10. Informing and consulting employees ***II
A5-0325/2001
European Parliament legislative resolution on the Council common position for adopting a Euro-
pean Parliament and Council directive on establishing a general framework for improvinginformation and consultation rights of employees in the European Community (9919/1/2001 6dash
C5-0388/2001 6dash 1998/0315(COD))
(Codecision procedure: second reading)
The European Parliament,
;dash having regard to the Council common position (9919/1/2001 ;dash C5-0388/2001),;dash having regard to its position at first reading (
1) on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the
Council (COM(1998) 612) (2),
;dash having regard to the Commission’s amended proposal (COM(2001) 296) (3),
;dash having regard to Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty,;dash having regard to Rule 80 of its Rules of Procedure,
;dash having regard to the recommendation for second reading of the Committee on Employment and
Social Affairs (A5-0325/2001),
1. Amends the common position as follows;
2. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.
COUNCIL
COMMON POSITIONAMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT
Amendment 1
Recital 22a (new)
(22a) Member States should take measures to guarantee
that employees’ representatives are elected by employees ordesignated by employees’ organisations only and have a mini-mum, renewable term of office.
Amendment 2
Recital 26a (new)
(26a) More stringent, dissuasive penalties and specific judi-
cial procedures applicable in the case of decisions taken inserious breach of the obligations under this Directive shouldbe established.
(1) OJ C 219,30.7.1999,p. 223.
(2) OJ C 2,5.1.1999,p. 3.
(3) OJ C 240 E,28.8.2001,p. 133.9.5.2002 EN C 112 E/119 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 23 October 2001
Amendment 3
Article 2, point (ea) (new)
(ea) ‘social partners’ means the competent representative
trade union organisation, the employees’ representatives,
as provided by law, the employers’ organisation and/orthe employer;
Amendment 4
Article 2, point (f)
(f) ‘information’ means transmission by the employer to the
employees’ representatives of data in order to enable
them to acquaint themselves with the subject-matter andto examine it;(f) ‘information’ means transmission by the employer to the
employees’ representatives and/or employees ofall rel-
evant dataon the subjects referred to in Article4, in
order to enable them to acquaint themselves with the sub-ject-matter and to examine it , before the decision is taken ;
Amendment 5
Article 2, point (g)
(g) ‘consultation’ means the exchange of views and establish-
ment of dialogue between the employees’ representativesand the employer.(g) ‘consultation’ means the exchange of views and establish-
ment of dialogue between the employees’ representativesand the employer during the planning stage of a decision
in order to ensure the procedure is effective and to allowinfluence to be exerted on the decision-making process .
Amendment 6
Article 3, paragraph 3a (new)
3a. Member States, without prejudice to existing national
law or practice, shall foster and promote social dialogue alsoin small and medium-sized enterprises which do not fallunder the scope of this Directive.
Amendment 7
Article 4, paragraph 2, point (a)
(a) information on the recent and probable development of
theundertaking’s or the establishment’s activities and economic
situation ;(a) information on the recent and probable development of
theactivitiesand economic and financial situation of the
undertaking or the establishment , in particular as regards
investment, production, sales and structure as well asstrategic plans, including changes to organisationalstructures and market developments ;
Amendment 8
Article 4, paragraph 4, point (c)
(c) on the basis of relevant information to be supplied by the
employer and ofthe opinion which the employees’ repre-
sentatives are entitled to formulate;(c) on the basis of information to be supplied by the employer
in accordance with Article2(f) and the opinion which the
employees’ representatives are entitled to formulate;C 112 E/120 EN 9.5.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 23 October 2001
COUNCIL
COMMON POSITIONAMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT
Amendment 9
Article 4, paragraph 4a and 4b (new)
4a. Member States shall ensure that, if the implemen-
tation of a decision will have significant adverse con-sequences for employees, the final decision may be postponedfor an appropriate period at the request of the employees’representatives so that consultations may continue with theaim of avoiding or mitigating such adverse consequences.
4b. Member States shall ensure that, if the implemen-
tation of a decision will have significant adverse con-
sequences for employees, in particular a decision on transfers,relocations, the closure of an establishment or undertaking orlarge-scale redundancies, employees’ representatives may, inthe event of failure to reach agreement and where appropri-ate, meet the relevant bodies of the undertaking one moretime.
Amendment 10
Article 5
Member States may entrust management and labour at the
appropriate level, including at undertaking or establishment
level, with defining freely and at any time through negotiated
agreement the practical arrangements for informing and con-sulting employees. These agreements, and agreements existing
on the date laid down in Article11, as well as any subsequentrenewals of such agreements, may establish, while respectingthe principles set out in Article1 and subject to conditionsand limitations laid down by the Member States, provisionswhich are different from those referred to in Article4.Member States may entrust the social partners at the appropriate
level,with defining freely and at any time through negotiated
agreement the practical arrangements for informing and con-sulting employees. The social partners may conclude agree-
ments respecting the general objectives laid down by theDirective and subject to generally applicable conditions laiddown by the Member States. Where legislative arangementsand/or statutory minimum standards at national level do notexist, such agreements may contain rules and arrangementswhich provide for fuller rights for information and consul-tation than those laid down by this Directive.
Amendment 11
Article 7
Member States shall ensure that employees’ representatives,
when carrying out their functions,enjoy adequate protectionand guarantees to enable them to perform properly the dutieswhich have been assigned to them.Employees’ representatives shall ,when carrying out their func-
tions,enjoy adequate protection and guarantees to enable themto perform properly the duties which have been assigned tothem.
In particular, employees’ representatives shall be entitled to:
(a) enjoy legal protection against disadvantage in respect of
their career, wage and training during their term ofoffice and for six months thereafter, and
(b) receive appropriate and continuing training, including
paid leave for training, organise regular meetingsamong themselves and with all the employees and usethe undertaking’s internal computer networks.9.5.2002 EN C 112 E/121 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 23 October 2001
COUNCIL
COMMON POSITIONAMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT
Amendment 13
Article 9a (new)
Article9aPublic administration
Member States shall examine in cooperation with the social
partners appropriate ways to implement the principles laiddown in this Directive in public administrations.
Amendment 15
Article 10
Article10 DeletedTransitional provisions
Notwithstanding Article3, a Member State in which there is,
at the date of entry into force of this Directive, no general,permanent and statutory system of information and consul-tation of employees, nor a general, permanent and statutorysystem of employee representation at the workplace allowingemployees to be represented for that purpose, may limit theapplication of the national provisions implementing thisDirective to:
(a) undertakings employing at least 150 employees or estab-
lishments employing at least 100 employees until … (
*),
and
(b) undertakings employing at least 100 employees or estab-
lishments employing at least 50 employees during thetwo years following the date in point (a).
(*) Five years after the entry into force of this Directive.
11. Exposure of workers to risks arising from physical agents ***II
A5-0320/2001
European Parliament legislative resolution on the Council common position for adopting a Euro-
pean Parliament and Council directive on the minimum health and safety requirements regardingthe exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (vibration) (16th individualDirective within the meaning of Article16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) (7914/1/2001 Rev.1 6dash
C5-0293/2001 6dash 1992/0449(COD))
(Codecision procedure: second reading)
The European Parliament,
;dash having regard to the Council common position (7914/1/2001 Rev. 1 ;dash C5-0293/2001),
;dash having regard to its position at first reading (
1) on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the
Council (COM(1992) 560) (2),
(1) OJ C 128,9.5.1994,p. 146.
(2) OJ C 77,18.3.1993,p. 12.C 112 E/122 EN 9.5.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 23 October 2001
COUNCIL
COMMON POSITIONAMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT