WRITTEN QUESTION E-1290/02

by Laura González Álvarez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(7 May 2002)

Subject: Threats to employment at the El Árbol company (Asturias, Spain)

The Netherlands-based distribution group Laurus, which is 37 % owned by the French group Casino, has announced the sale of several of its supermarkets in the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain. This could involve considerable job losses.

In Asturias (Spain), the El Árbol company, which is part of this group, is the third-largest undertaking in the sector, with 2300 employees (out of 9000 in Spain as a whole). Should the redundancies be confirmed, it would be a severe blow to Asturias, an Objective 1 region which has already suffered from successive waves of job losses in such sectors as mining, steel, shipbuilding, etc.

The employees of El Árbol are now being kept on tenterhooks and denied all information.

Is the Commission aware of the labour situation at this company?

What measures does the Commission intend to take to ensure implementation of the Community legislation in this field, and, in particular, of Directive 94/45/EC(1), which lays down general rules for the information and consultation of employees of large multinational companies and groups of companies?

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

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(26 June 2002)

As the Honourable Member will be aware, in circumstances such as those she describes, there are two Community legislative instruments which may be relevant in ensuring that employees are kept informed and consulted regarding developments.

Firstly, Council Directive 2001/23/EC(1) (which consolidates two earlier Directives on this issue) provides that where it is proposed to transfer an undertaking, business or part of an undertaking or business both the transferor and the transferee shall be required to inform the representatives of their respective employees affected by the transfer of the date of the transfer, the reasons for it, its implications for the employees and any measures envisaged in relation to them. The transferor must give this information in good time, before the transfer is carried out, while the transferee must give it before his employees are directly affected by the transfer.

Where either the transferor or the transferee envisages measures in relation to their employees they must consult the representatives of the employees in good time on such measures with a view to reaching an agreement.

Secondly, under the terms of Council Directive 98/59/EC(2) (which also consolidates two earlier Directives on the issue), an employer contemplating collective redundancies is obliged to begin consultations with the workers' representatives in good time. Such consultations should cover ways of avoiding or reducing the number of workers affected and mitigating the consequences.

As regards Council Directive 94/45(3) concerning European works councils to which the Honourable Member refers, as far as the Commission can ascertain a European works council has not been established in the group to which the Honourable Member refers.

The Directive provides that the central management of a Community-scale undertaking or group of undertakings shall initiate negotiations for the establishment of an European works council if requested to do so by at least 100 employees or their representatives in at least two Member States.

Any alleged breach of the national legislation implementing any of the above- mentioned Directives would fall to be pursued, in the first instance, with the relevant authorities in the Member State concerned.

(1) 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, OJ L 82, 22.3.2001.

(2) Council Directive 98/59/EC of 20 July 1998 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to collective redundancies, OJ L 225, 12.8.1998.

(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 and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees.