WRITTEN QUESTION E-1206/02 by María Rodríguez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission. Irregularities in submitting a European Employment Network project.
Date: 2002-04-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Castile-Leon, European Commission, application of EU law, code of conduct, eligibility criteria, employment policy, fraud, invitation to tender, job creation, project evaluation

26.9.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 229 E/195

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-1199/02, E-1200/02 and E-1201/02
given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(6 June 2002)

The Commission understands that Written Questions E-1200/02 and E-1201/02 relate to the award of a
contract by the United Kingdom authorities for the supply of smallpox vaccines to address possible
terrorist attacks in the light of the 11 September 2001 atrocities and in particular the ensuing concerns
about bio chemical terrorist attacks.

The Commission is not fully aware of all the steps which the United Kingdom authorities may have taken
in the award of the contract. In the absence of such information, it is not possible to conclude with any
certainty whether this particular contract falls within the scope of Council Directive 93/36/EEC of 14 June
1993, coordinating procedures for the award of public supply contracts (1) and whether the award of the
contract should have been subject to open competition.

As regards Written Question E-1199/02,
information received by the Commission indicates that the
Member States that have procured emergency vaccines to counter potential terrorist threats following the
anthrax attacks in the United States in 2001 did not follow open public tender procedures on account of
the security implications involved.

Article 2 of the above-mentioned Directive constitutes a derogation from the provisions for open public
tendering. This includes ‘supply contracts which are declared secret or the execution of which must be
accompanied by special security measures in accordance with the laws, regulations or administrative
provisions in force in the Member States concerned or when the protection of the basic interests of the
Member State’s security so requires’.

As a derogation from the general rule that public contracts must be awarded by public tender, Article 2
has to be restrictively construed on a case by case basis. Relevant factors could include a perceived need at
the time of the contract not to announce the existence or nature of the contract for public security
reasons. Statements made by the European Court of Justice in Case C- 273/97 of 26 October 1999 to the
effect that Member States have a degree of discretion when adopting measures which they consider to be
necesssary in order to guarantee public security, may also be a relevant factor in this type of case.

(1) OJ L 199, 9.8.1993.

(2002/C 229 E/225)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1206/02

by María Rodríguez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

(26 April 2002)

Subject: Irregularities in submitting a European Employment Network project

In December last year, the Commission rejected the project submitted to the European Employment
Network on behalf of Zamora City Council by the company IRMA S.L.

There has been a major row in Zamora over the fact that the project in question gave the names of
individuals and business groups, such as the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and the chairman of
the ‘Association of Young Businessmen’ (Jóvenes Empresarios), as staff to be employed on a given salary,
without the knowledge or consent of those involved.

Was this why the Commission rejected the project?

The Zamora City Council claims that full responsibility lies with IRMA S.L. Can the Commission tell me
whether any other Community subsidies in Zamora are managed by this company?

Does a code of good practice for companies specialising in submitting projects to the Commission exist?

C 229 E/196

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.9.2002

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(30 May 2002)

Ayuntamiento de Zamora submitted the project ‘Red Europea Para El Empleo Local’ in response to the
open call for proposals VP/2001/015 ‘Preparatory Measures for a local commitment for employment’
(Budget Line B5-5030). However, IRMA S.L. did not appear either as a promoter or as a partner of the
project. Nevertheless, the Commission understands that this is the project to which the Honourable
Member refers.

As regards the selection procedure, all the projects submitted in response to the open call for proposals
were selected according to the same criteria set out in the ‘Applicants guide’ of the call for proposals (point
‘VIII. Examination of applications: Selection and Award Criteria’, which applied for all applicants). The
Applicants guide is the only ‘code of good practice’ for promoters.

All the proposals were subject to a detailed evaluation: each project was read and evaluated by two
independent external evaluators; both the experts and the Commission’s Selection Committee took the
decision by unanimity on the basis of the submitted application form and documentation. Accordingly, the
proposals selected were those which best met the criteria referred to in the call for proposal and the
Applicants guide.

The Commission did not select the application of Ayuntamiento de Zamora because, compared with the
proposals finally selected, the evaluators’ unanimous view was that the content of the application and the
methods foreseen therein would not achieve the objective of dissemination and networking.

(2002/C 229 E/226)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1210/02

by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission

(30 April 2002)

Subject: EU Health Card

While I support what the EU Health Card is trying to achieve, would it not be preferable to have either a
page in our European passports or an endorsement in them containing this information. In this way, a lot
of expense and paperwork would be saved?

Answer given by Ms Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(11 June 2002)

The European Council which took place in Barcelona on 15 and 16 March 2002 decided that a European
health insurance card would replace the forms that are currently needed to obtain medical care in another
Member State.

The card envisaged by the European Council is a health insurance card. It should enable its holder, when
moving within the European Union, to prove in any Member State that he or she has health insurance
cover and is entitled to medical care.

As the card is intended to facilitate the electronic exchange of information on the holder’s insurance status
between the health insurance institutions in the Member States, it would not be appropriate, as suggested
by the Honourable Member, to include the relevant information in passports.