WRITTEN QUESTION E-2034/03 by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Closure of companies and mass redundancies.
Date: 2003-06-18
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, Greece, cessation of trading, collective dismissal, labour law, worker consultation

C 33 E/204

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.2.2004

As regards explosives, the Council Directive 94/55/EC of 21 November 1994 on the approximation of the
laws of Member States with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by road (2),
lays down the
conditions under which dangerous goods may be transported packaged and in bulk. Explosives belong to
the category I of goods that are subject to very strict regulations. This Directive implements into the
European legislation the texts of the United National Commission for Europe (UN-ECE) on the transport of
dangerous goods.

The United Nations (UN)-Economic Commission for Europe WP.15, which is the Working Party on the
Transport of Dangerous Goods, has recently started to deal with specific security issues. During its meeting
of 19-23 May 2003 the security of the transport of other dangerous goods was discussed. From the
discussion, it appears that elements such as protection of transportation will be taken into consideration.

As regards the security of the transport of firearms, the national legislation of the Member States applies,
in the absence of specific European legislation on condition, of course, that Member States respect the EC
Treaty rules.

(1) OJ L 256, 13.9.1991.
(2) OJ L 319, 12.12.1994.

(2004/C 33 E/207)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2034/03

by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Closure of companies and mass redundancies

(18 June 2003)

Schiesser-Palco recently laid off 500 workers and closed down its factory in Athens. Will the Commission
say how much that company received in Community funding and at what periods of time? Did this
particular company comply with the obligations laid down in the guidelines for financial aid, which
stipulate that the recipients of aid must maintain their investment for at least five years? In addition, did
the company maintain the existing jobs, as laid down in the new Regulation (EC) No 2204/2002 (1) of
12 December 2002 on aid for employment? Finally, were consultations between management and workers
held in due time, as laid down in Article 2 of Council Directive 98/59/EC (2)?

(1) OJ L 337, 13.12.2002, p. 3.
(2) OJ L 225, 12.8.1998, p. 16.

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(12 August 2003)

The company Schiesser-Palco has not been financed by the European Social Fund in the framework of any
Operational Programme in the period 2000-2006.

There are minimum requirements and provisions set out by Community legislation in order to provide
appropriate protection to employees in the case of collective redundancies. As mentioned by the
Honourable Member, under Article 2 of the Council Directive 98/59/EC of 20 July 1998 on collective
redundancies, Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that an employer, where he is
contemplating collective redundancies, shall begin consultations with the workers’ representatives in good
time with a view to reaching an agreement.

Member States have also to ensure that employers notify the competent public authority in the Member
State concerned in writing of any projected collective redundancies. This notification shall contain all
relevant information including information about the consultation procedure provided for in Article 2 of
the Directive.

6.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 33 E/205

The Commission has no specific information if the consultation procedure, which the Honourable Member
legislation
referred to, took place in this particular case. Any alleged breach of the Member States’
implementing the provisions of Community legislation in a particular Member State is, therefore,
in
principle a matter to be addressed in the first instance to the competent authority of the Member State
concerned.

(2004/C 33 E/208)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2035/03

by Richard Corbett (PSE) to the Commission

(18 June 2003)

Subject: Staff family members as trainees

Has the Commission adopted any rules which preclude relatives of EU employees from applying for
traineeships? If not, why not?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(31 July 2003)

The Commission’s administrative traineeship programme (Blue Book) is open to all candidates who fulfil
the admission requirements laid down in the rules governing in-service training periods with the European
Commission (Commission Decision of 7 July 1997).

No special treatment (cid:1) favourable or unfavourable (cid:1) is shown to candidates who are relatives of EU
employees.

(2004/C 33 E/209)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2053/03

by Anders Wijkman (PPE-DE),
Jules Maaten (ELDR), Robert Evans (PSE), Kathleen Van Brempt (PSE)
and Marialiese Flemming (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Endangered monk seal

(20 June 2003)

The monk seal (Monachus monachus) is probably the most endangered mammal, not only in Europe but
also worldwide. At present, there are fewer than 200 of this particular species of seal living in the coastal
waters of Greece and Turkey. As the monk seal is a migratory species, it can be found as much in Greek as
in Turkish waters.

Countries which are parties to the Berne, Bonn and CITES Conventions are required to protect not only
the plant and animal species referred to in these Conventions but also their biotopes. Furthermore, and
pursuant to the Habitat Directive, the monk seal should have the highest degree of protection. Greece is a
signatory to all the above Conventions, as is Turkey, except for the Bonn Convention.

Greece has, at least in part, fulfilled its obligations with regard to the protection of the monk seal by
creating the Northern Sporades Maríne National Park and protected zones around a number of islands in
the Aegean.

The Turkish Ministry for the Environment has proposed the creation of five coastal national parks for the
protection of the monks seal, but over the years, as a result of resistance from the Turkish Ministries of
Tourism and Public Works, the actual establishment of these fully protected areas has again and again been
postponed.

The Commission has, in recent decades, been in the vanguard of movements to protect the monk seal.