WRITTEN QUESTION E-0103/02 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission. Commission staff allocations.
Date: 2002-01-28
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Commission, European official, administration of the Institutions, administrative reform, personnel administration

5.12.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 301 E/23

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(8 March 2002)

Alliances between airlines may take different forms and involve different degrees of co-operation and
1.
will have to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. In so far as alliances involve co-operation on key elements
where airlines normally compete, such as joint pricing, schedule co-ordination, capacity and revenue
sharing, they may give rise to competition concerns where the alliance partners were prior to the alliance
actual or potential competitors. Such alliances can only be authorised under the Community competition
rules if the alliance partners can demonstrate that the restrictive effects on competition are outweighed by
the benefits achieved by the alliance. Moreover, it should be established that consumers share in these
benefits, that they could not be obtained by less restrictive alternatives and that competition is not
eliminated.

These principles apply both to intra-Community alliances and to alliances between European and non-
framework is however different since Council Regulation (EEC)
European airlines. The procedural
No 3975/87 of 14 December 1997,
laying down the procedure for the application of the rules on
competition to undertakings in the air transport sector (1) only covers air transport between European
Economic Area (EEA) airports. Alliances between European and non European airlines can be examined
under the transitional provision of Article 85 of the EC Treaty, which allow the Commission to propose
appropriate measures to bring infringements to an end and to ‘authorise’ Member States to take the
necessary measures to remedy the situation. Under this provision the Commission is currently examining
some transatlantic alliances as to their compatibility with Community competition law.

2.
From a competition point of view, the Commission is not opposed to the formation of alliances as
such. The Commission acknowledges that alliances can lead to important efficiencies. For that reason, the
Commission has given in the past an approval to such alliances once remedies had been found to address
competition concerns.

The impact of alliances on passenger fares will have to be assessed on a case by case basis and is
3.
difficult to predict.
Increased efficiencies and cost reductions should normally result in lower prices.
However, benefits of alliances for consumers may also be achieved in terms of increased capacity and
frequencies etc.

4. and 5.
Agreements between airlines on the commissions to be paid to travel agents would in principle
amount to a resale price agreement between competitors, prohibited by Article 81(1) of the EC Treaty.
Airlines used to agree on a recommended level of commission to travel agents, in the context of the
International Air Transport Association (IATA). The latter has informed the Commission that all related
resolutions expired in April 2001.

(1) OJ L 374, 31.12.1987.

(2002/C 301 E/021)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0103/02

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(28 January 2002)

Subject: Commission staff allocations

1. Will the Commission say how many posts were foreseen at the beginning and end of 2001, and how
many staff were in post at each date?

2. Will it further set out in a table the change in the number of posts allocated to each directorate-
general in 2002 compared with 2001, and in 2001 compared with 2000?

Is the Commission satisfied that its internal flexibility in the allocation of staff to different tasks is

3.
adequate to meet changing needs?

C 301 E/24

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

5.12.2002

Answer given by Mrs Schreyer on behalf of the Commission

(13 March 2002)

The number of vacant posts strongly decreased in 2000: it went from 790 on 1 January 2000 to
1.
480 on the 31 December 2000. This represents 2.8 % of the total number of permanent and temporary,
which is the lowest rate during the past six years and very near to the 2 % Commission’s target on the
basis of current recruitment procedures.

The situation for permanent and temporary posts in the operating establishment plan of the Commission
in 2001 was the following:

Establishment plan posts

Occupied posts

15 January 2001

31 December 2001

17 587

16 561

17 587

16 927

The Commission started the year 2001 with 500 additional vacant posts in its establishment plan simply
as a result of the additional posts authorised in the 2001 budget: 400 new posts plus the conversions of
appropriations for outside personnel into 100 permanent posts.

Despite such an increase and a higher than originally foreseen turn-over, by the end of December 2001
the number of vacant posts had decreased to 660 from 1026 on 15 January 2001.

In addition some 75 of the vacant posts concern LA posts set aside to prepare for enlargement and thus
intentionally left vacant.

2.
The allocation of posts for each Policy Area appears as part of the budget remark to Chapter A-11 in
the Budget of the Union (2000/81/CE (1), CECA, Euratom page 371; 2001/110/CE (2), CECA, Euratom page
371, 2002/50/CE (3), CECA, Euratom p. 2).

