WRITTEN QUESTION E-0260/00 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Combating alcohol consumption by pilots in civil aviation.
28. 12. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 374 E/47 The total monthly salaries for each cabinet are as follows: President Prodi Vice President Kinnock Vice President de Palacio Commissioner Monti Commissioner Fischler Commissioner Liikanen Commissioner Bolkestein Commissioner Busquin Commissioner Solbes Mira Commissioner Nielson Commissioner Verheugen Commissioner Patten Commissioner Lamy Commissioner Byrne Commissioner Barnier Commissioner Reding Commissioner Schreyer Commissioner Wallström Commissioner Vitorino Commissioner Diamantopoulou (in euros) 153 788 84 227 79 279 65 331 83 968 69 545 76 567 73 153 80 744 79 906 78 027 75 578 72 674 77 868 91 579 73 895 85 659 74 982 85 047 79 741 These amounts represent the net salary of officials of grades A, B, C and D and other agents who are assigned to cabinets. The net salary is composed of the basic salary payable at the various grades and seniority, any education and family allowance payable to those officials who qualify by having dependent family, expatriation allowance where applicable, and the fixed cabinet allowance for the C-grade officials. The net salary also takes into account deductions such as the contributions to the social security scheme, the Community tax and the special crisis levy payable by officials. (2000/C 374 E/055) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0260/00 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (7 February 2000) Subject: Combating alcohol consumption by pilots in civil aviation 1. Is the Commission aware of the incident which occurred at Schiphol airport, the Netherlands, on 15 January 2000, when a pilot with Royal Air Maroc, who was on the point of departing for Tangiers with 125 passengers on board, was intercepted at the last moment, whereupon tests indicated that he had a blood alcohol level of 0,22 %, whereas the penalties in force are a fine and a temporary ban from flying for 0,02 % (equivalent to less than a single glass) and withdrawal of a pilotís licence for 0,06 %? 2. Is the Commission aware, furthermore, of the articles Piloten geregeld controleren op alcoholgebruikí (Regular checks on pilotsí alcohol consumption) and Brevet dronken vlieger ten onrechte niet ingetrokkení (Drunken pilotís licence not withdrawn, due to error) which appeared in two Dutch newspapers, De Volkskrantí and Trouwí respectively, on 17 January 2000? How often have such incidents occurred in the past five years when aircraft visited airports within 3. the European Union? Does the Commission agree that it is unacceptable that such incidents should still be possible at 4. European airports? Do adequate rules currently already exist within the European Union regarding checks on the alcohol 5. consumption of flight staff? What effective measures exist to monitor compliance with them? C 374 E/48 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 28. 12. 2000 6. What further measures ought to be taken to ensure that: (a) In principle, flight staff are checked at all airports? (b) These checks are carried out regularly and at random? (c) The checks comply with international standards? Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission (4 April 2000) The Commission is aware of the incident which occurred at Schiphol airport in January 2000, though it obviously cannot be familiar with every publication relating to checks on alcohol consumption by pilots. There is no Community legislation at present regarding checks on alcohol consumption by aircraft pilots. Permitted blood alcohol levels vary from one Member State to another, as do the consequences of exceeding those levels. As for checks on the blood alcohol level of pilots, the information available does not point to any national measures imposing systematic or statistical checks. The Commission is therefore unable to provide details of the frequency of such incidents. Like the Honourable Member, the Commission believes such incidents to be unacceptable, as they have a direct impact on air transport safety. Accordingly, on 24 March 2000, the Commission adopted a proposal for a regulation which encompasses introducing common rules for the issuing of air operator certificates and rules governing this issue, commercial carriage by plane. The proposal establishes the responsibilities of the crew ü i. e. pilots and other crew members ü and lays down rules including a ban on the consumption of alcohol less than eight hours before the flight duty period and a ban on commencing flight duty with a blood alcohol level greater than 0,2 per thousand. Operators will have full responsibility for the proper application of these requirements and will be subject to checks by the national authorities. (2000/C 374 E/056) WRITTEN QUESTION P-0262/00 by Olivier Dupuis (TDI) to the Commission (2 February 2000) Subject: OLAF Can the Commission say what criteria are observed when recruiting OLAF personnel and what guarantees the staff have to give as regards their independence and moral and professional qualities? Should accusations made by internal informants ever prove to be slanderous, what action would the Commission take against those persons and to repair the harm done to the injured parties? Furthermore, does the Commission consider that officials would have to defend themselves in the face of an accusation, or would the Commission take full responsibility for organising the defence of a person who had been slandered and instituting the proper proceedings against the guilty party? Finally, does the Commission believe that a person holding a post on the OLAF establishment plan would be permitted to seek trade-union office?