WRITTEN QUESTION No. 884/98 by Bill MILLER to the Commission. Length of time to reply to correspondence
C 310/144 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 9. 10. 98 (98/C 310/195) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0882/98 by Bill Miller (PSE) to the Commission (26 March 1998) Subject: Number of reminders What is the average number of reminders which must be sent to an official of the Commission before a response is forthcoming to an enquiry from a Member of the European Parliament? (98/C 310/196) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0883/98 by Bill Miller (PSE) to the Commission (26 March 1998) Subject: Millennium and new technology With the advance of new technology and the approach of the Millennium, am I in any danger of receiving a reply to earlier correspondence to the Commission? (98/C 310/197) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0884/98 by Bill Miller (PSE) to the Commission (26 March 1998) Subject: Length of time to reply to correspondence What is the average length of time that it takes an official of the Commission to respond to correspondence from a Member of the European Parliament? Joint answer to Written Questions E-0882/98, E-0883/98 and E-0884/98 given by Mr Santer on behalf of the Commission (14 April 1998) The Commission ensures that all correspondence is answered as quickly as possible. Much depends, however, on whether or not the reply needs to be translated, whether different departments have to cooperate in the drafting, and on the technical nature of the matters raised. In the interests of effective cooperation between institutions, it has been decided that a letter from a Member of Parliament should normally be answered within three weeks. If a letter from a Member of Parliament is registered by the Commissionís mail department on arrival, that department, which is part of the Secretariat- General, will monitor replies and send a reminder to the departments concerned if they fail to answer within the time limit. This procedure will not be affected by the approach of the millennium. (98/C 310/198) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0885/98 by Bill Miller (PSE) to the Commission (26 March 1998) Subject: Access to documentation Is the Commission aware of the decision of the Court of First Instance of 6 February 1998 (Case T-124/96) concerning access to documentation? If so, does the Commission intend to comply with point 6 of this decision which sets out a Code of Conduct? If so, does the Commission accept that point 6 states that the public will have the widest possible access to documents held by the Commission and the Council (documents in this instance meaning any written text, whatever its medium, which contains existing data and is held by the Commission or Council)?