Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-09-03-Speech-1-098"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2001-09-03"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:European works council2
dcterms:Language	"fr"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20010903.7.1-098"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2001-09-03-Speech-1-0992
lpv:speaker	lp:Hélène Flautre2
lpv:spokenAs	member; EMPL (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 unknown; Les Verts-Europe-Ecologie (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 member; G/EFA (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 vice-chair; Delegation for relations with the Maghreb countries and the Arab Maghreb Union (1999-07-22--2002-01-14)3 substitute; Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee (1999-12-16--2002-01-14)3 substitute; Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy (1999-07-22--2002-01-14)3
lpv:translated text	"Mr President, the relevance that employees and citizens give to European social policy is being distorted further with each passing day, because of numerous cases of restructurings and redundancies. The revision of the Directive on European Works Councils is obviously a crucial way of clawing back this credibility. So what do the employees who are victims of these restructurings have to say about the possibility of using this directive? To take some examples, they say that the current legislation on the right to information and consultation is flouted on a regular basis by companies, due to the lack of precise definitions for these terms, that they have no administrative and judicial support which is needed in order to check compliance with the directive, that the directive only applies in very restricted circumstances and is not at all applicable in many transnational companies with numbers of employees lower than the current threshold, that it is inconceivable that authorisations for mergers are granted when the only criterion to be fulfilled is that of observing the competition law and that the social, regional or environmental impact of mergers is not taken into account, that they are powerless when mergers are taking place, during which previous consultation procedures are no longer used, since new procedures have yet to be set up, and, finally, that they are disgusted to see that the same companies which undertake these severe restructurings have occasionally received assistance from the Structural Funds. In my view, Mr Menrad’s report, which is the result of work that was carried out in an open, cooperative spirit, involving the social actors concerned and members of the Commission, which organised a broad public hearing on this issue, recommends bridging these gaps with a precise definition of information and consultation, by reducing, as proposed, the thresholds of employees required to establish a works council, by requesting that specific premises for consultation are maintained during mergers, by requesting that decisions made and which flout procedures can be overturned, and by introducing sanctions, including financial, for companies at fault and finally, by taking into account the opinion of employees and providing evidence that the procedures of the directive have been observed, prior to giving authorisations to mergers. Within this context, these proposals have the support of our group. Obviously, we still need to ensure – and this requires a combined effort – that the directive is revised quickly and effectively."@en1

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