WRITTEN QUESTION E-3457/02 by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Eurocost.
Date: 2002-12-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Community budget, European official, Eurostat, audit, cost of living, liquidation, non-profit organisation, third country

C 137 E/210

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

12.6.2003

The Commission does not think that the difficulties to which the Honourable Member refers entail any risk
to product quality, a matter to which it naturally attaches greater importance.

(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2366/98 of 30 October 1998 laying down detailed rules for application of the
system of production aid for olive oil for the 1998/99, 1999/2000 and 2000/01 marketing years, OJ L 293,
31.10.1998.

(2003/C 137 E/236)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3453/02

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(27 November 2002)

Subject: Economic integration

What measures would the Commission propose to use as benchmarks to assess the importance of foreign
ownership in the production structure of each Member State, including ownership by companies in other
Member States?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(27 January 2003)

An appropriate indicator to assess the importance of foreign control is the share of value added generated
the whole economy (including enterprises
by foreign-controlled enterprises on the value added of
controlled by the compiling economy). Another possibility is to measure the importance in terms of
employment. Enclosed herein there are results obtained in the Structural Business Statistics-Framework
with data for reference year 1999 for seven participating Member States. For more detailed information,
the publication ‘Foreign-owned enterprises’ with data for reference year 1997 and the Statistics in Focus
‘Foreign-owned enterprises’ with data for reference year 1998 are sent direct to the Honourable Member
and to Parliament’s Secretariat.

However, this measure is not available for all Member States and not for the Union aggregate. A draft
Regulation on the structure and activity on foreign affiliates is presently under discussion following
Eurostat initiative. This legal framework would enable to provide the requested information for all Member
States and for the Union as a whole.

For the time being, an alternative indicator is given by foreign direct investment (FDI) statistics. FDI inward
stock expressed in percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) (see the reply given to written question
E-3637/02 by the Honourable Member (1) and tables which are sent direct to the Honourable Member and
to Parliament’s Secretariat) can provide indication on the comparative importance of foreign ownership
over space and time. FDI are more readily available in time and more complete, but they have a financial
dimension and do not give information on real variables such as production, employment, etc.

(1) OJ C 110 E, 8.5.2003, p. 221.

(2003/C 137 E/237)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3457/02

by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(6 December 2002)

Subject: Eurocost

Between 1990 and 2000 what budget was spent on officials posted outside of the EU for compensation
due to differences in the cost of living compared to Brussels?

Between 1990 and 2000 what budget was attributed to the non-profit organisation Eurocost, founded by
Yves Franchet, director-general of Eurostat, in Luxembourg since 1987?

12.6.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 137 E/211

How much have Eurocost’s debts to the Commission increased?

An audit report on Eurocost was produced by external auditors. Will the Parliament be given access to the
audit report on Eurocost?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(3 February 2003)

Amounts in euro of salaries paid with the weighting applied:

(cid:1) 1990: Not available (files kept for only ten years)

(cid:1) 1991: Not available (files kept for only ten years)

(cid:1) 1992: 3 503 268

(cid:1) 1993: 3 416 472

(cid:1) 1994: 2 139 027

(cid:1) 1995: 2 981 949

(cid:1) 1996: 2 501 742

(cid:1) 1997: 1 661 738

(cid:1) 1998: 1 959 123

(cid:1) 1999: 2 214 210

(cid:1) 2000: 2 394 710

Between 1990 and 1999,
EUR 18 111 086,86.

the amounts from the Community budget attributed to Eurocost were

Eurocost had no debts to the Commission until the conclusion of the audit in 2000. A recovery order has
been issued for EUR 1 009 016 on the basis of the findings of an audit conducted in 2000. The recovery
order is still open because Eurocost ASBL’s liquidation is not yet completed. Eurocost’s debts have not
increased since the recovery order.

There was no audit report produced by external auditors. An audit was launched at the joint initiative of
Eurostat’s Internal Audit Service and Directorate General (DG) Financial Control (DG Audit at the time)
and carried out during the first quarter of 2000. The Commission does not automatically transmit internal
audit reports to the Parliament, but any formal request from the Parliament would be dealt with in
accordance with existing rules and procedures.

(2003/C 137 E/238)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3462/02

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(6 December 2002)

Subject: Economic integration

Will the Commission estimate the proportion of each Member State’s GDP accounted for by corporations
in foreign (including other Member State) ownership?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(27 January 2003)

An appropriate indicator is the share of value added generated by foreign-controlled enterprises on the
value added of the whole business economy (including enterprises controlled by the compiling economy).