Commission under fire for ‘favouritism’

Date: 15/06/2000

By Simon Taylor

THE European Commission has come under fire from EU Ombudsman Jacob Söderman for reserving part-time summer jobs for its employees' children, on the grounds that the practice infringes the administration's own rules on non-discrimination.

In the latest in a series of public clashes with the Union executive, Söderman has ruled that the institution was guilty of "maladministration" by limiting access to summer jobs to the children of its own officials' children.

"Linking eligibility to paid employment in a public institution to family relations is contrary to the principles of equal treatment," he said, pointing out EU rules required its institutions to treat all Union citizens equally in employment and recruitment issues.

The Ombudsman dismissed the Commission's argument that the policy was justified because it was cost effective. He said the principle of cost-effectiveness had "nothing to do with an affair involving a discriminatory practice on the part of public institution which is publicly funded".

The Commission has now decided to abolish the system of taking on around 180 students every summer to carry out a range of unskilled jobs, including filing and mail delivery, altogether.

But officials denied that this had been prompted by Söderman's criticisms. They said the decision followed an internal review which had shown that the work could be done more efficiently and cheaply by full-time staff.

Söderman's ruling came in response to a complaint lodged by Anne-Sophie Leonhardt, the daughter of a European Parliament official, who was denied the chance of working in the Commission during the summer of 1999 because of the administration's policy of favouring its own officials' children.

The European Commission has come under fire from EU Ombudsman Jacob Söderman for reserving part-time summer jobs for its employees' children, on the grounds that the practice infringes the administration's own rules on non-discrimination.