WRITTEN QUESTION P-0351/03 by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Civil servants and public finances in Greece.
Date: 2003-02-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU employment policy, Greece, civil service, employment statistics, female work, older worker, part-time employment, population of working age, private sector, retired person

10.7.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 161 E/213

The companies in question provide, inter alia, services of general interest such as urban and extra-urban
transport, refuse collection and disposal and water supply. The aim of the holding company being formed
should be to strategically coordinate and rationalise the activities of the companies it controls.

In reality, an examination of the company’s statutes shows that its object is not only defined in general and
very vague and all-embracing terms, but also involves ‘carrying out services for the City of Rome’ which,
owing to the aforesaid general nature of the company’s object, could include public services. Such services
would therefore be awarded to the company on the basis of a clause in the company’s statutes and not via
the call for tenders required by the Community rules governing this area (Directive 92/50/EEC (1) on
supply contracts and Directive 97/52/EC (2) on service contracts).

Furthermore, the transfer to a joint stock company of the supervisory powers previously exercised by the
City Council calls (as has been established by the Court of Justice, not least in cases C 126/01 and C 280/
00) for greater caution to be shown with regard to principles such as equality of treatment and the
continuity of services, since the intention is to transfer responsibilities from a public-law body whose
purpose is to safeguard these principles, and which therefore enjoys a privileged position, to a legal entity
governed by private law whose purpose is to manage its shareholders’ assets, and which would enjoy a
privileged position with no particular guarantees for the market.

In view of this and since the formation of this company occasions further doubts, which will be addressed
in two subsequent questions entitled ‘Suspected breach of competition rules’ and ‘Doubts regarding
compliance with public service rules’:

1.

does the Commission not consider that
mentioned rules on public contracts;

the proposal described above contravenes the above-

2. what is its opinion on the situation described above, and in particular on the juxtaposition of the

company’s private sector status and its public service objectives?

(1) OJ L 209, 24.7.1992, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 328, 28.11.1997, p. 1.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(11 March 2003)

The Commission would first of all like to inform the Honourable Member that it knows there are certain
problems with Italian legislation in the field of
local public services which is incompatible with
Community law on public procurement and concessions. This legislation is currently the subject of an
infringement procedure under which the Commission recently sent a supplementary letter of formal notice
to the Italian government.

With regard to the specific problem of the creation of a holding company to which a contracting authority
would transfer its holdings in the companies it controls, the Commission feels that whilst the management
of these holdings by a holding company controlled by this contracting authority could influence the
quality of the relationship between these holdings and the latter, this is not, in itself, a decisive factor when
it comes to evaluating whether the award of services to these companies under its control is compatible
with Community law on public procurement and concessions.

(2003/C 161 E/223)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0351/03

by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Civil servants and public finances in Greece

(6 February 2003)

Recent data (2001) of the National Statistical Office of Greece (ESYE) and the Greek State budget show that
public sector employment has increased and is set to expand considerably owing to the introduction of
part-time employment. It is calculated that the total number of employees in the public sector in the broad

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Official Journal of the European Union

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10.7.2003

sense of the term is over 500 000 (five hundred thousand). There has also been an increase in the number
of persons retired from public service employment who now number 366 595 (three hundred and sixty-six
thousand, five hundred and ninety-five). At the same time the number of people of working age in the
private sector is declining.

How does the Commission view this situation? What impact will it have on the streamlining of the Greek
economy, on pension schemes, on competitiveness and on attaining the Lisbon objectives? Has it issued or
does it intend to issue (cid:1) recommendations on this matter to the Greek government?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(5 March 2003)

Employment guidelines (1) contain policy orientations for all Member States in the framework of the
European employment strategy implemented through the Luxembourg process. Member States are invited
to take into account these guidelines in formulating their national employment policies. This framework
includes guidelines for increasing labour-force participation and raising employment rates towards
achieving the Lisbon objective (European Council of 23 and 24 March 2000) of full employment.

Promoting flexible forms of work, notably part-time work, may constitute an important policy element for
raising employment rates. On the basis of the assessment of the implementation of the guidelines and the
country specific recommendations presented in the draft Joint Employment Report (JER) 2002 (2), one of
the key issues for the future that were highlighted, is the provision for greater incentives to part-time
employment. In this connection, it is worth noting that Greece continues to exhibit the lowest part-time
rate in the Union (3,5 %) in comparison to a Union average of 18 %.

In addition, the 1st Recommendation addressed to Greece (Council Recommendation 2002/178/EC of
18 February 2002) (3), states that Greece should ‘continue efforts to ensure the implementation of the
employment guidelines across the four pillars with a view to increasing employment in particular for
women and young people’. This implies measures that will change the present pattern of work, to become
more flexible and better match the needs of specific groups of the working population (particularly for
women and older workers).

Moreover, in formulating the employment guidelines much attention is placed on ensuring consistency
with the economic policy objectives, including public finances, underpinning the Broad Economic Policy
Guidelines (BEPGs). Neither
the National Action Plans (NAPs) nor on the
implementation of the BEPGs the phenomenon highlighted by the Honourable Member has come up as
a matter of concern.

in the assessment of

With regard to pensions, the Greek Government has passed new legislation (Law 3029/02 adopted in
2002) with a view to rationalise and improve the confidence in the pension system, and avoid serious
budgetary imbalances related to the ageing population.

(1) Council Decision 2002/177/EC of 18 February 2002 on guidelines for Member States’ employment policies for the

year 2002, OJ L 60, 1.3.2002.

(2) COM(2002) 621 final.
(3) OJ L 60, 1.3.2002.

(2003/C 161 E/224)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0368/03

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(12 February 2003)

Subject: Problems affecting the truffle market

The truffle is still one of the most highly prized gastronomic products in a number of Member States, in
particular Italy and France. However, the increase in consumption has given rise to three phenomena,
which to some extent are interconnected: firstly, imports from countries outside the Community of large