3.4.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 84/38

1.

On the basis of what criteria are Commission officials who are temporarily suspended from their posts assigned the status of ‘special adviser’, ‘chief adviser’ or ‘adviser hors classe’ in the establishment plan of DG Admin?

2.

On the basis of what criteria do Commission officials disappear from the establishment plan referred to at 1? Does this mean that they have now been appointed to another, more permanent post? Or may it also mean that they are going to be dismissed?

3.

Inter alia in the light of the problems at Eurostat and previous reports of undesirable developments in the management of EU funds, does the Commission consider it desirable that the officials to whom such status has been assigned and who possess financial know-how should remain available to serve the EU, at least so long as they have not committed fraud but on the contrary have demonstrated their aversion to that offence?

4.

In this context, what significance is to be attached to the fact the Commission's former chief accounting officer, Mrs Marta Andreasen, no longer figures in this establishment plan? When was she removed from it, for how long and why?

5.

Can the secrecy which has so far existed with regard to officials' being assigned or deprived of special adviser status soon be replaced with public arrangements which do not afford any scope for rumours or accusations of arbitrariness?

1.

As appointing authority the Commission may, under the provisions of the Staff Regulations and operational rules, decide to reassign an official from a management position to a non-management function at any time, if it considers this to be in the interest of the service. Directors can therefore be reassigned to a function of ‘principal adviser’. The corresponding non-managerial function for Directors General and Deputy Directors General is ‘adviser hors classe’.

‘Special advisers’ are individuals who -on account of their expertise and qualifications- are given a contract as special adviser and are attached to one of the Commissioners. They can be outside experts or retired (high level) Commission officials, and in the latter case are only entitled to reimbursement of expenses. Special advisers to the Commission are not (or no longer) Commission officials and hence do not exercise managerial functions, nor do they appear in the organisation chart.

2.

Persons who occupy a function as ‘principal adviser’ or as ‘adviser hors classe’ feature in the organisation chart. An assignment to these functions can either be for a long or short period and the tasks and responsibilities are defined by the relevant appointing authority.

3.

The Commission agrees that it is desirable that officials to whom such status has been assigned should remain available to serve the institution, unless the interest of the service requires otherwise.

4.

Mrs Andreasen has not been removed from the organisation chart which is drawn up for information purposes and in any case has no legal status. Her name is included in the most recent version (16 September 2003) of the organisation chart of Directorate General (DG) for Personnel and Administration as well as in the updated Commission Directory recently published on the Commission's intranet ‘IntraComm’.

5.

‘Special advisers’ are not officials but staff falling under the scope of the Conditions of Other Servants of the Communities. As indicated under point 1, they are attached to one of the Commissioners and are selected for their expert capabilities to serve the Institution on that basis. The Commission is not aware of any ‘rumours or accusations of arbitrariness’, or of any evidence of arbitrariness in their selection.