WRITTEN QUESTION E-0254/00 by Daniel Hannan (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Commissioners' cabinets.
C 374 E/46 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 28. 12. 2000 (2000/C 374 E/053) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0252/00 by Daniel Hannan (PPE-DE) to the Commission (7 February 2000) Subject: Secondary employment How many Commission staff are engaged in secondary employment that required approval according to the Staff Regulations and how many were instructed to cease or refrain from specified employment of this kind? Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (24 March 2000) Article 12 of the Staff Regulations provides that officials must abstain from any outside activities which may reflect on their position. Furthermore an official wishing to engage in an outside activity whether gainful or not, or to carry out any assignment outside the Communities must obtain permission from the appointing authority. Permission shall be refused if the activity or assignment is such as to impair the officialís independence or to be detrimental to the work of the Communities. The number of outside activities for which permission has been required in the last five years is 677. They related mainly to teaching engagements in universities, appearances at conferences and seminars, participation in different kind of Boards of academic, administration or artistic foundations, societies and other organisations whose activities are not in conflict with the interests of the Commission or the Communities. There have been four occasions on which permission to engage in outside activities was sought and authorisation has been refused. (2000/C 374 E/054) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0254/00 by Daniel Hannan (PPE-DE) to the Commission (7 February 2000) Subject: Commissionersí cabinets Will the Commissioners list the members of their cabinet? What are the total salaries for each cabinet? Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (16 March 2000) The list of all members of the Commissionís cabinets is being transmitted directly to the Honourable Member and the General secretariat of the Parliament. It is available in published documents. 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?