WRITTEN QUESTION E-0503/00 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Council. Reassignment of Council staff.
C 330 E/176 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 21. 11. 2000 no one shall be expelled by means either of an individual or collective measure, from the territory of the State of which he is a nationalí and that áno one shall be deprived of the right to enter the territory of the State of which he is a nationalí, and mindful of the incorporation of those rights under Article 6 of the Common Provisions of the Treaty of Amsterdam, the following undersigned Members of the European Parliament call upon the Governments of Austria, Greece and Italy to honour their Treaty commitments by restoring to the former royal houses of their respective countries full civil rights, including the right to enter freely without let or hindrance their countries of origin, without any further delay, and request that, where such rights have not been restored by 1 January 2000, the European Court initiate proceedings against any offending State? At all events, given that, under the terms of the Treaty, there is no basis for discrimination against individual families, having regard to the provisions of Articles 39 and 43 of Title III of the Consolidated Version of the Treaty Establishing the European Community, dealing respectively with the free movement of persons, services and capital and the right of establishment, given that Prince Victor Emmanuel has not been permitted to visit his homeland for 53 years or his son ever to set foot on Italian soil, and given that, although the aforementioned rights are not conditional, Otto von Habsburg was required to sign away fundamental civil rights before being allowed to settle in Austria, will the Council demonstrate its commitment to upholding the European Treaties and to European law by urging its Members to refer Austria, Greece and Italy without delay to the European Court of Justice? Reply (2 May 2000) Under Article 226 of the TEC, it is for the Commission to bring matters before the Court of Justice if it considers that a Member State has failed to fulfil an obligation under the TEC. (2000/C 330 E/201) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0503/00 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Council (25 February 2000) Subject: Reassignment of Council staff What procedures does the Council have available, and how often are they implemented, for the reassignment of staff from one directorate-general which may need fewer staff to another directorate- general which may need more staff? How effective have these measures been in terms of the number of posts transferred each year between directorates-general as a percentage of total numbers in post? Can the Council give any other information about its reassignment of staff? Reply (2 May 2000) At the start of the 1980s the General Secretariat of the Council introduced a policy on in-house mobility guided by the principle, recognised in the Staff Regulations, that any official should be able to áapply for a transfer within his institutioní (Article 7 (1)). This policy is based on the premise that it is not only in the interest of the person applying for the transfer but also in the interest of the institution to give a person who wants to be reassigned opportunities for mobility. However, in response to the question put by the Honourable Member, the General Secretariat has not yet established any particular internal procedures or rules for the reassignment or áredeploymentí of staff within its services and directorates-general. In practice, though, over the last few years there have been several isolated instances where staff have been reassigned so as to bolster existing teams or set up new ones, depending on the urgency and the importance of certain dossiers. This redeployment has been carried out in compliance with the mobility procedure. In particular, these were officials who were assigned to the Policy Planning and Early Warning Unit (PPEWU) and to the co-decision legislative procedure unit. 21. 11. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 330 E/177 Moreover, the Secretary-General has also set up a Task Force, which offers temporary back-up from officials who are provisionally seconded away from their regular duties in order to cope with any non- routine and exceptional needs of the Institution, such as IGCs or negotiations on successive enlargements. The General Secretariat of the Council sets great store by there being a degree of flexibility with regard to redeployment in order to be able to be able to deal with new and urgent matters whenever necessary. (2000/C 330 E/202) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0506/00 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission (28 February 2000) Subject: Use of intelligence services to gather information about commercial activities In the Commissionís view, would the use of intelligence services by Member States to gather information about the commercial activities of companies from another Member State constitute a legitimate state aid? Does it have any evidence that any Member States are directing their intelligence efforts in this way? Is it concerned about reports that Member States are using intelligence services in this way (e. g. Sunday Times, 23 January 2000)? Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (29 March 2000) So far, the Commission does not have any evidence of the use by Member States of intelligence services to gather sensitive commercial information from companies of other Member States. Whatever the legal qualification of these alleged practices, the Commission will of course never support them. As regards the legal instruments to combat these alleged practices, the Commission does not consider that the state aid provisions constitute the most appropriate solution. This kind of practice should normally be dealt with at national level by penal jurisdictions. (2000/C 330 E/203) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0507/00 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission (28 February 2000) Subject: Measurement of regional living standards Further to the answer to Written Question E-2223/99 (1) in which the Commission detailed real per capita gross domestic product and real per capita gross regional product figures for the Union, is it convinced that these figures represent the best guide to regional living standards that is available? Is there a means of taking into account the income earned in one region by a resident of another ü for example, a commuter from South East England working in London ü to produce series based on personal incomes rather than gross regional product? (1) OJ C 203 E, 18. 7. 2000, p. 150. Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission (3 April 2000) Gross domestic product (GDP) is the value of the production generated by resident production units. The production value is equal to the sum of the incomes (salaries, rents and profits) generated by the production activity. Regional GDP is therefore an overall indicator of the production activity in a region and is well suited to measuring a regionís level of economic development