WRITTEN QUESTION E-1613/99 by Hanja Maij-Weggen (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Anti-landmine campaign.
20. 6. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 170 E/51 Does the Commission not agree that it should obtain effective guarantees as to the use made of the funds provided and, above all, those funds committed but not yet paid? Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission (6 October 1999) The Commission is aware of the current media speculation about money laundering in Russia and growing worries about the allegations of misuse of assistance funds provided to Russia. Clearly the results of current investigations in the Community and the United States must be awaited. Community assistance is essentially grant based and is delivered through the TACIS programme. The funds involved are used to pay Community firms to provide technical expertise and advice for Russia and food aid which is being closely monitored and evaluated. They do not go directly to Russia. Moreover, at present Russia does not receive Community loans and the lending mandate of the European Investment Bank (EIB) for countries outside the Community does not extend to Russia. On the question of butter destined for Russia which was diverted to Poland, the Commission would point out that the case dates back to 1991/1992. The buyer of the butter intended for Russia was a Community trader. His customers were Polish intermediaries. It is therefore difficult to make any direct connection with the allegations on which the Honourable Memberís question is based. The Honourable Member is also invited to refer to the Commissionís statement to the Parliament during the debate on 16 September 1999. (2000/C 170 E/056) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1613/99 by Hanja Maij-Weggen (PPE-DE) to the Commission (15 September 1999) Subject: Anti-landmine campaign The previous European Commission played an active part in the campaign against landmines. What action will the new Commission take in continuing to support that campaign? Is the Commission prepared to convene another international conference in this connection, and if so when and where will such a conference be held? Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission (11 October 1999) In line with Council Resolution 11913/96 and Parliament Resolution A4-0149/95 the Commission intends to strengthen its contribution to international efforts for overcoming the global problem of landmines, by referring specifically to the commitments of the Ottawa Treaty. A draft regulation on action against anti- personnel landmines, accompanied by a communication to the Council and the Parliament on the same topic, will be submitted to the Parliament and the Council by the end of 1999. In this context, special emphasis is being given to intensified coordination of activities at Commission, Member State and international including support to the United Nations concerning its overall coordination role. Any major Commission activities such as the organisation of international conferences levels, C 170 E/52 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 20. 6. 2000 will be considered in the context of the new regulation to be adopted, and in close cooperation with the United Nations and other actors in this area. It is currently not envisaged to hold a major international conference in the near future. (2000/C 170 E/057) WRITTEN QUESTION P-1616/99 by Stanislaw Tillich (PPE-DE) to the Commission (7 September 1999) Subject: Commission staff Can the Commission say how many auxiliary and local staff and special advisers ü in addition to the permanent and temporary posts arising from the EU budget ü it pays out of the budget and what amounts are involved? Can it provide the same details on staff not governed by the Staff Regulations and employed, for example, at the European agencies, technical assistance offices (TAOs) and international organisations (e. g. for the Balkans)? How many posts remain vacant in the end? Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (6 October 1999) On 31 August 1999, the Commission employed: Statute Number Budget heading 1999 appropriations Auxiliary staff Special advisers Local staff in the offices of the Union Local staff in the delegations 1 310 31 192 1 696 (1) A-7000 A-1113 A-1112 A-6001 36 310 000 165 000 6 850 000 37 550 000 (1) (1) Out of maintenance and safety agents under local contract (estimated up to 203 persons for a total cost of approximately € 650 000). (in euros) Some local staff for technical assistance, assigned to the delegations and financed on the B7-5 chapter of the part B of the budget, are not included in the above mentioned human resources. Their number is approximately 150 person/year. Agencies are given a large autonomy in relation to staff management. Their current statutory staff is approximately 1 200 persons. At present, the Commission does not have data concerning the number of ánon statutoryí personnel working in the agencies. This would need an ad hoc survey to each one of the 11 agencies. Meanwhile, in answer to the specific questions: According to the results of the most recent survey on technical assistance, carried out in September/ October 1998, the cost of technical assistance offices (TAOs) working for the Commission corresponds to approximately € 200 million. The number of person/year working in TAOs listed by the Commission was approximately 1 000. However the number of indicated person/year does not systematically include the support staff (secretariat, for example) employed by TAOs. Moreover, when the product of TAOs is expressed in terms of delivery of a given service (output) and not of volume of human resources used