EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/941

(2004/C 84 E/1040)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1088/04

by Arlene McCarthy (PSE) to the Commission

(5 April 2004)

Subject: Possible breach of the European Works Council Directive with respect to redundancies announced by FLS Aerospace

Will the Commission investigate and comment as to whether there has been a breach of the European Works Council Directive (94/45/EC (1)) with respect to the announcement of up to 421 redundancies by FLS Aerospace at Stansted and Manchester in the United Kingdom on 16 January 2004, without apparent prior reference to the relevant Works Council? Given the fact that easyJet are reported to be subsidised by GBP 16 400 to fly their aeroplanes to Dublin for maintenance instead, and given the apparent link to the subsequent acquisition of FIS Aerospace by SR Technics of Switzerland, could the Commission also investigate and comment on any possible breaches of European competition law?

Joint answer

to Written Questions P-1084/04 and P-1088/04

given by Mr Dimas on behalf of the Commission

(27 April 2004)

The Commission understands that there is an agreement between management and employee representatives in FLS Industries which the parties regard as being an agreement as envisaged in Article 13 of the European Works Councils Directive (2). It is for the parties to the agreement themselves to assess whether the announcement of the redundancies referred to by the Honourable Members are in breach of any requirement in that agreement. The Commission understands that the agreement provides for a mechanism to settle any disputes or controversies regarding its operation.

The Honourable Members will be aware that, regardless of the situation under the agreement referred to above, the Directive on Collective Redundancies (3) provides that an employer contemplating collective redundancies shall begin consultations with workers' representatives in good time with a view to reaching agreement. The consultations shall cover ways of avoiding the redundancies or reducing the numbers affected and mitigating the consequences.

The transposition and application of the above-mentioned Directive are the responsibility of each Member State. It is a matter for the competent national authorities, in the first place, to ensure correct application of directives and to make provision in national legislation for administrative and judicial appeal. It is the task of the Commission, in its role as guardian of the Treaty, to use the means that it considers appropriate, including those set out in Article 226 of the EC Treaty, to ensure, where necessary, that the above-mentioned provisions are complied with. The Commission has no information to indicate that this Directive has been infringed.

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

(2) 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, OJ L 254, 30.9.1994.

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