WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2827/98 by Marie-Noëlle LIENEMANN to the Commission. Reduction of working time for European road haulage drivers
8. 4. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/149 (1999/C 96/213) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2810/98 by Hiltrud Breyer (V) to the Council (18 September 1998) Subject: Salary of the President of the ECB According to press reports neither the President of the ECB, Mr Duisenberg, nor the other ECB staff know what their salaries will be. 1. Will the Council state the precise salaries of ECB staff? If not, what are the reasons for withholding this information from EU citizens and for breaching the 2. principle of transparency? Reply (9 November 1998) Article 36 of the Statute of the ESCB and the ECB provides that the Governing Council of the ECB shall lay down the conditions of employment of the staff of the ECB. Article 11. 3 of this Statute provides furthermore that the terms of employment of the members of the Executive Board and in particular their salaries, shall be fixed by the Governing Council on a proposal of a Committee comprising three members appointed by the Governing Council and three members appointed by the Council of the European Union. The Council is therefore not the competent body to answer the question put by the Honourable Member. (1999/C 96/214) WRITTEN QUESTION P-2827/98 by Marie-Noºlle Lienemann (PSE) to the Commission (11 September 1998) Subject: Reduction of working time for European road haulage drivers How much longer will it be before the Commission submits an amendment to Directive 93/104/EC (1) (the working time Directive) to improve the organization of working time for road haulage drivers in Europe, given that there is at present no European legislation to harmonise their working time and conditions at a more favourable level? (1) OJ L 307, 13. 12. 1993, p. 18. Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (15 October 1998) The Commission is committed to making proposals on working time in respect of the sectors and activities excluded from Council Directive 93/104/EC of 23 November 1993 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time. These proposals will consist of horizontal and sectoral measures. Under the horizontal measures, the full provisions of the working time directive will be extended to all non-mobile workers and certain basic provisions in respect of working time will be made applicable to mobile workers. In addition, sector specific measures in respect of working time and rest periods will be introduced or modified. This approach was clearly identified by the Commissionís white paper on the excluded sectors (1) and confirmed in the second consultation document addressed to the social partners on 31 March 1998. In this regard, the Commission has always considered that the social partners should, if possible, jointly find acceptable solutions in matters which directly concern them, especially in respect of sector specific measures. In response to the Commissionís initiative, social partners in several of the excluded sectors stepped up their efforts to reach agreement on working time