WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3461/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. JRC in Ispra
C 158/120 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 25. 5. 98 (98/C 158/155) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3459/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (31 October 1997) Subject: JRC in Ispra Giorgio DEVISONI, born on 14 December 1964 in Luino (Varese), has lodged a complaint after having been rejected by the selection board in research competition COM/R/D/3. In the complaint he maintains that it is common knowledge that the selection board did not apply the same criteria to all the candidates, given that the board, comprising representatives of the Administration and staff representatives, was unable to reach agreement on the criteria for the selection of the first 14 candidates to be taken from the reserve list containing 33 names. In order to overcome this problem, the selection board decided to adopt the quite unprecedented procedure of allowing the representatives of the Administration to choose 7 (seven) of the candidates, while the staff representatives chose the other 7 (seven). As a result, none of the leading candidates gained the approval of the board as a whole, since none of the candidates chosen by either side (Administration or staff) were considered eligible by the other side. If the above claims are true, the competition clearly cannot be said to have been fair. Would the Commission look into the matter with a view to clearing up any doubts or concerns in the minds of the JRC staff and unions? Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (11 December 1997) In the case of the competition referred to, over 1 640 applications were examined by an eight-member selection board comprising four representatives of the adminstration and four staff representatives. After an initial examination of the applications, the selection board interviewed a smaller number of candidates who were best qualified to meet the requirements of the positions to be filled. There are thirty three names on the final reserve list, which was drawn up unanimously by the members of the selection board and approved by the appointing authority. Appointment of successful candidates then depends on the availability of budgetary resources. (98/C 158/156) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3461/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (31 October 1997) Subject: JRC in Ispra There have been reports that inquiries are currently under way at the Ispra JRC into a number of contracts concluded with outside firms on the grounds that, after advances › some of which were extremely large › had been paid, it emerged that those firms were incapable of carrying out the work or, worse still, did not even exist. Can the Commission state whether the above is true and, if it is, say what action it intends to take against the officials who adopted such a careless approach to the award of contracts? Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (4 December 1997) An official inquiry is currently under way at the Ispra Joint Research Centre to assess if rules relating to procedures on the award of contracts with external consultants have been complied with. In the light of this, the Appointing Authority (AIPN) has decided at this stage to open disciplinary proceedings and to give the officials concerned a hearing, in accordance with Article 87 of the Staff Regulations. The AIPN will take the necessary measures at the end of the proceedings