WRITTEN QUESTION E-1341/01 by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Council. Employment rights for ministers of religion.
Date: 2001-05-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: employment policy, labour law, religion

4.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 81 E/21

(2002/C 81 E/025)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1341/01

by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Council

(21 May 2001)

Subject: Employment rights for ministers of religion

Does the Council take the view that its aim should be to ensure all workers have full employment rights
no matter what their occupation? When does it plan to extend these rights to ministers of religion, who
are currently being treated in some cases in an almost feudal manner by illiberal religious authorities?

Reply

(26 November 2001)

The Council agrees, in accordance with Article 136 of the EC Treaty, that one of the objectives of the
Community and the Member States is to promote improved working conditions and proper social
protection for workers.

However, it recalls that Declaration No 11 annexed to the final act of Amsterdam states that (cid:145)the European
Union respects and does not prejudice the status under national law of churches and religions associations
or communities in the Member States(cid:146).

Furthermore, this declaration is cited in Recital No 24 of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November
2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, which goes on
legitimate and justified
to state that (cid:145)Member States may lay down specific provisions on genuine,
occupational requirements which might be required for carrying out an occupational activity(cid:146).

It is also recalled that Directive 93/104/EC of 23 November 1993 concerning certain aspects of the
organisation of working time provides for specific derogations (Article 17(1) (c)) for (cid:145)workers officiating at
religious ceremonies in churches and religious communities(cid:146).

(2002/C 81 E/026)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1372/01

by Carlos Carnero GonzÆlez (PSE) to the Council

(21 May 2001)

Subject: Store closures and mass redundancies at Marks and Spencer

Marks and Spencer has announced that it is closing down several of its stores in various European
countries, including Spain (four in Madrid, two in Barcelona, and one each in Seville, Valencia, and Bilbao)
and consequently making huge numbers of workers redundant.

The decision was announced without warning, the Marks and Spencer management having acted without
first approaching the staff trade unions.

The company employees in the countries and stores concerned, in particular, and the public in general
have reacted with amazement and indignation to a measure inimical to employment that violates the basic
principle of consultation between management and labour and manifestly lies beyond the pale of the
European social model.

In France, the courts have successfully intervened to prevent Marks and Spencer from implementing its
decisions without any form of supervision.

The Marks and Spencer decision is absolutely reprehensible and, moreover, as the Secretary-General of
ETUC, Emilio Gabaglio, has pointed out, highlights the need to build a genuinely social Europe. To that
end, the EU must, as a matter of urgency, lay down effective rules on worker information and consultation
to prevent large employers adopting decisions inspired by untrammelled capitalism such as the one
described here.