Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-09-03-Speech-1-109"
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"en.20010903.7.1-109"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to begin by congratulating the rapporteur, Mr Menrad, for the timeliness and the quality of his report. Social dialogue within the European Union is a crucial factor for European integration itself. Hence the need to re-examine this directive on European works councils in companies that operate throughout the Community. Since 1994, 650 European works councils have been created, in contrast to the 40 or so that existed in the past. There is no doubt that this has been a success.
At the same time, great changes have taken place in the European labour market that require new responses and a stringent definition of the concepts of informing and consulting workers in companies operating throughout the Community, ensuring that this takes place in good time and under the appropriate conditions for a subsequent decision to be made. The range of themes covered by this process of information and consultation must be further extended, and the range must also be improved in matters of particular sensitivity for workers as a whole. Regular meetings for such a body are also necessary, for in around 85% of cases they meet just once a year, which is clearly insufficient.
The size that a company must be in order to be covered by this directive also warrants our attention, with a more reasonable threshold being required, a point on which we agree with Mr Menrad. The provisions relating to the protection and rights of workers’ representatives, who are freely elected by the workers, should be strengthened and there should be a balanced representation between men and women. Currently, 90% of the members of the specialist negotiating groups and of the European works councils are men.
Lastly, I wish to emphasise that the procedure for informing and consulting workers can lead to a deepening of the relationship between employers and workers in all Member States, thereby contributing to the development of a form of European consciousness."@en1
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