Strasbourg, 20 December 2004

Mr President,

On 6 October 2003, I received a complaint from Mr B., the Press and Information Officer at the European Commission’s Delegation in Islamabad (complaint 1857/2003/GG - Confidential). In this complaint, Mr B. alleged that his grading had been a violation of the Commission’s rules and that he had been discriminated against on the basis of his nationality. Given that Mr B. is not among the persons who can complaint to the Ombudsman, I had to reject this complaint.

However, on 17 November 2003 I informed the Commission of the opening of an own-initiative inquiry concerning the issues raised by Mr B. and asked the Commission to provide an opinion on the issue.

The Commission sent its opinion on 20 January 2004. I forwarded a copy of this opinion to Mr B.. On 9 February 2004, Mr B. submitted observations on the Commission's opinion.

On 4 February 2004, I asked the Commission to provide further information in relation to the present inquiry which the Commission sent on 1 March 2004.

On 18 March 2004, I sent a request for further information to the Commission. The Commission sent its reply on 30 April 2004.

On 17 May 2004, I sent a third request for further information to the Commission. I also forwarded a copy of the Commission's reply of 30 April 2004 to Mr B.. On 20 May 2004, Mr B. submitted observations on this reply.

The Commission sent its reply to my third request for further information on 10 June 2004.

On 19 July 2004, I addressed the following draft recommendation to the Commission:

The Commission should reconsider its rules concerning the classification of posts of press officers in its delegations in third countries in general and the classification of the post of Mr B. in particular.

A copy of this draft recommendation and of the Commission's reply to my third request for further information was sent to Mr B.. On 9 August 2004, Mr B. wrote to thank me for this draft recommendation and to inform me that he wished to receive financial compensation for the losses he had incurred. In my reply of 7 September 2004, I informed Mr B. that any such claim should be addressed to the Commission and would not be examined in the present own-initiative inquiry.

On 7 October 2004, the Commission sent me its detailed opinion on the draft recommendation.

On 9 November 2004, I informed Mr B. that I considered submitting a special report to the European Parliament in this case and asked him whether he would object to the disclosure of his name and nationality in the special report. In his reply of 10 November 2004, Mr B. confirmed that he had no such objections.

I have today submitted a special report to Parliament in this matter, a copy of which I enclose.

In this special report, I make the following recommendation:

The European Commission should reconsider its rules concerning the classification of posts of press officers in its delegations in third countries in general and the classification of the post of Mr B. in particular.

Given that the matter is now before Parliament, I close my inquiry. Mr B. will be informed accordingly.

Yours sincerely,

 

P. Nikiforos DIAMANDOUROS