WRITTEN QUESTION E-1815/99 by Robert Sturdy (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Commission recruitment policy with regard to officials.
C 170 E/108 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 20. 6. 2000 (2000/C 170 E/126) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1815/99 by Robert Sturdy (PPE-DE) to the Commission (12 October 1999) Subject: Commission recruitment policy with regard to officials Could the Commission confirm that it applies an age restriction as one of its recruitment criteria for future officials, as a general rule this age limit being set at 45? What are the reasons for such a policy? Does the Commission intend to maintain its policy in this area, given that Article 13 of the EC Treaty, as amended by the Amsterdam Treaty which entered into force in May 1999, now explicitly states that á the Community, may take appropriate action to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientationí? Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (25 November 1999) On 21 January 1998 the Commission decided to gradually implement a process of ending age limits for recruitment of personnel. As a first step, the Commission fixed an age limit of 45 years for all competitions at the basic level of recruitment, in line with the approach taken by the Bureau of the Parliament on 20 October 1997. Inter- institutional consultation on the report of the Reflection Group on Personnel Policy resulted in the other institutions declaring themselves ready to raise the age limit to 45 years. It should be noted, however, that Parliament and Council did not bind themselves to adopting the position of principle taken by the Commission which involves the eventual abandonment of age limits in personnel recuitment. (2000/C 170 E/127) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1818/99 by Raffaele Costa (PPE-DE) to the Commission (12 October 1999) Subject: Action programme on public health Can the Commission state to what extent funding or subsidies have been awarded (with payments already disbursed, or not), and to what bodies (public or private), institutions, undertakings, cooperatives or individuals, in connection with the programme of action on health promotion, information, education and training within the framework for action in the field of public health (1996-2000)? Have the actual deployment of the funds and the successful outcome of the initiatives been verified? Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission (25 November 1999) The Commission will forward directly to the Honourable Member and to Parliamentís Secretariat-General the lists of projects funded under the Community action programme on health promotion, information, education and training (1996-1999). The mid-term review of this action programme will be forwarded to Parliament and to the Council for their information following approval by the Commission