WRITTEN QUESTION E-2184/01 by Isidoro Sánchez García (ELDR) to the Commission. Discrimination on grounds of age in European Parliament competitions.
Date: 2001-07-23
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Parliament, age discrimination, anti-discriminatory measure, equal treatment, job access, labour market, personnel administration

18.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 93 E/73

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(10 October 2001)

The Community Initiative Interreg III co-finances cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation
actions across the Community. Programmes setting out the strategic priorities are proposed by the
partnerships in the border area concerned in the light of the needs identified and in conformity with the
Commission’s guidelines for Interreg III. Once the programme has been adopted by the Commission, and
in accordance with its strategic priorities, it is then for the partnership to select the individual projects for
support. These can include training courses of the type to which the Honourable Member refers.

Outside the context of the Interreg programme, the development of training courses for tourist guides may
be a possible project under the Community programme Leonardo da Vinci programme. This programme is
aimed at supporting transnational partnerships in the development of innovative training tools in the field
of vocational training.

(2002/C 93 E/091)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2184/01

by Isidoro Sánchez García (ELDR) to the Commission

(23 July 2001)

Subject: Discrimination on grounds of age in European Parliament competitions

The exact words of Article 13 of the EC Treaty are as follows: ‘Without prejudice to the other provisions of
this Treaty and within the limits of the powers conferred by it upon the Community, the Council, acting
unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the European Parliament, may take
appropriate action to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief,
disability, age or sexual orientation’.

first paragraph,

Article 130,
‘The Council, after consulting the European
Parliament, shall establish an Employment Committee with advisory status to promote coordination
between Member States on employment and labour market policies. The tasks of the Committee shall be
to monitor the employment situation and employment policies in the Member States and the Community’.

similarly stipulates that:

Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs is called upon, among other things, to prevent
‘all forms of discrimination on the grounds of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age
or sexual orientation (Article 13 of the EC Treaty), related to fundamental social rights and to the labour
market’. In addition, the population is gradually ageing, and debate is taking place in all parts of Europe
about the future of pension schemes, a possible later retirement age, and, as far as women are concerned,
their slowness to break into the labour market, to name just some examples.

Can the Commission therefore explain how it can happen that serious discrimination arises in the
employment sphere when Parliament organises competitions to fill posts and restricts eligibility to enter to
persons under 45?

Does the Commission think it right to discriminate on the grounds of age?

Has it studied the legislation of the different Member States with a view to adopting a comparative
approach in order to frame legislation more closely in line with solidarity criteria and social rights?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(15 October 2001)

The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its answers to written questions P-1600/01 by
Mr. Manders (1), E-1512/01 by Mrs. Raschhofer (2) and to its reply to oral question H-497/01 by Mrs. van
Lancker during question time at Parliament’s June 2001 part-session (3).

C 93 E/74

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.4.2002

In addition to the information provided in those replies, it should be noted that the use of age limits must
be viewed in the light of the creation of a European Recruitment Office, which in future will organise
competitions for all the European Institutions. The Secretaries General of the European Institutions agreed
at their meeting of 9 July 2001 that it will be the responsibility of the Management Board of this future
Office to take a decision with regard to age limits on the basis of a qualified majority. The Commission
confirmed this line in its Communication ‘New orientations for the reform of personnel policy’ of 18 July
2001 (4) and invited its Directorate General for Administration and Personnel to prepare a decision to set
up this structure to be presented for adoption by the Commission and the other Institutions as soon as
possible.

The Commission published a report in February 2000 in preparation for the negotiations in the Council
which led to the adoption of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general
in employment and occupation (5)
framework for equal
irrespective of religion or belief,
disability, age or sexual orientation. The report provides details of Member States’
legal provisions to
combat discrimination in force at that time. A copy is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to
Parliament’s Secretariat. Directive 2000/78/EC must be transposed by Member States into national law by
2 December 2003.

treatment

(1) OJ C 364 E, 20.12.2001, p. 156.
(2) OJ C 364 E, 20.12.2001, p. 132.
(3) Written answer of 13.6.2001.
(4) SEC(2001) 1202/6.
(5) OJ L 303, 2.12.2000.

(2002/C 93 E/092)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2186/01

by José Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(23 July 2001)

Subject: Inconsistent attitude to the Spanish language at the European Schools

According to my understanding, it is normal practice for category III children to be admitted to any
section at any of the European Schools.

When the EP Committee on Petitions asked for information on this subject at its meeting of 26 May 1999,
the Commission stated in reply that the Munich European School, the only Spanish-language educational
establishment serving that city and its environs, was not discriminating against Spanish pupils by
restricting their admission, given that there were so few category I pupils enrolled in the Spanish section.

The information in my possession suggests that the criteria governing the admission of category III pupils
to other sections in 1999 were much more generous than in the Spanish section, even when the number
of eligible children was lower. (Out of the three small sections, the Spanish, Dutch, and Greek sections, the
Spanish section is the smallest, consisting as it does of just 32 children, 47 % of whom are category III
pupils. The proportion of category III pupils in the Dutch and Greek sections, however, is higher, standing
at 62 % and 66 % respectively).

Assuming that the above figures are correct, can the Commission say why the admission criteria vary
according to nationality?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(2 October 2001)

The primary and continuing purpose of the establishment of a European school in Munich, authorised by
the Protocol of 15 September 1975, is to educate the children of staff of the European Patents Office
(EPO). Other children who are nationals of one of the Member States of the European Community or one