WRITTEN QUESTION E-0836/01

by Giovanni Pittella (PSE) to the Commission

(22 March 2001)

Subject: Hive-off of Major Repairs Shop in San Nicola (Melfi)

The company Trenitalia S.p.A. of the FS Group (Italian state railways) has decided, without the consent of the national and local social partners, to hive off the Major Repairs Shop in San Nicola di Melfi, a factory which repairs low-power diesel engines and switching locomotives and whose infrastructure is one of the newest and most technologically advanced of those of the Rolling Stock Technologies unit.

Some work orders are currently being diverted to the sister repair shop in Rimini, whilst others are being blocked in the various factories belonging to Trenitalia's customers.

The factory in question was perhaps the only one which constructively complied with all Community regulations, also in the field of environmental protection.

Its closure has led to the loss of 200 jobs in the region and has greatly damaged the economy of an area in which there is already a great deal of unemployment.

It would also appear that no private company is able to repair this kind of engine at such low costs as those achieved by the Melfi factory, with the same guarantee of quality.

Can the Commission say what measures it intends to take, in collaboration with the Italian Government, to help bring about a positive outcome to this affair?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(5 July 2001)

The Commission attaches the greatest importance to the central issue of social consequences of corporate restructuring.

As far as existing European legislation on the protection of employees in cases of corporate restructuring is concerned, national legislation implementing a number of Directives in the field of labour law and industrial relations apply and have to be respected, in particular Council Directive 98/59/EC of 20 June 1998 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to collective redundancies;(1) and Council Directive 77/187/EC of 14 February 1977 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 part of businesses(2), modified by Council Directive 98/50/EC of 29 June 1998(3).

As these Directives have been transposed into national law, it is up to the national administrative or judicial authorities to decide if any infringements have taken place in the case concerning the company Trenitalia S.p.A. of the FS Group.

The Commission has repeatedly stressed the need to ensure that corporate restructuring is done in a socially acceptable way and, as a consequence, has underlined the urgency of strengthening employees' information and consultation rights, particularly in the context of the spate of restructuring and the numerous mergers and take-overs we are faced with on an almost daily basis.

This was the central preoccupation of the Commission in the preparation of its proposal for a Council Directive establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the Community(4) on which political agreement on a common position was reached by the Council of Ministers on 11 June 2001. The aim of the Directive is to improve the information and consultation rights of workers employed in individual companies as well as to fill in the gaps in provisions for employee information and consultation at national and Community levels. The directive has to be seen as one concrete answer at Community level to the concerns of European citizens resulting from the insecurity emerging from successive waves of mass operations of corporate restructuring, mergers, acquisitions, etc, normally accompanied by job-losses.

This Directive once finally adopted by the Council and the Parliament and implemented in the Member States will afford to employees in companies of at least 50 workers (even if they are subsidiaries of a multinational group) a number of basic rights: the right to information about recent and upcoming developments in company activity, about the company's economic and financial situation, the right to be informed and consulted on employment issues and on decisions likely to lead to substantial changes in work organisation as well as the right to know how the company proposes to handle those changes.

In its Social Policy Agenda(5), the Commission proposed the creation of an observatory on change to be developed in the Dublin Foundation. The proposal was endorsed by the Stockholm European Council stating that such an observatory should be set up as soon as possible

Moreover, the Commission intends to present a Green Paper in July 2001 on corporate social responsibility underlining that restructuring in a socially responsible manner means to balance the interests and concerns of all the stakeholders who are affected by the changes and decisions.

In conclusion, Europe must face industrial restructuring which can contribute to increased competitiveness and economic growth and its social consequences by combining innovation with social cohesion and improving its capacity to manage change. The Commission takes a comprehensive approach

as outlined above through improving our capacity to anticipate and manage change through the Dublin Observatory; by creating legal mechanisms to ensure adequate protection of workers in situations of industrial restructuring; and by developing corporate social responsibility.

(1) OJ L 225, 12.8.1998.

(2) OJ L 61, 5.3.1977.

(3) OJ L 201, 17.7.1998.

(4) OJ C 2, 5.1.1999.

(5) COM(2000) 379 final.