WRITTEN QUESTION E-3675/01 by Ioannis Marínos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Lack of procedural transparency at Cedefop.
Date: 2002-01-17
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Cedefop, administrative transparency, personnel administration, recruitment

20.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 147 E/217

Reply

(18 March 2002)

The Honourable Member will be aware that it is not for the Council to comment on the discussions
during, or the outcome of, meetings of the European Council. A fortiori it is not its custom to comment
on media reports purporting to give an account of the positions taken by Heads of State or Government
on any particular issue under discussion. The Council would finally make the general point that the
transparency of the outcome of the European Council’s deliberations is ensured through the publication of
the Presidency’s conclusions from the meeting.

(2002/C 147 E/229)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3664/01

by Proinsias De Rossa (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Funding for European food safety policy campaign

(15 January 2002)

Will funding be provided to the European Federation of Trade Unions of Food, Agriculture and Tourism
for the implementation of the trade unions’ information campaign, which aims to inform their members
on the main food undertakings and objectives of European food safety policy?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(18 February 2002)

The Commission launched an invitation to tender in all the Member States for the organisation of a
consumer information campaign on food safety.

Following examination of the dossiers submitted by the applicants, one organisation was chosen in each
Member State for the implementation of this campaign on the basis of the criteria set out in the invitation
to tender.

The European Federation of Trade Unions of Food, Agriculture and Tourism did not submit an application
dossier for this consumer information campaign. Consequently, its activities in the area of the provision of
information on food will not be financed.

(2002/C 147 E/230)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3675/01

by Ioannis Marínos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(17 January 2002)

Subject: Lack of procedural transparency at Cedefop

The highly regarded newspaper, European Voice, reported (6 December 2001) that the Court of Auditors
had severely criticised the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (known as
Cedefop) over its system of recruiting and managing human resources. In their assessment of the Centre,
the Court’s inspectors stress that it had done little to achieve compliance with the current rules, while in
examining the cases of 36 of its officials, they found that 28 of the appointments made were ‘insufficiently
justified’. The entire situation tarnishes the image of this decentralised agency, the EU itself as well as
Greece which hosts it and assists it in every way and is in no way responsible for its alleged lack of
transparency.

C 147 E/218

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.6.2002

What action will the Commission take to strengthen the transparency and impartiality of this agency’s
procedures? Will the appointments which the Court of Auditors finds ‘insufficiently justified’ be declared
null and void? Can the Commission provide details of each of those appointments, the nature of the post
and the nationality of the officials appointed on the basis of unsatisfactory criteria? What are the official
languages used at Cedefop?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(1 March 2002)

Cedefop is a decentralised body set up under a specific Regulation (Regulation (EEC) No 337/75 of the
Council of 10 February 1975 establishing a European Centre for the Development of Vocational
Training (1), Article 7 § 4). It is autonomous as regards its staff policy, over which the Commission has
no control, beyond being represented on its Management Board. Indeed according to its basic Regulation,
it is the Director who is ‘responsible for all staff matters and for engaging and dismissing staff’ (2).
Therefore, the appointments which the Court of Auditors finds ‘insufficiently justified’ cannot be declared
by the Commission as ‘null and void’.

The Centre has provided the following details concerning the above appointments. The 28 cases in
question concern 14 A posts (experts in education and vocational training, translators, administrators, etc.),
8 B posts (financial managers, documentalists, computer specialists, etc.) and 6 C posts (secretaries), all
with temporary contracts (initially for a duration of two years).

The breakdown by country is as follows:

C Belgium: 5,

C Greece: 5,

C Germany: 4,

C France: 4,

C Spain: 3,

C Italy: 2,

C United Kingdom: 2,

C Finland: 1,

C Norway: 1, and

C Ireland: 1.

As the Court’s conclusions on this issue result from an audit undertaken in 2001 on the staff policy of all
the Agencies between 1995 and 2000 (3), they mostly refer to the critical period that Cedefop went
through after its transfer from Berlin to Thessaloniki, in 1995-1998. The Court underlines the urgency
with which the Centre had to implement numerous recruitment procedures in view of maintaining its
activities in a situation where only half of its staff followed it in the transfer to Greece.

The Commission has already recommended greater transparency in the Agency’s recruitment procedures
by inviting inter alia the Management Board in 1997 to provide clear guidelines for the Director on staff
policy issues including systematic reporting on implementation. The Commission considers that the
subsequent Management Board decision has contributed to improving the transparency of the day-to-day
staff decisions taken by the Centre. The Court’s report states ‘For subsequent recruitment the Centre has
made use of the results of competitions organised in the Community institutions in which members of its
staff or candidates for posts at the Centre have participated’.

20.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 147 E/219

For the official languages used at Cedefop the Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its
previous answer to written question P-3015/98 Mr Kaklamanis (4).

(1) OJ L 39, 13.2.1975.
(2) See also answer given by the Commission to written question E-2549/98 by Mr Kaklamanis, OJ C 118, 29.4.1999.
(3) Court of Auditors report on the financial statements of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational

Training (Cedefop) for the financial year ended 31 December 2000.

(4) OJ C 182, 28.6.1999.

(2002/C 147 E/231)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3677/01

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(17 January 2002)

Subject: Technical high schools

A recent announcement by the Greek Federation of Secondary School Teachers states that technical high
schools are suffering a severe shortage of books, laboratories, specialist teachers and training for teachers
in the new technologies. The problems caused by these failings are resulting in falling numbers of students
at technical high schools, with those who drop out of education suffering social exclusion since, for those
young people, the high schools represent their only chance of acquiring skills and vocational qualifications.
The law under which the technical high schools were set up states that their aim is to integrate young
people into the employment market. In Greece, the youth unemployment and school drop-out rates are
among the highest in the Union.

In the light of the Council’s recommendation concerning the implementation of the Member States’
employment policies, which stressed that the education systems in Greece needed further improvement, is
the Commission aware of the existence of any Greek Government programmes to tackle these problems?
Were any measures incorporated in the first operational programme for education and initial training
their
under
effectiveness? What measures have been planned under the 2nd operational programme for education
and initial training?

the 2nd Community Support Framework? What

the Commission’s assessment of

is

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(21 February 2002)

During the negotiations with the Greek authorities on the 3rd Community support framework (CSF)
2000-2006, the Commission attached particular importance to the problems of shortages of books,
workshops, teachers or other shortcomings in the workings of technical high schools (TEEs) in Greece. The
Ministry of Education, which is the national authority in Greece responsible for initial vocational training,
is aware of these difficulties.

According to information from this ministry, the number of students registered with TEEs in the academic
year 2001-2002 has increased by almost 7 % on the previous year. In addition, the number of TEE
students is gradually approaching the number attending ‘integrated high schools’. This trend shows that
there is an increasing demand for this type of education, and that considerably more effort should be
devoted to improving its quality.

During the 2nd CSF 1994-1999 for Greece, measures benefiting TEEs were implemented which involved
the introduction of new curricula, the provision of books, training for teachers and courses in the fields of
health and the environment.