WRITTEN QUESTION P-2382/01 by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities: violation of the principles of equality and freedom of establishment and infringement of pension provisions governing establishment.
Date: 2001-08-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European official, equal treatment, fraud against the EU, pension scheme, purchasing power parity, regulations for civil servants, residence

4.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 81 E/167

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(24 October 2001)

Veterinary medicinal products covered by a (cid:145)centralised(cid:146) marketing authorisation, granted under Council
Regulation No 2309/93 (1), are subject to a harmonised withdrawal period in the Community.

Likewise, veterinary medicinal products marketed in several Member States according to the (cid:145)mutual
recognition(cid:146) procedure put in place by Council Directive 93/40/EEC (2) also have to be subject to an
identical withdrawal period in all the Member States concerned.

However, very many veterinary medicinal products in the Member States were authorised for the first time
before the above-mentioned Regulation and Directive came into force. Consequently, certain medicinal
products are likely to have formulations and compositions which are exactly the same in qualitative and
quantitative terms in several Member States and to have been authorised for identical conditions of use
(same dosage, same method of administration, same species), while being subject to different withdrawal
periods depending on the Member State.

1.
However, the Commission does not consider that it is essential to harmonise the withdrawal periods
of these medicinal products in order to ensure food safety and consumer protection. This objective is
already met by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2377/90 laying down a Community procedure for the
establishment of maximum residue limits of veterinary medicinal products in foodstuffs of animal
origin (3); it is on the basis of these limits that the withdrawal periods are established.

Nevertheless, the Commission acknowledges that,

2.
if identical medicinal products are available in
several Member States with different conditions of use, a more coherent approach is required. In order to
complete the single market and tackle the problem of the availability of veterinary medicinal products, the
Commission has decided to proposed to the Council and to the Parliament the putting in place of a
process aimed at gradually harmonising the summary product characteristics of these (cid:145)older(cid:146) medicinal
products, including the withdrawal periods. This measure comes under the more general framework of
legislation, the material content of which was
proposals aimed at revising veterinary pharmaceutical
adopted by the Commission in July 2001.

However, the Commission is not in a position to assess the times necessary for this harmonisation.

3.
These times will be directly dependent on the number and type of any products concerned.

(1) Council Regulation (EEC) No 2309/93 of 22 July 1993 laying down Community procedures for the authorisation
and supervision of medicinal products for human and veterinary use and establishing a European Agency for the
Evaluation of Medicinal Products, OJ L 214, 24.8.1993.

(2) Council Directive 93/40/EEC of 14 June 1993, amending Directives 81/851/EEC and 81/852/EEC on the

approx;imation of the laws of the Member States relating to veterinary medicinal products, OJ L 214, 24.8.1993.

(3) Council Regulation (EEC) No 2377/90 of 26 June 1990 laying down a Community procedure for the establishment

of maximum residue limits of veterinary medicinal products in foodstuffs of animal origin, OJ L 224, 18.8.1990.

(2002/C 81 E/196)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2382/01

by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 August 2001)

Subject: Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities: violation of the principles of equality

and freedom of establishment and infringement of pension provisions governing establishment

In view of the fact that Article 83(2) of the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities and
the corresponding article of the rules applicable to other servants of the European Communities specify a
(cid:145)contribution(cid:146) by all officials to the pension scheme amounting to 8,25 % of their basic salary (cid:145)(cid:133), the
weightings provided for in Article 64 not being taken into account(cid:146); and bearing in mind also that, despite
the fact that all officials are required to pay a uniform contribution, Article 82(1) of the Staff Regulations

C 81 E/168

Official Journal of the European Communities

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4.4.2002

provides for variations in the amount of the pension awarded to be based solely on the future place of
residence selected by officials retiring from the service after the award of the pension and the standard of
living there,

will the Commission say:

1. What steps does it intend to take to put an end to the violation of the fundamental principle of
equality under which every official should receive the same pension benefits for the same pension
contributions and the violation of the principle of freedom of establishment in the territory of any
Member State through the introduction of (cid:145)weightings(cid:146)?

2. How will

it tackle the violation of pension provisions by officials who chose a bogus place of
residence in order to receive a higher pension, without, however, meeting the essential conditions for
the implementation of the (cid:145)pension weighting(cid:146)?

3. Does it intend to submit a proposal amending the Staff Regulations in order to abolish the unfair
provisions concerning the (cid:145)weightings(cid:146) so that all officials receive the same pension since they pay the
same contributions?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(28 September 2001)

In the system for payment of retirement pensions to former Community officials, the principle of equal
treatment is entirely safeguarded. The rules on weightings that are designed to ensure purchasing power
equivalence in respect of Member State of residence within the Union apply uniformly to all pensioners
from the Community Institutions. In particular, the criteria relating to nationality or country of origin do
not affect these weightings. When an official is still in active service and posted to a place where the
weighting is not 100, all parts of his or her salary are increased or decreased by the relevant factor,
including contributions to the pension scheme. However, the amount actually used in funding the scheme
is the contribution without the weighting applied since future locations of residence are obviously
unknown. This result ensures equivalence of pensions in terms of purchasing power and equal treatment
(since each official contributes the same share of basic salary to funding the pension scheme).

The principle of freedom of establishment is also maintained. The Staff Regulations allow pensioners
complete freedom in choosing their country of residence. The removal of weightings would create
unwarranted injustices,
in particular for pensioners deciding to settle in Member States of origin or
Member States of preference that have a relatively high cost of living.

The Commission conducts annual checks on the whole pensioner population. For this purpose it has a
variety of means at its disposal which range from requiring supporting documents from which to judge
the real presence of a pensioner at the place of residence to in-depth administrative inquiries. Any
retroactive cancellation of a weighting may lead to recovery of overpayments under Article 85 of the Staff
Regulations. This rigorous approach has recently been agreed by all the administrations of the Community
Institutions. It is an effective safeguard (cid:129) and a deterrent (cid:129) against falsification of place of residence. If the
Honourable Member has proof that legal pension provisions have been violated by former officials (cid:129) as
his question infers (cid:129) the Commission urges him to provide the evidence to the Commission or to the anti-
Fraud Office, OLAF.

The Commission is currently considering new rules regarding pensions for setting weightings to take better
account of purchasing power in the different parts of Member States. It has proposed this approach in its
orientations for reforming the Staff Regulations which are now being discussed with Staff Representatives.
Present weightings are based on the cost of living in the capital cities of Member States. Coefficients based
on the average cost of living throughout each country concerned would probably provide a more realistic
reflection of conditions.