WRITTEN QUESTION E-0661/02 by Vitaliano Gemelli (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Administrative cases brought by officials and other staff of the European Commission.
Date: 2002-03-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Commission, action by staff, administrative formalities, administrative reform, appeal to the European Ombudsman, personnel administration, regulations for civil servants, ruling, statistics

26.9.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 229 E/117

and development of the Galician languages, are all factors tending to work against Galician becoming the
norm (cid:24) even though it is a language with a remarkable history and a sophisticated literature of recognised
merit. These legal, political and social circumstances inevitably have an adverse impact on the day-to-day
use of the language and its transmission through social and family channels. In view of all the above, it is
clear that Galician needs to have real equal status with other languages, and specifically with Spanish (cid:24) in
keeping with the values of the human condition, as Unesco’s Director-General has stressed. However, the
reality is that its legal status is being undermined, in parallel with the political and administrative attitudes
of the authorities of both the Spanish state and Galicia.

It is a quite unacceptable contradiction that a particular set of political circumstances in the Spanish state
should be endangering the Galician language in its very birthplace (cid:24) endangering a language which is not
only the tongue of the Galician nation but is also a universal language, forming part as it does of the
Galaico-Portuguese language system which pertains to hundreds of millions of speakers spread across four
continents, above all in Brazil.

In view of these circumstances, what measures do the Council and the Spanish presidency intend to take in
order to cooperate with Unesco in the preservation of the world’s endangered language heritage? What
political and legal actions does it intend to undertake in order to ensure that European languages like
Galician can obtain equal legal status and social and cultural conditions of development and general use on
the same footing as the official languages of their Member States? Should equal status not be obtained, will
those nations and regions which have their own languages have any option for the preservation and
defence of those languages other than to declare independence?

Reply

(26 June 2002)

The Council would refer the Honourable Member to the reply it has already given to Question H-0076/01
put by Josu Ortuondo Larrea at Question Time session during the plenary session of the European
Parliament in March 2002, and the reply it made to Question E-0063/02 which he himself put on the
same subject.

(2002/C 229 E/134)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0661/02

by Vitaliano Gemelli (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 March 2002)

Subject: Administrative cases brought by officials and other staff of the European Commission

In its White Paper on administrative reform, the Commission maintains that it wants to make its staff
policy more effective by means of a clear definition of tasks and greater managerial responsibility for staff,
who in certain circumstances would be awarded financial premiums.

In the light of this, can the Commission indicate for the past five years:

(cid:24) the number and subject of actions brought in the Court of First Instance and the Court of Justice by
officials and other staff, involving the application of the Staff Regulations, other than cases brought by
the Ombudsman;

(cid:24) how many of these actions were upheld, even in part, by the Court of First Instance and the Court of

Justice and what were the main grounds for the decisions;

(cid:24) what measures have been taken to remedy management failings established by the Court of First

Instance?

C 229 E/118

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.9.2002

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(24 May 2002)

In terms of the extent to which actions of officials and other servants were upheld by the Community
judicature, the following evaluation does not take account of applications for the adoption of interim
measures, which by their very nature have a purely provisional effect and are without prejudice to the
judgment of the Court on the substance of the case. Any action that was not dismissed in its entirety was
classified as a successful action, even if the findings against the defendant only concerned a point of minor
If the Commission applies this very wide interpretation, the overall proportion of cases
importance.
brought before the Court of First Instance and deemed to be successful actions amounts to 34,5 % for the
period from 1 January 1996 to 30 June 2001 (five and a half years), although slight variations were
apparent from Institution to Institution (30,5 % for actions against the Commission). Over the same period,
13,2 % of the appeals brought by officials and other servants against judgments of the Court of First
Instance were considered well founded by the Court of Justice.

These cases concerned a wide variety of issues, ranging from promotion and grading to the granting of
installation allowance and sick leave. Where the Community judicature did not confirm the decisions of
the Administration, its judgments were based on a divergent assessment of the facts of the case or a
different interpretation of the relevant provisions, and not on general findings relating to the management
of the Administration. It is not possible to draw from the proportion of successful actions any general
conclusions as to administrative shortcomings on the part of the Institutions concerned given that the
Courts have to deal with individual claims in specific cases which, naturally, vary in detail and character.

In this context it should be emphasised that one of the key objectives of the reform is to put in place
simplified and more transparent rules and procedures. The grading system, for example, which has been a
constant source of conflicts between officials and their administrations, would be radically simplified.
Under the new Staff Regulations, each newly recruited official would be graded in the first step of the
grade published in the respective competition notice. Professional experience would be taken into account
only up to a maximum of 24 months (which equals one step).
the
Commission has reinforced its Mediation Service with a view to reaching an informal settlement of
disputes which may arise in the context of working relations. In the future, the mediator may in particular
make oral or,
in exceptional cases, written recommendations for amicable arrangements to resolve
conflicts, in particular in the context of complaint proceedings under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations.
Whilst legitimate rights will continue to be respected, the number of court cases is likely to be reduced by
this measure.

It should also be noted that

On the further question of the Honourable Member as to what measures have been taken to remedy
management
the Commission is collecting the
information needed to answer this question and will communicate its findings as soon as possible.

failings established by the Court of First

Instance,

(2002/C 229 E/135)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0665/02

by Brigitte Langenhagen (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 March 2002)

Subject: EU border controls

Consignments of fish which had not been declared or cleared properly have apparently been found in
Germany recently. This suggests that controls in certain Member States are not being carried out carefully
enough.

Can the Commission answer the following questions:

1. Who is responsible for the enforcement and monitoring of border controls?

2. How can the circulation of goods which have been incorrectly declared or cleared be prevented?