Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-02-13-Speech-2-064"
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"en.20010213.3.2-064"2
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". – Mr President, honourable Members, Europe must face industrial restructuring and its social consequences by combining innovation with social cohesion and improving its capacity to manage change. Our positive and pro-active answer to change covers three main fields: improving our capacity, anticipating and managing change i.e. in the Dublin Observatory; creating or developing the legal mechanisms which can ensure adequate protection of workers in situations of industrial restructuring and promoting in general their own capacity to anticipate change; and developing corporate social responsibility.
In response to the Lisbon Council's appeal to companies' corporate sense of social responsibility the Commission has included this theme in its own social policy agenda published in June 2000 by stressing its importance in addressing the employment and social consequences of economic and market integration and adapting worker conditions in the new economy. It has announced a communication to support initiatives related to corporate social responsibility and management of change. The Commission will issue a Green Paper this year to facilitate further development towards a framework for corporate social responsibility practice at European level.
In conclusion, it is the combination of the different lines of action which I mentioned to you, as well as adequate action from public authorities, private organisations, companies, workers and the social partners at all levels, that will allow us to deal properly with the social implications of industrial change and corporate restructuring. All of them are important, all of them require an innovative and open attitude on the part of policy makers. I know that is your stance on this and I thank you for your support.
The establishment of an observatory on industrial change is one of the actions proposed in the social policy agenda adopted by the Nice Summit as a means to develop a pro-active approach to anticipating and managing change. I personally attach much importance to this matter in view of the current situation regarding mergers and acquisitions. The Dublin Foundation has included this initiative in its four-year rolling programme. In the framework of its current limited resources, the Dublin Foundation has planned in its 2001 work programme to set up the observatory's steering committee. This work will provide a basis for further development of the observatory from 2002 onwards, if additional resources become available.
The directives on collective redundancies and transfers of undertakings, dating back from the seventies, were conceived and adopted in a context of full employment and slow change. Since then the situation in the economic world has radically changed. It is true that their provisions are no longer adapted to the needs of companies and workers. Today they focus on promoting anticipation, prevention of crisis, employability and adaptability. Our answer to the weaknesses of the existing rules, and the only efficient way to modernise national systems of worker involvement, consists in refocusing the information and consultation procedures on economic and strategic issues and putting the long-term evolution of employment within each company at the centre of them. That is the aim of the Commission's proposal on information and consultation. Once this general framework is adopted and widely applied, the specific rules on collective redundancies and transfers of undertakings will make sense; first of all, because crises in the employment relationship like these would in many cases have been prevented.
Secondly, even when they cannot be avoided, the normal losers would have been alerted well before and would be in a position to adapt better to inevitable changes in their employment situation. I know that you are very supportive of this approach and that you share the Commission's satisfaction with the irreversible progress recently achieved on this sensitive dossier. With your cooperation and a strong political will from the Council, we may finalise it before the end of this year and that will be a decisive step forward.
I also share your point of view according to which the European Works Council Directive will also have, sooner or later, to be updated. Nevertheless, we will have much to gain from pursuing the evaluation of the rich experience of practical application of the directive.
In addition, before doing so, we would conclude some unfinished tasks which are also at the centre of your concerns. First of all the information and consultation dossier must be finalised. Then at the end of last year we had another major and long-awaited achievement: the European company statute. It is worth mentioning in the context of this debate because this new form of incorporation will certainly be widely used by companies in Europe operating on a trans-national basis, above all, when they restructure themselves and adapt to new economic and market conditions. One of the outstanding positive elements of the statute is that it contains well developed provisions on worker involvement, which reflect the modern approach also translated in the national information and consultation proposal. This will surely contribute to a better treatment of the social dimension of corporate restructuring in Europe.
Then the five other legislative proposals are on the line, following the unlocking of the European company texts: the three twin statutes for cooperatives, mutual societies and associations and the draft directives on trans-national mergers and transfers of the registered offices of companies from one Member State to another. All of these instruments will require the same kind of provisions as the ones found in European companies. This is another reason for waiting a short while before launching the revision of the European Works Council Directive, which, incidentally, will have much to gain from the debates held on these other dossiers. They will inevitably inspire and facilitate the acceptance of the solutions which will be on the table for discussion when we turn to the task.
Finally, I know that there is concern in this House about information and consultation of employees in the context of mergers and acquisitions control. As you know, from previous speeches, we are holding a debate within the Commission on how better to address this concern. Under the merger regulation, workers and representatives are already entitled in some cases to be auditioned by the Commission's services, which conduct an inquiry on the conformity of a merger with the Treaty. Our idea consists in making these auditions more systematic. On the other hand, we could usefully remind merging companies of their responsibilities and obligations with regard to worker information and consultation on these operations which very frequently affect them.
As social cohesion is now top priority for Europe, public authorities can no longer be expected to be solely and wholly responsible for it. Like every other part of society, businesses are expected to undertake their share. Promoting corporate social responsibility is now an essential part of the European strategy for social cohesion. The guiding principle of corporate social responsibility for companies is to be competitive and profitable by living up to their social responsibilities."@en1
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