WRITTEN QUESTION E-2979/01 by Winfried Menrad (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Thresholds for the application of the Directive on the European Works Council.
Date: 2001-10-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European undertaking, group of companies, size of business, statistics, works council

16.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 115 E/207

(cid:1) What options are open to the Commission for taking action against any possibly unlawful conduct by

the Greek and Italian authorities, and what measures does it intend to take, if appropriate?

As the stipulated deadline for delivery of the goods in question is 1 November 2001, I would ask the
Commission to respond as promptly as possible to this question.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(30 November 2001)

In response to the Honourable Member’s question, the Commission can provide the following information:

(cid:1) Where the movement of goods under excise duty suspension arrangements takes place between two
the products are accompanied by an
tax warehouses situated in two different Member States,
(AAD), provided for by Article 18 of Council Directive
accompanying administrative document
92/12/EEC of 25 February 1992 on the general arrangements for products subject to excise duties and
on the holding, movement and monitoring of such products; (1) if the products are to transit a country
of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) they must be accompanied by an internal Community
transit document.

However, if the transaction involves products for which excise duties have already been paid in a
Member State, the excise duties must be guaranteed and paid in the Member State of destination of
the products and be accompanied by a simplified accompanying document under Article 7 of
Directive 92/12/EEC.

(cid:1) Under current Community legislation concerning the movement of products subject to excise duties,
no other documentation is required. However, the national legislation of each Member State may lay
down special provisions relating to retail sale and the use of commercial premises.

Community legislation in the agricultural field provides that wines and wine products covered by
Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market
in wine (2) may only be put into circulation within the Community if they are accompanied by an
officially checked document. This accompanying document is provided for in Commission Regulation
(EC) No 884/201 of 24 April 2001 laying down detailed rules of application concerning the
documents accompanying the carriage of wine products and the records to be kept in the wine
sector (3), and is used to guarantee the authenticity of the products transported and their origin and
quality.

(cid:1) Where there is a breach of Community legislation, recourse should be had to the relevant procedures

provided for by the EC Treaty.

(1) OJ L 76, 23.3.1992.
(2) OJ L 179, 14.7.1999.
(3) OJ L 128, 10.5.2001.

(2002/C 115 E/219)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2979/01

by Winfried Menrad (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(26 October 2001)

Subject: Thresholds for the application of the Directive on the European Works Council

In paragraph 2(v) of the resolution which it adopted on 4 September 2001 (A5-0282/2001), the European
Parliament called for a reduction in the thresholds for companies to be included within the scope of the
Directive from 1000 to 500 employees for the company as a whole and from 150 to 100 employees per
establishment in at least two Member States.

C 115 E/208

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

16.5.2002

Can the Commission answer the following:

1. What percentage of undertakings and/or companies in the EU and in the EEA fall within the scope of
the current rules laid down in the Works Council Directive specifying 1000 and 150 employees
respectively?

2. What percentage of employees in the EU and in the EEA are covered by the current rules laid down in

the Works Council Directive specifying 1000 and 150 employees respectively?

3. What percentage of undertakings and/or companies in the EU and in the EEA would fall within the
scope of the rules if the thresholds laid down in the Works Council Directive specified 500 and 100
employees respectively?

4. What percentage of employees in the EU and in the EEA would be concerned if the thresholds laid

down in the Works Council Directive specified 500 and 100 employees respectively?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(23 November 2001)

It is currently estimated that about 1850 Community-scale undertakings or groups of undertakings with
total employment of around 16 million fall within the scope of the current thresholds. As regards number
of employees covered this represents about 10 % of total Community employment.

There is no statistical source from which the number of Community-scale groups falling within the scope
of the Directive can be readily estimated. The estimate of 1850 has been arrived at over time by a process
of identifying relevant entities on a case-by-case basis. Similarly there is no readily available source from
which to estimate the impact,
in terms of increased coverage, of the Parliament’s call to reduce the
thresholds for application of the Directive (1). Therefore the Commission is not in a position to provide the
information requested by the Honourable Member in this regard.

(1) Council Directive 94/45/EC of 22 September 1994 on the establishment of a European Works Council or a
procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of
informing and consulting employees (cid:1) OJ L 254, 30.9.1994.

(2002/C 115 E/220)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2982/01

by Carlos Bautista Ojeda (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(22 October 2001)

Subject: Presence of alpha-benzpyrenes in oil derived from olive residues

On 19 July 2001, in connection with the food alert declared by the Spanish Government on account of
the high percentage of benzpyrene found in oil derived from olive residues, the Commissioner responsible
for agriculture told various media outlets that ‘Spain should have waited until it had a scientific basis for its
actions’ and said that ‘first of all we need to clarify the issue of what residue level can be tolerated from a
scientific point of view. This substance can be found in many other products’.

In addition, the Scientific Committee on Food issued a report on levels of benzpyrene in oil derived from
olive residues, in which it stated that: ‘Exposure on one or more occasions to such doses of hydrocarbons
[referring to those notified by Spain] has a low or moderate non-carcinogenic effect’ and that ‘serious toxic
effects would require prolonged exposure at concentrations much higher than those notified by the
Spanish Government. Taking the highest levels detected and an average consumption of between 15 and
50 grammes per person, the absorption of PAH from the contaminated oils would be in the order of
between 500 and 1 500 nanogrammes per kilo of body weight per day’, which is ‘considerably lower than
the doses which produce a serious toxic effect.’