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Decision of the European Ombudsman in the above complaint on the failure of the European Commission to accommodate the needs of associations of staff members with a disability to participate remotely in the plenary session of the Management Committee for Sickness Insurance
Decyzja
Sprawa 1274/2019/JAP - Otwarta Poniedziałek | 05 sierpnia 2019 - Decyzja z Poniedziałek | 05 sierpnia 2019 - Instytucja, której sprawa dotyczy Komisja Europejska ( Dalsze prowadzenie postępowania uznano za nieuzasadnione ) - Kraj Belgia
Dear Mr X,
On 5 July 2019, you submitted, on behalf of the Association of Staff with a Disability in the European Commission and the EC Disability Support Group, a complaint to the European Ombudsman.
It concerned the denial by the European Commission[1] of your request to participate through a video conference in the plenary session of the Management Committee for Sickness Insurance (hereinafter ‘CGAM’), scheduled at the European Court of Auditors (ECA) in Luxembourg on 11 July 2019.
On 5 July 2019, the Ombudsman’s inquiry team contacted the Commission to find a quick solution to the problem. Because of that intervention, on the very same day, the Commission extended you an offer to submit your comments in writing before a meeting with the Director responsible for Human Resources matters in September. We acknowledge, however, that you do not consider this solution satisfactory.
It is regrettable that the Commission provided no justification why your participation in the CGAM meeting via a video conference was not possible. However, given that the meeting has already taken place, further inquiries into this issue would be devoid of any purpose, as the situation can no longer be remedied.
We have therefore decided to close the case with the following suggestion to the Commission:
In the context of the revision of the GIPs, the European Commission should ensure, by all technical means at its disposal, a meaningful participation of associations of staff members with disabilities in a consultation process.
For ease of reference, please find enclosed a copy of our closing letter to the Commission.
We understand that this might not be your desired outcome but we nevertheless hope you find the above explanations useful.
Yours sincerely,
Marta Hirsch-Ziembińska
Head of Inquiries and ICT - Unit 1
Strasbourg, 05/08/2019
[1] This complaint was understood to be directed against the European Commission since its Paymaster Office, acting as the Secretariat of the Management Committee for Sickness Insurance, denied the complainants’ request to participate in the plenary session through videoconference.