EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 88/505

(2004/C 88 E/0516)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0493/04

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(23 February 2004)

Subject: Closure of the Panasqueira mines in Portugal

The miners at the Panasqueira mines in Portugal are once again threatened with redundancy. The company which currently operates the mine (Primary Metal Incorporated, a multinational whose capital is mainly of Canadian origin) is threatening to close it, citing as its reasons for so doing the financial difficulties which it is experiencing, the devaluation of the dollar, the fall in ore prices, competition from China and the possible sale by the USA of 1 500 tonnes of tungsten from its strategic defence stocks.

Hence approximately 220 miners and their families living in a mountainous area of inland Portugal where there are no alternative sources of employment are threatened with redundancy and poverty on account of EU monetary and competition policies, multinational companies' lack of responsibility for their workers and the liberalisation of the world market (WTO).

Would the Commission therefore say which action it is intending to take in conjunction with the Portuguese Government with a view to protecting the rights of the workers in question and helping to ensure that the Panasqueira mines continue to operate normally?

Answer given by Mr Dimas on behalf of the Commission

(7 April 2004)

The Commission wishes to remind the Honourable Member that, under Community law, it has no authority to prevent or defer the closure of a company. This is a decision that falls to the owners of the company following the appropriate procedures.

In this sense, the Commission points out that several Community directives lay down procedures of information and of consultation of workers' representatives which can prove to be applicable in the event of closures of companies, in particular Council Directive 98/59/EC of 20 July 1998 concerning collective redundancies (1), and 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 (2). Another Directive was also adopted on 11 March 2002 by the Parliament and the Council with the aim of supplementing the Community mechanism on the matter (Directive 2002/14/EC establishing a general framework relating to information and consultation of workers in the Community (3)). The first two Directives were transposed in the national laws of the Member States (the third having to be transposed only by 23 March 2005). It is up to the competent national authorities (notably courts) to appreciate their correct and effective application in each case.

It is important to recall that the Directive 98/59/EC on the collective redundancies stipulates that, when an employer envisages collective redundancies, it is required to carry out, in good time, consultations with the workers' representatives with a view to reaching an agreement. These consultations cover at least the possibilities of avoiding or of reducing the collective redundancies as well as the possibilities of alleviating their consequences by recourse to social accompanying measures aiming at, in particular, aid for redeployment and retraining of the redundant workers.

(1) OJ L 225, 12.8.1998.

(2) OJ L 254, 30.9.1994.

(3) OJ L 80, 23.3.2002.