WRITTEN QUESTION E-1372/01 by Carlos Carnero González (PSE) to the Council. Store closures and mass redundancies at Marks and Spencer.
Date: 2001-05-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: cessation of trading, collective dismissal, supermarket, worker consultation, worker information

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.

C 81 E/22

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.4.2002

What steps will the Council take to defend the European social model and prevent Marks and Spencer
from achieving its antisocial aims, thus ensuring that other companies of comparable size will not
unhesitatingly take decisions along similar lines in the future? Will it, without further delay, adopt the
directive on the right of workers to be informed, making provision in the text for penalties for non-
compliance?

Reply

(6 December 2001)

The Council is conscious of the fact that certain recent cases of company restructuring are likely to have
serious economic and social consequences for their employees and members of their families. The Council
is also conscious of the fact that the employers in some of these cases have been accused of not having
informed and consulted their employees and/or their representatives in accordance with national legislation
in force to that effect. It is, however, not up to the Council to determine whether or not the relevant
legislation has been violated.

The attention of the Honourable Member of the European Parliament is drawn to the fact that work on the
Commission(cid:146)s proposal for a Directive establishing a general framework for informing and consulting
employees in the European Community has now advanced to a stage where the Council, at its meeting on
11 June 2001, reached a political agreement on a common position.

(2002/C 81 E/027)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1376/01

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Council

(21 May 2001)

Subject: Contacts between Brussels and President Mugabe of Zimbabwe

It is now more than 20 years since Zimbabwe became independent. Current press reports about that
country make dismal reading (cid:129) not least with regard to President Mugabe. He supports black occupation
of white-owned farms, the fuels racial hatred in order to divert attention away from the extreme social
deprivation into which he has led his country. In a television interview to mark his 77th birthday, he said
that he would not retire until the whites had been defeated. Draconian campaigns against the independent
judiciary and the press, as well as widespread intimidation of the opposition, are everyday occurrences.
The current situation in Zimbabwe is the result of long years of misrule, for which President Mugabe and
his ZANU-PF party are responsible.

The Belgian Foreign Minister, Mr Louis Michel, and the French President, Mr Jacques Chirac, seem to have
no qualms about cosying up to the President of Zimbabwe. Both of them officially welcomed the despot in
Brussels and Paris respectively on 6 March 2001. Mr Michel and President Chirac were among the loudest
proponents of the policy which led to 14 of the EU Member States imposing sanctions on Austria, making
a great show of their concern for democracy and human rights, yet they welcomed President Mugabe with
open arms.

Can the Council indicate whether or not:

(cid:129) the European Union loses more than a little credibility when it adopts such a cavalier attitude towards

democracy and human rights,

(cid:129) it should take measures to avoid such faux pas with a view pursuing a consistent foreign policy,

(cid:129) sanctions should also be imposed on politicians who manifestly cultivate such chummy relationships

with a despotic regime?