EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/763

(2004/C 78 E/0812)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2900/03

by Antonio Tajani (PPE-DE) to the Council

(1 October 2003)

Subject: Safeguarding jobs at the Alcatel plant in Rieti

The telecommunications sector is going through a period of recession. In order to tackle the unfavourable situation the Alcatel group has decided on drastic job cuts. Apart from undermining the research sector this policy also threatens to lead to the company's activities being relocated to countries with low labour costs.

If they go ahead, Alcatel's restructuring plans will hit Alcatel's factories in southern Italy, in particular the ultramodern establishment in Rieti.

Is the Council aware of the risks for the economy of the Rieti area, where substantial resources have been invested in electronics?

Since Alcatel's situation is improving, what steps does the Council intend to take to prevent a temporary difficulty from seriously damaging employment?

How does the Council intend to safeguard plants such as the one at Rieti, which are considered of strategic importance because of the highly specialised professional staff and equipment?

Reply

(4 March 2004)

1. The Council is conscious that any major restructuring, leading to job redundancies, in a multinational company could be a risk for the region and country where the affected plants are located and recognises that this could be a particularly sensitive subject in Italy, if the Alcatel plant in Rieti is affected.

2. However, despite measures taken in the context of the European Employment Strategy and, in particular, the adoption of the annual Employment Guidelines in accordance with Article 128 of the Treaty, Employment Policy as such remains a national competence. It is not therefore incumbent upon the Council to intervene directly in situations affecting specific firms or plants.

3. The Honourable Parliamentarian may be aware, however, that particular emphasis has been placed in recent years, on the need to provide for adequate information and consultation of employees in situations likely to affect their interests or, indeed, their livelihoods and that a number of Community legislative acts have been adopted in this area.

4. Provisions on employee information and consultation are contained in Council Directive 94/45/EC of 22 September 1994 on the establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (1), Council Directive 98/59/EC of 20 July 1998 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to collective redundancies (2) and Council Directive 2001/23/EC of 12 March 2001 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the safeguarding of employees' rights in the event of transfers of undertakings, businesses or parts of undertakings or businesses (3).

5. Another key instrument in this context is 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 (4), which the Member States should implement no later than 23 March 2005.

6. The Council invites the Honourable Parliamentarian to revert to the Commission for more detailed information as regards his question.

(1) OJ L 254, 30.9.1994, p. 64.

(2) OJ L 225, 12.8.1998, p. 16.

(3) OJ L 82, 22.3.2001, p. 16.

(4) OJ L 80, 23.3.2002, p. 29.