lower wages in low-income countries. The main idea of PPPs is to
take account of this effect that the purchasing power is higher than suggested by exchange rates in
countries with lower prices for non-traded goods (and vice versa).

(1) OJ C 330 E, 21.11.2000, p. 113.
(2) OJ C 219 E, 1.8.2000, p. 124.
(3) European Commission: Market integration and differences in price levels between EU Member States; in: The EU

Economy (cid:129) 1999 Review (European Economy) Brussels/Luxembourg 1999.

(2001/C 89 E/051)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1557/00

by Lousewies van der Laan (ELDR) to the Commission

(11 May 2000)

Subject: Appointment of Ricardo Levi

to the post of Director of

the Forward Studies Unit at

the

Commission

On 3 May 2000 Mr Prodi, President of the European Commission, announced that Ricardo Levi would be
appointed to the post of Director of the Forward Studies Unit.

1. What procedure was followed for this appointment? Was the vacancy published? Did other
candidates apply? Was there no suitably qualified internal candidate available to fill the post?

C 89 E/54

Official Journal of the European Communities

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20.3.2001

2.

Is this appointment a temporary one linked to President Prodi(cid:146)s term of office, or a permanent one?

3.
If the standard procedure was not followed, and if the appointment is permanent, would the
Commission agree that this example of (cid:145)back-door entry(cid:146) conflicts with its stated intentions of reform,
openness and promotion on merit?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(26 June 2000)

In the case of Mr Ricardo Levi, the Commission decided to re-assign him to the job of Director of the
Forward Studies unit with his temporary agent post.

As this was not a transfer to a vacant post, the procedures set out in Articles 4 and 29 of the Staff
Regulations were not applicable.

It is normal practice for the Institutions to exercise a wide degree of discretion in organising their
departments internally to meet the tasks they have to fulfil as well as in assigning the staff available to
them.

The appointment in question is confined to Mr Prodi(cid:146)s term of office and the appointment is therefore not
permanent.

(2001/C 89 E/052)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1576/00

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(23 May 2000)

Subject: Impact of particulate matter PM 10 and PM 2,5 on mortality

Studies carried out by the World Health Organisation have emphasised the linear relationship between the
increase in mortality following an increase in the atmosphere of the quantities of particulate matter PM 10
and PM 2,5 (smaller than 10 µm and 2,5 µm respectively).

Are measurements of PM 10 and PM 2,5 being taken in the Member States? If so, what are the

1.
findings for Greece?

Are studies being funded for each Member State analysing, in numerical terms, the increase in acute

2.
and chronic mortality following an increase in the quantities of PM 10 and PM 2,5 in the atmosphere?

If such activities are not receiving funding, does the Commission intend to contribute towards their

3.
implementation?

4. Will the Commission take measures to address the problem?

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(7 July 2000)

Council Directive 80/779/EC of 15 July 1980 on air quality limit values and guide values for sulphur
1.
dioxide and suspended particulates (1) at present requires Member States to measure particulate matter (PM)
by either the black smoke method or the total suspended particles (TSP) method. The Directive will be
superseded by Council Directive 1999/30/EC of 22 April 1999 relating to limit values for sulphur dioxide,
nitrogen dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter and lead in ambient air (2), which, amongst
other things, will require Member States to measure PM 10 and PM 2,5 from 31 July 2001.