Officials’ temporary leave rules set for go-ahead in early 2003

Date: 12/12/02

By David Cronin

NEW rules covering the behaviour of EU officials on temporary leave will be finalised early in the New Year.

These are being compiled following the embarrassment caused to the European Commission in September, when it emerged that it had awarded part of a €4.5 million a-year website contract to GPlus, a company set up by two former spokesmen with the EU's executive.

Replying to a recent Parliamentary question, European Commission President Romano Prodi said the contract had originally been awarded to Belgo-French consortium Ascii in June and that it had been subject to a "rigorous tendering procedure".

GPlus was part of that consortium and was due to receive an annual €165,000 for "the drafting and updating of documents" concerning Europa, the internet portal for EU bodies.

Prodi claimed that the Commission decided to suspend the contract on 27 September due to "the presence of an official on leave for personal grounds within GPlus".

The consultancy was set up by Peter Guilford and Nigel Gardner, who were deputy spokesman for the Commission and trade spokesman respectively. GPlus also employs ex-competition spokesman Michael Tscherny. Of the three, only Gardner has left the Commission completely; the others are technically on leave and have the right to return to it.

The Commission has insisted that the decision to withdraw the contract was taken before details of it were published in French daily Le Monde.

Prodi said: "The Commission is currently examining the rules implementing the principle of incompatibility, especially those concerning the relationship between civil servants and private companies that respond to calls for tender by the Commission."

Eric Mamer, the Commission's spokesman on personnel matters, said that the regulations are being drafted, with a view to finalising them in early 2003. "Following the GPlus story, we are reviewing the rules on personal leave," he explained.

New rules covering the behaviour of EU officials on temporary leave will be finalised early in 2003.