WRITTEN QUESTION E-3961/03 by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission. Jules Muis — functioning of the Commission.
Date: 2004-01-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Commission, European official, administration of the Institutions, institutional reform, organisational culture, regulations for civil servants, working conditions

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EUR 30 million, the total eligible costs are almost EUR 17 million and the Community contribution is
close to EUR 5 million. Right now, a technical modification to the initial design is being considered to use
a saturated-steam receiver instead of the air receiver.

The second project, Solar Tres (contract NNE5-2001-369), consists of a 15 MW plant using the same
central receiver approach as the previous project with innovative solutions for the energy storage system
using molten salt. The project
the total eligible costs more than
EUR 15 million and the Community contribution is EUR 5 million. This project started recently.
The Commission is now in the phase of evaluating the first six months of the contractual period.

total costs are EUR 53 million,

The third project, Andasol (contract NNE5-2001-560) consists of a 50 MW electric generation plant (more
than 180 GWh of electricity produced annually) adopting the solar trough approach coupled with a
molten-salt based storage system. The project total costs are almost EUR 157 million, the total eligible
costs more than EUR 14 million and the Community contribution is EUR 5 million. This project also
started quite recently so that the Commission has still to evaluate the first six-month contractual period.

These three projects are amongst the largest plants for electricity production on the basis of renewable
energies and are very relevant for the Commission’s actions related to renewals, in particular in view of the
Directive 2001/77/EC (1) on the electricity from renewable energy sources.

The 6th RTD Framework Programme currently running also offers support for innovative European
projects in the field of renewable energy. The calls for proposals under the 6th RTD programme are
published on the Commission’s Cordis web-site.

the Commission is currently undertaking a feasibility study for the creation of

Finally,
innovative
renewable energy finance instruments supporting the Johannesburg Renewable Energy Coalition (Contract
ENV.C.2./SER/2003/0068).

The majority of Member States grant subsidies for solar thermal energy, in order to render it economically
viable. In the case of Spain, the contribution is more than three times the average price of the Kw/h in the
organized market.

(1) Directive 2001/77/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2001 on the promotion of electricity

produced from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market, OJ L 283, 27.10.2001.

(2004/C 84 E/0321)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3961/03

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

Subject: Jules Muis (cid:1) functioning of the Commission

(5 January 2004)

The Commission’s Director-General of the Internal Audit Service (cid:1) Jules Muis (cid:1) has recently said that
there needs to be a cultural change amongst the officials responsible for running the European Union.

In talking to the BBC, he said that Commission officials are judged on their ability ‘not to rock the boat’
and to get along with other people, and he acknowledged that a ‘politeness conspiracy’ (nothing less than a
code of silence) exists within the Commission.

Also according to the BBC, Jules Muis said that the task of bringing about change is left to whistleblowers,
since ‘people have difficulty telling each other the truth’.

Although he acknowledges the efforts being made by Mr Kinnock to address this cultural issue, Mr Muis
says that there is a need for more and better leadership than has been the case in recent years.

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In view of the above, would the Commission answer the following questions?

(cid:1) What has the Commission to say regarding the statements made by Mr Muis?

(cid:1) How does it feel that the issues raised may have an impact on the way in which the Commission

operates?

(cid:1) What action has it taken (or is it intending to take) in order to promote transparency and put an end

to the alleged culture of silence?

(cid:1) How does it rate the outcome of the action which has already been taken?

(cid:1) What does it consider to be the most suitable and most effective ways of instilling in Commission

officials the respect for, and the confidence in, the leadership which is allegedly required?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(19 March 2004)

Officials of the European civil service may make comments in a manner which is consistent with the
provisions of the Staff Regulations and, as a public servant, the Director General of Internal Audit abides
by those provisions whilst, naturally, retaining the professional independence necessary for an auditor on
audit matters.