3.
The present Commission has made full use of the possibilities for re-deployment offered by a single
Statute, a single operating establishment plan and officials with skills that can be effectively used in many
Commission departments.

A first in-depth restructuring of the various departments of the Commission was carried out in autumn
1999, leading to redeployment of around 690 staff to core tasks and policy priorities.

In 2000 a Peer Group of Members of the Commission examinded carefully the balance between tasks and
human resources. A shortfall of 1 254 posts was identified. The Commission undertook to cover part of
the needs through re-deployment: 222 posts to be redeployed following discontinuation or scaling down
of activities in 2001-2002 and 315 posts to be redeployed in the same period following exceptional
productivity gains.

The Commission intends to continue using re-deployment when appropriate. There are however limits to
the possibilities of re-deployment.

Firstly, after the efforts in the past three years, inevitably possibilities for further re-deployment have been
greatly reduced.

Secondly, when re-deployments concern officials rather than vacant posts, their skills sometimes need
adjusting to the changed environment. To this end, the Commission has intensified training programmes
for its officials. Such an intensification is a key component of the Commission’s administrative reform, and
has been possible also thanks to the increasing appropriations for training authorised by the Budget
Authority.

However, some of the officials concerned may not be vocationally capable of changing their career
orientation to the extent needed to meet the new profiles required. The Peer Group conclusions thus

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 301 E/25

announced that the Commission would put forward a proposal to the Council for an ad hoc budgetary-
neutral scheme to allow 600 officials to take early retirement from the Commission in the interests of the
service.

(1) OJ L 40, 14.2.2000.
(2) OJ L 56, 26.2.2001.
(3) OJ L 29, 31.1.2002.

(2002/C 301 E/022)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0118/02

by Eluned Morgan (PSE) to the Commission

(22 January 2002)

Subject: Economic and Social Committee (ESC)

Can the Commission assess exactly what impact the ESC has had on development of European policy and
legislation? What mechanisms are used to test the effectiveness of the ESC? What percentage of issues
proposed by the ESC are adopted prior to presentation to Council and the Parliament? What sort of
measures would the Commission support to improve the situation?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(8 February 2002)

It is difficult to trace the history of the impact that the Economic and Social Committee (ESC) has had
upon Community legislation. Generally speaking,
its
suggestions are favourably received by the Commission or integrated into legislative procedures. Two
thirds of ESC opinions are either directly or indirectly taken into account in the Commission’s proposals.
This figure, whilst fairly significant, must instead be seen as more of an indication, as it includes all
decisions, even when the ESC is in agreement with the Commission on the proposal submitted. Parliament
also often takes account of ESC opinions when preparing its decisions. Furthermore, preparatory opinions
from the ESC constitute fundamental tools for the Commission’s work on very important matters, such as
European Governance.

the most recent analyses show that many of

Every four months the Commission produces a document summarising the ways in which it intends to
respond to the opinions delivered by the ESC. These documents can be used to demonstrate the efficiency
of the ESC. The results we glean from them are somewhat uneven, but nevertheless many ESC opinions do
create added value for institutional debate. The recent increase in consultation requests generated by the
different Directorates-General of the Commission, even where consultation is optional, gives us another
method by which to assess the efficiency of the ESC.

The Commission has no accurate statistics on the cases in which the ESC delivers its opinion before the
legislative procedure begins. This is because the quarterly analyses carried out on all responses are based
on content rather than on which stage the proceedings have reached. During the second half of 2000 and
the first half of 2001, the ESC delivered 72 opinions on Commission consultative documents and reports,
notably in its capacity as a watchdog for the internal market. Over the same period, the ESC delivered 109
opinions on Commission proposals for legislation.

In September 2001 the Commission signed a cooperation protocol with the ESC.

Two key measures concerning the efficiency of
implemented:

the ESC were considered and are currently being

(cid:1) improving the editorial quality of opinions with the aim of ensuring clearer comments, especially

where legislation is concerned;

(cid:1) offering the Institutions the possibility of requesting exploratory opinions and reports from the ESC in
order to advise them even before the Commission has adopted its proposals or guidelines. The
Commission has already requested seven exploratory opinions, five of which will be ready at the
beginning of the summer. Only then will it be possible to evaluate this particular aspect of the ESC’s
activities.