WRITTEN QUESTION P-2208/01 by Carlos Coelho (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Discrimination.
Date: 2001-07-17
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Portugal, competition (EU), discrimination based on disability, physically disabled person, professional experience

14.2.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 40 E/219

(2002/C 40 E/236)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2208/01

by Carlos Coelho (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(17 July 2001)

Subject: Discrimination

Having received a letter from a Portuguese citizen asking for help in clarifying a situation which he
considers to be unfair and, indeed, discriminatory, the author of this question asks the Commission to state
whether it believes there is any basis for this view.

The Portuguese citizen concerned is aged 33 and suffers from a motor deficiency in his lower limbs (he
contracted polio at 14). He submitted his candidacy under recruitment competition EUR/C/160/2000 for
Portuguese-language typists. His application was refused on the grounds that he did not have four years(cid:146)
professional experience subsequent to having obtained his general secondary education qualification (see
dossier PERS/SC/DQ/CB-No 112 250).

He has twelve years(cid:146) unbroken professional experience as a typist for the Lisbon city council. However,
owing to force of circumstance (the constraints arising from his disability, such as the need to spend
periods in physical rehabilitation centres and the lack of support structures for persons in his situation), he
was only very recently able to complete his studies. He therefore wishes to know the reasons for the
existence of a condition under which a person with four years(cid:146) professional experience following
completion of his studies is considered better qualified than another person with twelve years(cid:146) professional
experience in the category for which he is competing, for a public body, simply because one of them
completed his studies after having acquired the professional experience. He is deeply distressed at the
fashion in which he was excluded, since while the Member States receive Community funds aimed at
promoting education, reducing educational failure rates and stimulating vocational training, an institution
such as the EU applies rules to exclude candidates which he feels are extremely unfair, discriminatory and
contrary to those same objectives.

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(7 September 2001)

The Honourable Member refers to the inter-institutional open competition EUR/C/160/2000, organised
jointly by the Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions in order
to recruit Portuguese-language typists.

The Parliament is the Appointing Authority in this case, and the Parliament consequently has sole
responsibility for the organisation of this competition. The Commission is therefore unable to comment
further on this matter and suggests that the Honourable Member addresses the question to the General
Secretariat of the Parliament.

(2002/C 40 E/237)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2210/01

by Gabriele Stauner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(24 July 2001)

Subject: BSE risk from adulterated butter

Between 1995 and mid-2000 members of the Italian Mafia were adulterating butter on a large scale by
adding animal and vegetable fats and chemical substances and selling it through Belgian, French and Italian
companies. A total of at least 35 000 tonnes of this adulterated product were produced in Italy, and are
said to have been extended by its purchasers by further admixture to over 100 000 tonnes and processed
mainly in bakery products. Subsidies of probably over 100 m Euro were claimed from the Community
budget for this purpose.