The Honourable Member will be aware that the Commission is, manifestly and very deliberately, an
organisation which is undertaking extensive and radical modernising change. The instruments for
achieving the necessary comprehensive alterations set out in the March 2000 White Paper on Reform
Strategy (1) have been installed and are operational. The programme for achieving that in the Commission
has (cid:1) from design to implementation (cid:1) been fulfilled more quickly and at lower proportionate cost than
in comparable organisations, despite the substantial legislative changes that had to be enacted and the
detailed organisational and personnel changes that had to be made. Among the results are significant
financial savings which will continue. Such advances give evidence of the standards of execution of Reform
by the staff and management in general and by those who have had the main responsibilities for planning
the changes, implementing them, and ensuring that they continue effectively. As in much else, actions (cid:1)
objectively assessed (cid:1) are more authoritative than words.

As the Commission has made clear from the outset of Reform, the ‘culture’ of an organisation is largely
produced by the systems and structures (cid:1) and, consequently, patterns of management and relationships (cid:1)
just as
that have customarily been employed over a period of years. It is realistic to recognise that,
outdated and inadequate conventions develop over time and for a variety of accumulated reasons in an
organisation, modernised and improved systems, structures, management and relationships also take full
effect incrementally and with use rather than instantaneously.

for instance,

The Commission is obviously conscious of the fact that advances in an organisation need to be driven as
well as designed and the Reforms made by the Commission have, therefore, not only provided the
infrastructure of improvement, they have also put the means of propelling it systematically into effect.
internationally recognised Internal Control
Those means include,
Standards, trebled staff training participation, comprehensive internal audit, compulsory 5-yearly mobility
for all management and for staff engaged in money and contract handling roles, annual
individual
appraisal of staff and promotion provisions which firmly depends on sustained merit, specification of
individual responsibilities, Strategic Planning and Programming to achieve better balance between tasks
and staffing and much else (cid:1) some of it referred to below. As components of cultural change, such
systemic modernisations have more substantive effect than could be achieved by exhortation.

the introduction of

is evident

It
the reform process has (cid:1) as intended (cid:1) been fostering continual systematic
self-assessment and reporting that results in identification of problems where they exist, and systematic

that

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remedial action to deal with them in a transparent manner. The Commission is pleased to note that
objective examination shows that progress has advanced beyond what was envisaged in the White Paper
on Reform.

Central to the development of the increased transparency, which is an explicit purpose of Reform, is the
system of Annual Activity Reports by Directors General which was proposed in the March 2000 Reform
White Paper and introduced across the Commission from 2001 as part of Activity Based Management.
Each Director-General is required to provide a comprehensive report on the activities of his/her Services,
together with a Declaration of reasonable assurance that resources were used for the intended purposes.
In addition, he or she must also set out any difficulties encountered, draw attention to any management or
other weaknesses identified, and propose specific actions to remedy them. A consolidated ‘Synthesis
Report’ of these Annual Activity Reports is produced each year for the Commission as a whole. That and
all the other reports are sent to the European Parliament and the Court of Auditors. The system, now
further refined with the benefit of experience, has been described by (cid:1) for instance (cid:1) the President of the
Court of Auditors as a ‘genuine management
revolution’ which shows ‘unprecedented openness’.
The analysis and action undertaken as a direct product of Annual Activity Reporting plainly requires and
produces frank inter-action and effective follow up. Realities like these factually contradict the Honourable
Member’s assertion about a ‘code of silence’.

Meanwhile, and similarly, as products of the comprehensive Reform Strategy, the IAS and the Internal
Audit Capabilities (IAC’s) in each Directorate General have had, and continue to have, positive effects in a
number of areas relating to internal control. This is borne out by the very high acceptance rate of audit
recommendations by the auditees which manifests the willingness to respond to factual analysis and
relevant recommendations candidly and effectively. Such results could not be secured by ‘silence’.

The Commission has also included in the new Staff Regulations clarified and updated arrangements on
Whistleblowing in order to improve the ability of officials to fulfil their statutory duty of bringing
suspected wrong-doing to the attention of management or OLAF. For instance, where either OLAF or the
official’s own Institution is considered not to have acted with due speed, officials may refer their evidence
to Presidents of the other Institutions. Arrangements for the professional and career security of officials
who make bona fide reports of possible wrongdoing have also been improved through the relevant
reforms in the Commission. Far from encouraging ‘silence’ such provisions facilitate reporting of evidence
of suspected wrongdoing of any kind.

