WRITTEN QUESTION E-1387/01 by Roger Helmer (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Use of EU Institutions' facilities.
Date: 2001-05-07
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European official, electronic mail, fact-finding mission

20.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 364 E/97

there is also better news and room for hope:

the Secretary-General/High Representative,
But
Mr Javier Solana, through his strong personal commitment and numerous visits to the country since the
beginning of the crisis, was instrumental in getting the interethnic dialogue under way, within the (cid:145)all party
Europe Committee(cid:146); on 13 May a (cid:145)Government of national unity(cid:146), including main ethnic Albanian political
parties, was finally formed, which was warmly welcomed by the Council as an important step towards
closer cooperation between different ethnic communities in the country. The signature of the Stabilisation
and Association Agreement with FYROM on 9 April has been a powerful lever in the hands of the EU, and
the agreement will remain an important instrument for engaging the FYROM government.

The EU has clearly stressed the need for the new government to produce quickly concrete results,
particularly on issues related to the situation of minorities (i.e. new TV Channel in Albanian language,
progress on the Albanian language South East Europe University in Tetovo, early reconstruction of
building damaged by armed clashes etc). The European Union will support FYROM(cid:146)s efforts to this end.
The EU feels that the delivery of early concrete results is vital in order to keep the political process going,
to isolate extremists and to bring FYROM closer to Europe.

The EU message was clearly spelled out by the EU Ministerial Troika, which visited Skopje on 16 May
2001, to all its interlocutors.

(2001/C 364 E/105)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1387/01

by Roger Helmer (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(7 May 2001)

Subject: Use of EU Institutions(cid:146) facilities

Could you please advise whether or not you consider
for a Principal
Administrator at DG Environment to use the facilities of the EU Institutions to promote an (cid:145)e-mail flood(cid:146)
to the e-mail address of President George Bush of the USA, to protest against his policy on Kyoto?

it appropriate behaviour

Is this not an inappropriate use of the facilities of the EU Institutions, inappropriate behaviour by a civil
servant and an affront to a friendly and allied nation?

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

(18 July 2001)

E-mail is a relatively new tool and no detailed code of conduct for its use within the Commission currently
exists although an Internet Charter is being prepared at the moment.

However each member of staff, prior to being given access to the Internet and external e-mail facilities,
signs the following agreement: (cid:145)I will use the facilities granted to me essentially for the purposes of my
professional duties at the Commission. I will use the Internet for private purposes only in so far as such
use does not run counter to the interests of the service or hamper the smooth running of the institution.(cid:146)

In general terms e-mail flooding is not considered acceptable and the incident to which the Honourable
Member refers has been investigated accordingly.

The mail originated from (cid:145)Friends of the Earth(cid:146) who sent it to several different members of staff. As far as
could be ascertained there was only one Principal Administrator who merely sent it to two external
contacts for information.