WRITTEN QUESTION E-0799/00

by Sami Naïr (PSE) to the Commission

(16 March 2000)

Subject: Commission communication on its strategic objectives 2000-20005 and work programme for the year 2000 (COM(2000) 155 final)

1. On the subject of trade relations, the Commission states that its main objective remains seeking further trade liberalisation as a stimulus to growth and development, by strengthening the rules-based trading system.

(a) What specific measures does it envisage, particularly in the context of the WTO negotiations?

2. The Commission is about to launch the first stage consultation of the social partners on adaptability and modernisation of work organisation and working conditions.

(a) Can it provide details of the measures it intends to promote?

(b) Can it clarify what it means by the modernisation of social protection systems?

(c) Does it consider that flexibility and lack of job security is the price that has to be paid for combating unemployment?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(9 June 2000)

1. The Community wishes to further trade liberalisation and strengthen the multilateral rules-based system by means of a fourfold agenda for a new trade round.

First, as regards further trade liberalisation, both developed and developing countries seek improved market access for their products and services, in order to increase economic growth. The Community therefore seeks an approach to liberalisation that, by covering all sectors, enables all members to exploit their comparative advantages and thus increase their trade.

Second, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) also needs to update its rules to respond to the effects of globalisation, so that traders and investors can enjoy a predictable, transparent and non-discriminatory framework in which to make their economic decisions and to compete. Basic rules on investment and competition are necessarily part of such an agenda and will go some way towards providing this environment. There continues to be solid support from a large group of WTO members for the inclusion of these issues in a new trade round, and it is a matter of regret that at Seattle negotiations on two subjects of such systemic importance and of benefit to companies around the world could not be launched. It is similarly regrettable that it was not possible to begin negotiations on either trade facilitation or on improvements to rules in areas like trade defence or technical barriers to trade, all of which will contribute to more predictable market access conditions and to the freer flow of goods. The Community continues to aim to include all these rulemaking questions in the new round that it wishes to see launched as soon as possible.

Third, Seattle also highlighted acutely the need for better integration of developing countries into the trading system through better market access, improved special and differential treatment, better coordinated capacity building, and a more active role within the WTO mechanisms. A new round will enable the developing countries' trade agenda including more sensitive issues to be comprehensively addressed. The Community gives priority therefore to the integration of developing country concerns into the new round.

Finally the Community's agenda for the round seeks to address several questions of concern to governments and the wider public. Our societies remain concerned over the potential influence of the trading system on the environment, sustainable development, social issues, and consumer health and safety, and seek answers that both safeguard the trading system and these societal concerns. In view of the limited support of other WTO members on these issues, the Community needs to explain more clearly and specifically its objectives in these areas given the strong suspicion in developing countries regarding the real aims or consequences of the proposals put forward by the Community to meet civil society concerns.

2. (a) The Commission intends to consult the social partners on the possible direction of Community action with regard to the development of a set of agreed principles to modernise and improve employment relations and a framework for action. The Commission may also wish to consult the social partners on the establishment of framework provisions at Community-level in specific areas, such as telework.

(b) For a number of years the Commission has been promoting an exchange between the Member States, on a co-operative basis, on the common challenges facing them in relation to the future development of their social protection systems. The Commission presented in July 1999 a communication(1) proposing a new and deeper co-operation based on four major themes: to make work pay and provide a secure income; to make pensions safe and pension systems sustainable; to promote social inclusion; and to ensure high quality and sustainable health care. The Commission's proposal was endorsed by the Council before Christmas 1999 and by the Parliament in February 2000. One aspect of the new co-operation as proposed in the Commission's communication The Commission's work programme for 2000(2) (and endorsed by the Council and the Parliament) is to invite the social partners to contribute to the exchange.

(c) No. The Commission believes that improvements in both flexibility and security can and should go hand in hand with measures to increase employment. In many cases, increased flexibility, especially in the way work is organised within a company, can bring benefits to both employers and workers. The company benefits because the work can be organised in a more productive way, while workers can enjoy increased job security and greater flexibility in organising their lives, for example in relation to working time.

Such flexibility will increase the competitiveness of companies and can thus have a positive effect on employment levels. In some other cases, for example, where companies seek to adopt aggressive hire and fire strategies, it is particularly important to ensure that the workers concerned are adequately protected. Furthermore, it is not clear that this type of flexibility leads to increases in overall levels of employment.

(1) COM(1999) 347 final.

(2) OJ C 81, 21.3.2000.