On 10 February 2004, the Commission adopted the latest in its series of Reform Progress Reports (2). That
Report demonstrates that, in less than 4 years since the publication of the Reform Strategy White Paper,
96 of the 98 actions stipulated in that document have been implemented and the remainder are being
implemented in full this year. The Honourable Member is referred to this Report in order to familiarise
himself with the extent and substance of comprehensive reform and to obtain a detailed answer to his
fourth question relating to how the Commission ‘rates the outcome of the actions already taken’.

It continues to emphasise,

The Commission obviously regards the rapid and widespread developments achieved to be evidence of
that (cid:1) as in any profound
major progress, not perfection.
modernisation programme (cid:1) improvement is always possible, and sustained application is always vital.
Whilst continuing to work on that basis, the current Commissioners will also seek to encourage the next
Commission to comprehend the need for maintaining momentum and to act accordingly. Meanwhile, the
Commission retains realism and advises against illusions that organisational habits are genetic, and against
impractical hopes that the full effects of modernising change can be universally and immediately palpable.
Effective Reform is, frustratingly but inevitably, a process not an event.

therefore,

The most productive and important way of instilling the kind of respect and confidence referred to by the
Honourable Member is for the Commission to continue to be willing to put the proper and consistent
emphasis on the skills and quality of management, and to make changes and adjustments where necessary
and possible in order to prevent future outdatedness or conventions that could inhibit the performance of
the Institution as a multinational Public Service with unique responsibilities. In sustaining such evolution,

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the Commission will have to also continue to include reference to practical experience, to future identified
work obligations, and to recommendations from staff, from those responsible for internal control systems,
from internal and external auditors, and from the European Parliament in the discharge process.

(1) COM(2000) 200 final.
(2) COM(2001) 115 final.

(2004/C 84 E/0322)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3962/03

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

Subject: Portugal (cid:1) toll charges and ‘people carriers’

(5 January 2004)

According to recent information, certain makes (in particular, Chrysler and Kia) of ‘people carrier’-type
vehicles are now eligible for the lowest (class 1) toll charge when they are used on Portuguese motorways,
even though a higher rate continues to apply in the case of other vehicles of a similar design.

The Portuguese Ministry of Economic Affairs apparently once announced that ‘people carriers’ manu-
factured at the AutoEuropa plant would also be taxed as class 1 vehicles (in addition to the makes of
vehicle which already enjoy that benefit), but this did not actually come to pass.

This difference in toll charges particularly affects larger families, who are more or less obliged to use
vehicles of the ‘people carrier’ type.

In view of the above, would the Commission answer the following questions:

(cid:1) Is the Commission aware that, in Portugal, different motorway toll charges exist for ‘people carrier’-

type vehicles?

(cid:1) What view does the Commission take of

the principles of non-
discrimination and competition on equal terms within the internal market? Does the Commission not
consider this to constitute an infringement of those principles?

this situation in the light of

(cid:1) What action has the Commission taken (or is it intending to take) in order to put an end to this state
of affairs which not only constitutes unfair competition but also penalises many large families?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(18 February 2004)

The specific Community legal instrument for the levying of taxes, tolls and user charges is Directive 1999/
62/EC (1). It is targeted only to heavy goods vehicles of 12 tonnes and more. It is to be underlined that
Member States levying tolls on vehicles below 12 tonnes, including private cars, do not have to comply
with the provisions contained in Directive 1999/62/EC as such tolls fall outside its scope.

Whether other vehicles than those covered by Directive 1999/62/EC are tolled or not, is a matter of
subsidiarity, where Member States can make more efficient decisions
local
circumstances. In any case, the tolls are as a rule related with the characteristics of vehicles and the
conditions of use of the toll road: bigger vehicles normally pay more, polluting vehicles may pay more,
peak time users often pay more, etc.

taking into account

The Commission is not aware of the exact conditions of the tolls applicable in Portugal to various models
of large passenger vehicles the Honourable Member is referring to. The Commission will contact the
Portuguese Authorities in order to clarify this point.

(1) Directive 1999/62/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 1999 on the charging of heavy goods

vehicles for the use of certain infrastructure, OJ L 187, 20.7.1999.