WRITTEN QUESTION E-2762/03 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Disclosure of the entire staff complement of the cabinets of members of the Commission and changes therein in the past, present and future.
Date: 2003-09-16
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Commission, European official, access to information, dissemination of information, personnel administration

C 65 E/212

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

13.3.2004

shipments destined for treatment in facilities covered by the IPPC Directive but which do not apply Best
Available Techniques as defined in Article 9(4) of that Directive (5).

(1) Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 of 1 February 1993 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste

within, into and out the European Community, OJ L 30, 6.2.1993.

(2) COM(2003) 301 final.
(3) Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996 concerning integrated pollution prevention and control,

OJ L 257, 10.10.1996.

(4) Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste, OJ L 194, 25.7.1975.
(5) COM(2003) 379 final.

(2004/C 65 E/228)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2762/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(16 September 2003)

Subject: Disclosure of the entire staff complement of the cabinets of members of the Commission and

changes therein in the past, present and future

1. Why does the IDEA directory,
‘Who’s who in the European Union’, which is also accessible by
Internet, only list the heads of cabinet and deputy heads of cabinet of members of the Commission and not
the rest of the cabinet staff?

2. Why is no clear information provided concerning the exact composition of the cabinets in the recent
past, particularly the last administrative period before the crisis of 1999? Only fragmentary and
contradictory particulars are to be found.

3. With what other posts is membership of a Commissioner’s cabinet compatible? Is it also compatible
with simultaneous service (cid:1) whether for a shorter or longer period (cid:1) on the staff of a European Union
institution?

4.

Is information about the financial interests of members of the cabinets public?

Is the composition of the cabinets or part thereof kept secret? If so, why? Or does the Commission
5.
consider the information to be available to the public upon request, with only those who specifically
inquire about the composition of the cabinets receiving it on a one-off basis, while it remains impossible
to keep track of changes in the cabinets’ staffing?

If the answer to question 5 is that the information is not publicly available or only to a limited
6.
extent, will the Commission remedy this situation? Would it be possible for the website to include a simple
link to an archive of the present and former members of the cabinet of each Commissioner or former
Commissioner (cid:1) an archive which would be simple to create (cid:1) or is there some other way in which the
Commission could achieve the same level of public information?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(4 November 2003)

The content of the IDEA guide is defined by the administrations of each Institution, body or agency of the
Union. The Commission limits the information provided to managerial level only and, when applied to
Cabinets, this consequently means that information in that publication is confined to Heads and Deputy
Heads of Cabinets.

For details of the rules applying to Cabinets and an overview of the composition of Commissioners’
cabinets, the Honourable Member is referred to two public web-sites as follows:

(cid:1) Code of Conduct for Commissioners is set out on:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/commissioners/prodi/president/code_en.htm

(cid:1) The composition of Commissioners’ cabinets is available on:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/commissioners/index_en.htm and, plainly, is not ‘kept secret’.

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In the experience of the Commission, the interest of the great majority of members of the public focuses
on current members of a cabinet. The cost of developing and maintaining a separate website giving details
of all former members of Commissioners’ cabinets would therefore be disproportionate to its usefulness.
Such information can, in any event, be made available upon request and the Honourable Member could
‘keep track’ of changes by making, say, annual visits to the website or contact with Commissioner’s offices
if he wished to.

The declaration of interests is provided for in the Code of Conduct of Commissioners and applies to the
Commissioners. The members of Cabinet are subject to the rules set out in the Staff Regulations. They are
therefore bound to respect the obligations specified in the Regulations, in particular the provisions of
Articles 11 to 17 relating to conflict of interests and duty to exercise honesty, tactfulness and discretion.
The Staff Regulations do not require the presentation of a declaration of financial interests by officials and
those rules have that, and much else, in common with the rules governing civil service in democracies
everywhere.

(2004/C 65 E/229)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2763/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(16 September 2003)

Subject: Invalidity of foreign teaching qualifications in France due to the unaltered practice of recruitment

on the basis of a French examination

1.
Can the Commission confirm that the French Ministry of Education takes the view that, despite the
equivalence of qualifications provided for by EU law, French legislation still makes it impossible for
foreigners to enter the employment of the State unless they hold a qualification obtained by means of a
French examination?

2.
Is the Commission aware that in practice the rapid and unimpeded recruitment into the education
system of holders of foreign qualifications is also prevented because when foreigners apply for jobs in the
French public education system, they receive the standard reply,
‘Like all public officials, teachers are
recruited by means of a competition’?

Is the Commission furthermore aware that, as a result of this situation, EU citizens residing in France
3.
who hold non-French teaching qualifications can only work as supply teachers at Catholic private
educational establishments, that only after three years’ experience of working in the French private
education system are holders of foreign qualifications permitted to take an internal examination in order to
be certified competent by a board and that until then, as soon as a teacher with a French qualification
becomes available, they will invariably be dismissed?

Does a similar situation also exist in Italy and Spain, which still refuse to recognise the equivalence of

4.
teaching qualifications? For how many years has this unlawful state of affairs obtained?

5. What prospects can the Commission hold out in this connection to people with foreign teaching
qualifications in Member States which refuse to recognise equivalence? Can they now invoke an
enforceable right to recognition of the equivalence of qualifications or must they in practice, as in the
past, retrain and take a fresh examination?

How long must those concerned await a possible binding judgment from the Court of Justice of the

6.
EC? Does the Commission see any other solution?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(28 October 2003)

In France in the public sector and in the State-subsidised private sector, teachers are recruited by
1. to 3.
way of competitions open to Community nationals. After the competition, successful candidates have to
undergo a training period at IUFM (‘Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres’), validated by an
examination. After passing this examination, candidates obtain the teaching certificate (‘certificat d’aptitude
à l’enseignement’). Currently, French legislation provides that teachers from other Member States have to
sit the recruitment competition. However, by reason of their qualifications and the training already