WRITTEN QUESTION E-0453/04 by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Exploitation of Portuguese workers in France.
Date: 2004-02-23
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: France, Portugal, free movement of workers, labour law, remuneration of work, worker (EU), working conditions

C 84 E/402

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

reducing further the EURO 4 NOX or particulate emission limits since industry is well on the way to
confirming their engine designs and pollutant emission control strategies for the EURO 4 stage. It is
too late now to change the goalposts;

(cid:1) the EURO 5 emission limits were also agreed in co-decision by the Parliament and the Council. Again,
the Commission does not intend to make a proposal to bring forward by one year the date of
application of the EURO 5 standards;

(cid:1) the Commission is presently considering the EURO 6 emission limits for heavy-duty vehicles with the
focus being on reducing emissions of NOX and total mass of particulates. The Commission is also
considering the issue of ultra-fine particles, which are suspected of being a contributory factor to
health effects, with regard to the setting of a specific limit value for ultra-fine particle size/number.
The necessary new measuring procedures are in preparation;

(cid:1) the Commission’s Clean Air for Europe program will provide the scientific basis for deciding future
EURO 6 emission standards in collaboration with balanced measures for other industrial sectors
contributing to air pollution in order to achieve future EU air quality targets. Stakeholders are fully
consulted in the Clean Air for Europe and EURO 6 process. Today, the Commission estimates that
EURO 6 could, if appropriate, be applied in the 2012-2013 timescale giving industry a reasonable
period of stability between the EURO 5 and EURO 6 stages.

(1) Directive 1999/96/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on the approximation of the
laws of the Member States relating to measures to be taken against the emission of gaseous and particulate
pollutants from compression ignition engines for use in vehicles, and the emission of gaseous pollutants from
positive ignition engines fuelled with natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas for use in vehicles and amending
Council Directive 88/77/EEC.

(2004/C 84 E/0468)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0453/04

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(23 February 2004)

Subject: Exploitation of Portuguese workers in France

The French and Portuguese media have denounced the unacceptable exploitation, tantamount to full-blown
slavery, of Portuguese workers in France, specifically in the Loire-Atlantique region. A complaint has of
course already been launched against the IDG (International Deboning Group), which failed to fulfil its job
contracts, pay salaries, transport, bonuses, holidays and so on to its Portuguese workers.

What measures have been taken or are going to be taken to protect the rights of Portuguese workers, and
to ascertain the responsibility of French public organisations in maintaining these situations of full-blown
slavery?

Answer given by Mr Dimas on behalf of the Commission

(1 April 2004)

As the Commission has already pointed out in its answer to the Honourable Member’s Written Question
E-3834/03 (1), whether the cases in question come under Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 of the Council of
15 October 1968 on freedom of movement for workers within the Community (2) or under Directive 96/
71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of
workers in the framework of the provision of services (3) depends primarily on whether their employment
in France is permanent. If so, French employment law is applied in full, and discrimination on grounds of
nationality is not permitted. If not, the Portuguese workers concerned are covered by a ‘hard core’ of
protective rules, set out in the above Directive, on the working and employment conditions in force in
France, and the remainder of their working conditions are governed by the law of the country of origin.

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/403

Effective monitoring and surveillance of compliance with working and employment conditions are
primarily the responsibility of the national authorities and courts, and any specific information which
individuals, including the Honourable Member, may have on non-compliance with the relevant working
conditions should be submitted to these authorities.

The Commission does not have any reason to doubt that the supervisory measures and sanctions provided
for by the legislation of the Member State to which the Honourable Member refers are generally effective
and proportionate and act as a deterrent. Nor does it possess any information to suggest that the French
authorities are any less diligent in addressing infringements of the obligations arising from Community law
than in applying the corresponding purely national legislation.

(1) OJ C 78 E, 27.3.2004.
(2) OJ L 257, 19.10.1968.
(3) OJ L 18, 21.1.1997.

(2004/C 84 E/0469)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0455/04

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

(10 February 2004)

Subject: Illegal fishing (cid:1) Azores and Madeira

There are media reports that the Spanish authorities have apparently ‘anticipated’ the application of the
new Community Regulation (1954/2003 (1)), and liberalise access to half of the Azores and Madeira
Economic Exclusion Zone; they have already issued licences for fishing in those waters to at least one
Spanish shipowner, in what constitutes a clear violation of the deadlines established.

The same sources believe that this action on Spain’s part is a direct assault on Portuguese sovereignty,
since liberalisation was scheduled to take place only on 1 August 2004 (Regulation 1954/2003, Article 15),
when the currently applicable Regulation is revoked.

The Portuguese radio channel TSF obtained access to a Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
document authorising one shipowner to fish for swordfish and similar species in Azores and Madeiran
waters, with the exception of the zone lying between the coast of the two archipelagos and the hundred-
mile limit.

These documents were discovered by accident on 16 January 2004.

The Azores authority, whose satellites had already detected 16 Spanish vessels in local waters, have
informed the Portuguese Defence Ministry of the discovery of this document, and have requested that
surveillance, both by air and by sea, be reinforced.

The media claim that the Portuguese Government, in the person of the Secretary of State for Fisheries, has
asked the Commission for its opinion of the Spanish licences for fishing off the Azores and Madeira.

If Spain’s precipitate action proves to be illegal, the worst fears concerning the liberalisation of fishing in
those waters will be confirmed, and Portuguese public opinion will have fresh cause for alarm.

The Commission:

(cid:1) Is it aware of these facts, and the action of the Spanish authorities?

(cid:1) How does it view this case and, particularly, the behaviour of the Spanish authorities?

(cid:1) What measures has it taken, or will it take, to deal with this situation?

(cid:1) Does it believe that Spain should make reparations to Portugal?

(1) OJ L 289, 7.11.2003, p. 1.