# CE2004084EN.01008001.xml

| 3.4.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | CE 84/80 |
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3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 84/80

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(2004/C 84 E/0085)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3673/03

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(9 December 2003)

Subject:   Community aid to the multinational Gerry Weber

Subject:

The German-based multinational Gerry Weber formerly owned a textile manufacturing plant in Figueiró dos Vinhos (Portugal), which employed some 150 workers until it closed early in 2003. This closure occurred despite the plant reportedly being in receipt of Community funds in support of its operations.

The plant was subsequently bought up by another company, and operations recommenced in September.

The Commission:

| 1. | Can itstate whether Gerry Weber received Community funds for its textile manufacturing plant in Figueiró dos Vinhos (Portugal)? |
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1.

Can itstate whether Gerry Weber received Community funds for its textile manufacturing plant in Figueiró dos Vinhos (Portugal)?

| 2. | Should that be the case, what measures has Commission taken, or what measures will it take, following the decision by Gerry Weber Portugal Confecções, Lda to close the plant? |
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2.

Should that be the case, what measures has Commission taken, or what measures will it take, following the decision by Gerry Weber Portugal Confecções, Lda to close the plant?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(12 February 2004)

(12 February 2004)

| 1. | The Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that the firm Gerry Weber received funding from the Community support framework (CSF II) (1994-1999), for the vocational training and employment programme (1), notably EUR 226 525,26 from the European Social Fund (ESF).
  The Commission would also like to point out that funding from the ESF is not subject to conditions linked to undertakings' continued existence but to compliance with the access and eligibility criteria laid down in the regulations in force at that time for the allocation of ESF assistance.
  The firm also received EUR 809 823,86 in cofinancing from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for two projects approved under the 1988 PNICIAP (2) programme (CSF I) and the 1994 programme for modernisation of the economic fabric (CSF II).
  The guidelines which require the assets financed to be maintained in the establishment for at least five years from the date of the investment for which aid was granted were not adopted by the Commission until after 10 March 1998. |
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1.

The Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that the firm Gerry Weber received funding from the Community support framework (CSF II) (1994-1999), for the vocational training and employment programme (1), notably EUR 226 525,26 from the European Social Fund (ESF).

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The Commission would also like to point out that funding from the ESF is not subject to conditions linked to undertakings' continued existence but to compliance with the access and eligibility criteria laid down in the regulations in force at that time for the allocation of ESF assistance.

The firm also received EUR 809 823,86 in cofinancing from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for two projects approved under the 1988 PNICIAP (2) programme (CSF I) and the 1994 programme for modernisation of the economic fabric (CSF II).

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The guidelines which require the assets financed to be maintained in the establishment for at least five years from the date of the investment for which aid was granted were not adopted by the Commission until after 10 March 1998.

| 2. | The Commission would like to point out that several Community Directives lay down procedures for informing and consulting workers' representatives that may be applicable when enterprises are closed down, especially Council Directive 98/59/EC of 20 July 1998 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to collective redundancies (3), Council Directive 94/45/EC of 22 September 1994 on the establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (4) and Directive 2002/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2002 establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the European Community (5). The first two have been transposed in the Member States. It is up to the competent national authorities, including the judges, to assess whether they are properly implemented in each case. The last Directive mentioned is to be transposed in the Member States by no later than 23 March 2005. |
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2.

The Commission would like to point out that several Community Directives lay down procedures for informing and consulting workers' representatives that may be applicable when enterprises are closed down, especially Council Directive 98/59/EC of 20 July 1998 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to collective redundancies (3), Council Directive 94/45/EC of 22 September 1994 on the establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (4) and Directive 2002/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2002 establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the European Community (5). The first two have been transposed in the Member States. It is up to the competent national authorities, including the judges, to assess whether they are properly implemented in each case. The last Directive mentioned is to be transposed in the Member States by no later than 23 March 2005.

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(1)  Decision No C (1994) 379, 25 February 1994.

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(2)  Programa Nacional de Interesse Comunitário de Incentivo a Actividade Produtiva (National programme of Community interest in support of productive activity).

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(3)  OJ L 225, 12.8.1998.

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(4)  OJ L 254, 30.9.1994.

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(5)  OJ L 80, 23.3.2002.

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