WRITTEN QUESTION P-1207/01 by Gérard Caudron (PSE) to the Commission. Closure of healthy undertakings.
Date: 2001-04-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU employment policy, European social policy, application of EU law, collective dismissal, industrial restructuring, labour law, transfer of businesses, worker participation

C 318 E/224

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.11.2001

For Ms de Palacio(cid:146)s replies to questions by Mr Atkins and Mr Swoboda during her hearing before
Parliament,
the Honourable Member is referred to the full text on htpp://www.europa.eu.int/comm/
hearings. The complete quotations give a clearer insight into Ms de Palacio(cid:146)s position on these matters.

With regard to the other points made in the Honourable Member(cid:146)s question, the Commission would refer
him to its answers to Written Questions E-243/01 by Mr Meijer (1), E- 370/01 by Mr Tajani (2), E-379/01
by Mr Ferber (3), and P-435/01 by Mr PomØs Ruiz (4). The Commission would also point to Parliament(cid:146)s
resolution of 4 April 2001 on the 1999 discharge approved by 422 votes to 48, in which Parliament and
the Honourable Member himself express their views on the flax case in Spain.

(1) OJ C 187 E, 3.7.2001, p. 205.
(2) OJ C 235 E, 21.8.2001, p. 189.
(3) OJ C 235 E, 21.8.2001, p. 194.
(4) OJ C 235 E, 21.8.2001, p. 205.

(2001/C 318 E/245)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1207/01

by GØrard Caudron (PSE) to the Commission

(4 April 2001)

Subject: Closure of healthy undertakings

The brutal and cynical announcements of closures at Danone and Marks and Spencer demonstrate to those
who might still have had any doubts that the era of the (cid:145)mixed economy(cid:146) and the (cid:145)European social model(cid:146)
is dead.

Restructuring in undertakings as a result of genuine economic problems would be understandable, but it is
not possible to accept restructuring in healthy and prosperous undertakings which have only one single
objective: increasing the profits of those who own capital.

If agricultural crises can prompt our officials to take action, voluntary acts of (cid:145)vandalism(cid:146) which, in the
name of money, destroy entire families should cause our European leaders to act at least as decisively,
particularly given that the absence of any reaction will cause this trend to accelerate in the future.

For this reason, I ask you most earnestly what you intend to do.

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(5 June 2001)

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

As far as existing European legislation on the protection of employees in cases of corporate restructuring is
legislation implementing a number of Directives in the field of labour law and
concerned, national
industrial relations apply and have to be respected, in particular Council Directive 98/59/EC of 20 July
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(cid:146) 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 cases concerning the companies
Danone and Marks and Spencer.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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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(cid:146)
information and consultation rights, particularly in the context of the spate of restructuring and the
numerous mergers and take-overs 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)
which is on the table of the Council of Ministers. The aim of the proposed 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
proposal 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 restructur-
ing, mergers, acquisitions, etc, normally accompanied by job-losses.

This Directive once adopted by the Council 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(cid:146)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 of
March 2001 stating that such an observatory should be set up as soon as possible.

the Commission intends to present a Green Paper

in June 2001 on corporate social
Moreover,
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 (cid:129) which can contribute to increased competitive-
ness and economic growth (cid:129) 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 the 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.

(2001/C 318 E/246)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1228/01

by JosØ Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

(26 April 2001)

Subject: Failure of negotiations on the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement (cid:129) Cooperation with Morocco

In his reply to a question from Fernando FernÆndez Martin, MEP (E-2594/00) (1), Commissioner
Christopher Patten stated that the aid granted during the period 1996-1999 to Morocco under the
MEDA programme alone amounted to € 630,29 million, representing an annual average over this four-
year period of € 157,5 million. We assume that the present amount of financial aid to Morocco in the
framework of Community cooperation programmes is at least equal to the above amounts although we do
not have the exact figures.