WRITTEN QUESTION E-0898/98 by Daniela Raschhofer (NI) to the Commission (26 March 1998)

Subject: Permanent Representations of the European Union

In filling the posts for the Task Force on enlargement to the east, the quetion of appointing the heads of the Permanent Representations in the applicant countries has also been under discussion.

1. Have these positions already been filled?

2. What criteria were applied in making the appointments?

3. Has the Austrian Federal Government displayed any particular ambitions for any of these posts?

4. Will the Permanent Representations remain if one or other of these countries is not admitted to the EU?

5. Are there Permanent Representations in Norway, Switzerland and Turkey?

Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (22 April 1998)

1. The posts of head of delegation in the candidate countries are, with one exception, filled.

2. The posts are filled by the Commission in the same way as all middle management posts. Attention is given to the particular nature of the role of the Commission's external service.

3. The post of head of delegation in Slovakia is reserved for an Austrian national.

4. Yes.

5. The Commission is represented in Norway and Turkey but not in Switzerland, as the Commission's delegation in Geneva is accredited not to the Swiss government but to the international organisations there.