WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3376/97 by Richard HOWITT to the Council. Code of Conduct for European companies operating in third countries
Date: 1997-10-23
Institutions: European Parliament, HOWITT
Subjects: EU control, European undertaking, OECD, civil law, code of conduct, economic rights, environmental law, human rights, social legislation, third country

25. 5. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 158/93

(98/C 158/121)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3371/97

by Lis Jensen (I-EDN) to the Council

(23 October 1997)

Subject: Implementation of the employment section of the Amsterdam Treaty

The  Commission  President  said  on  1  October  1997,  when  presenting  the  Commission  proposals  for  EU
employment  initiatives,  that  the  Council  had  indicated  that  parts  of  the  Amsterdam  Treaty(cid:146)s  section  on
employment could be applied once the Extraordinary European Council Summit on Employment had been held
on 20 and 21 November.

The fact that the Council seemingly thinks that parts of the Amsterdam Treaty can be applied even before the
Treaty  has  been  ratified  by  Member  States(cid:146)  parliaments  and,  in  Denmark(cid:146)s  case,  before  it  has  been  put  to  a
referendum, is quite astonishing.

Answer

(26 January 1998)

1.
At its meeting in Amsterdam on 16 and 17 June the European Council reaffirmed the importance it attached
to promoting employment and reducing the unacceptably high levels of unemployment in Europe, while noting
with approval the agreement of the Intergovernmental Conference to incorporate a new title on employment into
the Treaty. The European Council believed that (cid:145)the Council should seek to make the relevant provisions of this
title immediately effective.(cid:146) In the meantime, the Amsterdam Treaty was signed on 2 October 1997; it has to be
ratified  by  all  the  Member  States  in  accordance  with  their  respective  constitutional  rules.  However,  it  goes
without  saying  that  the  Amsterdam  Treaty  will  not  enter  into  force  and  produce  its  effects  until  the  national
ratification procedures have been completed. Consequently, no legal act can be adopted until the appropriate
legal bases are in force.

2.
The extraordinary meeting of the European Council on employment (Luxembourg, 20 and 21 November
1997) confirmed the guidelines of the Amsterdam European Council. It did not decide to anticipate the relevant
provisions of the Treaty of Amsterdam, but it concluded that, pending its ratification and in order to mobilize all
available resources to combat unemployment, the method provided for in the future Article 128 of the Treaty
would be applied immediately in practice and by consensus.

The  Council,  which  is  acting  with  due  regard  for  the  provisions  of  the  Treaties  in  force,  will,  at  the

3.
appropriate time, examine any proposal submitted to it by the Commission.

(98/C 158/122)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3376/97

by Richard Howitt (PSE) to the Council

(23 October 1997)

Subject: Code of Conduct for European companies operating in third countries

In December 1996, the European Parliament adopted resolution A4-0400/96 (1) on human rights throughout the
world in 1995/1996 and the Union(cid:146)s human rights policy.

Paragraph 20 calls on the Council to (cid:145)rapidly submit a proposal on a Code of Conduct for European companies
operating  in  third  countries  which  obliges  them  to  respect  human  rights  in  all  their  forms  (civil,  social,
economical, environmental), including mechanisms of control and sanction on the grounds of the existing OECD
proposal(cid:146).

When can the European Parliament expect such a proposal from the Council?

(1)  OJ C 20, 20.1.1997, p. 161.