WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2226/97 by Frode KRISTOFFERSEN to the Commission. Sexual harassment in the workplace
Date: 1997-06-30
Institutions: European Parliament, KRISTOFFERSEN
Subjects: EU initiative, EU law, cultural difference, equal treatment, labour law, occupational safety, principle of subsidiarity, sexual harassment, workplace

C 21/144

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

22. 1. 98

(98/C 21/267)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2226/97

by Frode Kristoffersen (PPE) to the Commission

(30 June 1997)

Subject: Sexual harassment in the workplace

Does the Commission consider its plans to implement EU rules on the degree and scale of sexual harassment in
the workplace in individual Member States to be in keeping with the principle of subsidiarity, and has it occurred
to it that the outlook (including legal usage) is largely conditioned by national attitudes to ethics and education,
which must be taken to mean that a set of EU rules on the subject would be impossible to enforce?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission

(4 August 1997)

The Commission is currently consulting the social partners on the objectives and the content of a Community
initiative  on  sexual  harassment.  The  Community  institutions  have  repeatedly  emphasised  the  importance  of
dealing effectively with this issue of equal opportunities and health and safety for all employees throughout the
Community. Research has shown that sexual harassment is a problem in the workplace, and furthermore that
very few Member States have a sufficient system of prevention to deal with it.

The  current  Community  definition  of  behaviour  constituting  sexual  harassment  in  the  1990  Council
Resolution (1) on the protection of the dignity of women and men at work, includes an element of the recipient(cid:146)s
subjective  understanding  of  the  situation,  and  thus  takes  into  account  possible  cultural  differences.  The
Commission acts in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity in formulating all its proposals.

(1)  OJ C 157, 27.6.1990.

(98/C 21/268)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2235/97

by Patricia McKenna (V) to the Commission

(2 July 1997)

Subject: US military aid to Congo (formerly Za(cid:14)¤re)

A report in The International Herald Tribune (9 June 1997) refers to a suggestion by the US representative to the
United Nations that the Clinton administration is willing to give military aid to the new Government of Congo (cid:145)as
an incentive to maintain human rights standards(cid:146).

Many would view this as a worrying development, given that arms sales have already exacerbated tensions in the
Great  Lakes  Region.  Western-supplied  arms  are  believed  to  have  played  an  important  role  in  the  genocide
witnessed in Rwanda, for example.

Has the US Government given any details to the Commission or other EU institutions about the nature of its
planned military cooperation with Congo? What action does the Commission propose to take?

Answer given by Mr Pinheiro on behalf of the Commission

(22 July 1997)

The  Commission  wishes  to  bring  to  the  attention  of  the  Honourable  Member  the  conclusions  of  the  Council
(General Affairs) on 2 June 1997 on the prevention and resolution of conflicts in Africa, in which the Member
States,  (cid:145)recognising  that  the  availability  of  arms  in  quantities  exceeding  needs  for  self-defence  may  be