WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3267/98 by Alexandros ALAVANOS to the Commission. Survey by the European employment observatory
C 207/44 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 21. 7. 1999 (1999/C 207/058) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3267/98 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission Subject: Survey by the European employment observatory (30 October 1998) According to a survey carried out by the European employment observatory, unemployment in Greece runs at 13,2 %. This is a different figure from that reached both by the Greek Manpower Employment Organisation (10 %) and by the Greek Statistical Service (10,3 %). Since the relevant Eurostat publications on unemployment failed to give figures for Greece, will the Commission notify us of the conclusions of the above survey, in particular as regards long-term youth unemployment (extent of the problem, likelihood of finding work, etc. ). Given that the publication of this survey concerning Greece caused a sensation / since it gives an employment rate some 30 % higher than the other surveys /, will the Commission confirm its reliability? Does it reflect real unemployment trends in Greece? Answer given by Mr de Silguy on behalf of the Commission (10 December 1998) The Honourable Member refers to an article in issue No 30 of Trends, published by the Employment Observatory in summer 1998. The issue examines groups of the population which are not classified as unemployed under current international definitions. These groups include for example people taking part in work programmes, people working less hours than they would wish (’visible underemployment’), people working less than usual for economic reasons and people wishing for a job but not actively seeking work because they believe none is available (‘discouraged workers’). The figure of 13,2 % quoted in the question is an ‘aggregated unemployment indicator’ for Greece, calculated by adding the four groups named above (respectively 0,9 %, 0,8 %, 0,8 % and 0,4 % of the labour force) to the figure of 10,3 % given as the unemployment figure for 1996 by the Greek Statistical Office (which is already higher than the 9,6 % published by the Commission, for definition reasons which are discussed in the article). Conducting the same exercise for other Member States also of course results in total figures higher than the official unemployment rates. The article highlights a number of important issues related to unemployment, amongst which might be mentioned the problem of entry into the labour market for young people without work experience and the increased difficulty of finding employment for people who have already been without a job for a long period. These correspond in most essentials to the analysis presented in other publications produced on behalf of the Commission, such as the annual Employment in Europe report. The Commission welcomes all research which, like this article, contributes to a fuller understanding of labour market phenomena. In its own publication of labour market figures, the Commission proposes to continue to follow the definitions published by the International Labour Office, which are recognised by all the Member States. (1999/C 207/059) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3269/98 by Viviane Reding (PPE) to the Commission (30 October 1998) Subject: The scandal involving ECHO: are dangerous religious sects being financed with EU funds? As may be gleaned from press reports (see ‘Le Soir’, edition of 14 October 1998, p. 11), the fraud scandal involving aid from the Commission’s ECHO office is very extensive. It is alleged that the Japanese Sûkyô Mahikari sect, based in Luxembourg (the Château d’Ansembourg accommodates its administrative offices responsible for Europe and Africa) and classified as being very dangerous, has indirectly received vast sums of money from EU funds. It is also alleged that the leader of the sect for Europe and Africa, Count Gaston d’Ansembourg, has benefited from external contracts awarded by the Commission