WRITTEN QUESTION E-0526/01 by José Pomés Ruiz (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Intermediate employment objectives.
Date: 2001-02-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, employment policy, full employment

13.11.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 318 E/71

Are not the numerous difficulties experienced by the Commission with regard to the implementation of
the directive by the Member States due to the fact that the demands of this directive are in flagrant
contradiction of Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union? Should not the principle of subsidiarity induce
the Commission to give the authorities concerned greater credit, particularly when the latter decide that
a given project is of regional or national interest?

The Commission has, for instance, challenged the granting of planning permission for the railway link
between Valencia and Tarragona although it acknowledges that a proper impact assessment was carried
out albeit under conditions which did not rigorously meet the demands of the directive. The same is true
of the objections raised against Luxembourg with regard to the building of a road link to the Saarland
which was decided on by an act of Parliament in Luxembourg.

Would not the Commission be well advised to leave the assessment of the impact of public and private
projects on the environment to the national, regional and local authorities, instead of engaging in legalistic
pettifoggery and making a bureaucratic nuisance of itself? Do not the Commission(cid:146)s actions only lead to
unnecessary delays in the implementation of projects decided on according to the principle of subsidiarity?

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(18 April 2001)

The Commission is anxious to stress that Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the
assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, as amended by Council
Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 (1), was adopted in line with the aim of Article 2 of the EC Treaty
requiring the Community to promote a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the
environment.

In applying the subsidiarity principle that Directive only laid down the minimum requirements which the
impact assessment procedures must meet and left
to the Member States to draw the intended
conclusions from the information received within that forum.

it

Under Article 211 (former Article 155) of the EC Treaty,
it is for the Commission to ensure that the
provisions adopted by the institutions in pursuance of the EC Treaty are implemented, where appropriate
using the procedure provided for by Article 226 (former Article 169) of said Treaty.

The Commission may thus be prompted to check that the Member States have implemented the impact
assessment procedure and, where this is the case, also to check that this has been done so in a correct
manner.

(1) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.

(2001/C 318 E/072)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0526/01

by JosØ PomØs Ruiz (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(22 February 2001)

Subject: Intermediate employment objectives

The Stockholm European Council will, for the first time, evaluate the procedure established at the Lisbon
Council, establishing the achievement of full employment as a goal for the year 2010. The Presidency
suggested, at the Ecofin Council of 19 January in Brussels, that it might be possible to establish certain
intermediate employment objectives, but so far no specific statements have been made as to what these
intermediate objectives would comprise.

How does the Commission view this proposal?

What would the parameters be (e.g.: objectives by gender, age, types of activity, regions, temporary jobs,
etc.) for these intermediate objectives, so as to be able better to diagnose the problem and target the best
solutions, with a view to achieving full employment by the scheduled date?

C 318 E/72

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.11.2001

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(21 May 2001)

Attaining full employment in Europe by 2010 calls for resolute and continued efforts by all actors
involved. The Commission agrees with the Presidency(cid:146)s wish to reaffirm our commitment to the strategy
and aims decided in Lisbon. Substantial progress is possible now thanks to the favourable macroeconomic
environment (cid:129) strong economic growth, low inflation and healthy public finances (cid:129) which create the
right conditions to move forward.

If we are to reach the objective of full employment by the end of the decade, new intermediate targets for
the overall employment rate and for women will help to focus policy action and to monitor progress.
Indeed, open policy coordination (cid:129) based on common quantified targets by a given deadline (cid:129) has proved
powerful as a political tool for enticing concrete action by national authorities and by social partners. The
experience in the Luxembourg Process is a good example and the European Council
in Lisbon
acknowledged it by extending this principle to other domains such as economic reform, social protection,
and education.

The Commission(cid:146)s communication (cid:145)Realising the European Union(cid:146)s potential: consolidating and extending
the Lisbon strategy(cid:146) (1) adopted on 7 February 2001 in view of the Stockholm European Council on
23-24 March 2001 goes one step further and calls on the European Council to agree intermediate targets
for employment rates across the Community for January 2005 of 67 % overall and 57 % for women.

Member States are also invited (cid:129) as established in Council Decision 2001/63/EC of 19 January 2001 on
Guidelines for Member States(cid:146) employment policies for 2001 (2) (cid:129) to consider setting national targets, in
consultation with the social partners, for raising the rate of employment, in order to contribute to the
Community-wide objectives of reaching by 2010 an overall employment rate of 70 % and of more than
60 % for women and in particular,
for significantly increasing the number of older people (55-64)
remaining in the workforce.

(1) COM(2001) 79 final.
(2) OJ L 22, 24.1.2001.

(2001/C 318 E/073)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0527/01

by JosØ Garc(cid:237)a-Margallo y Marfil (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(22 February 2001)

Subject: Stability pact in Spain

At their meeting of 24 January 2001, the College of Commissioners(cid:146) noting that the Irish budget for 2001
does not overlap with the major economic policy guidelines adapted by the Feira European Council of
19 June 2000, called on the Council to issue a recommendation urging Ireland to adjust its budgetary
policy to the major economic guidelines (Article 99(4) of the EU Treaty).

In Spain, the High Court recently handed down a sentence to the effect that the freezing of civil servants(cid:146)
salaries, included in the 1997 budget, was illegal, admonishing the administration to update these salaries
in accordance with CPI trends during the period in question.

It is estimated in some quarters that such an updating would mean disbursing almost 900 000 million
pesetas, which, claims Fuentes Quintana, would cause a considerable increase in inflation and a significant
imbalance of state finances, i.e. a substantial deviation from the major economic guidelines for Spain and,
more importantly, the recently updated Stability Plan.

Does the Commission intend to make a similar recommendation to the Council as it has done vis-(cid:224)-vis
Ireland, should the Spanish Government find itself now obliged to update the salaries in question?