Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-13-Speech-1-096"
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"en.20060313.18.1-096"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the subject of my report – the relocation of businesses – is a sensitive but nonetheless topical one. I realised immediately that it had a delicate side when I presented my first draft report in the Committee on Regional Development. I have rarely witnessed – although I am still a young MEP – such a heated debate in committee. The fact remains that insight often springs from a clash of ideas, and I think that we have succeeded in drafting a good, balanced text, which expresses several interesting ideas and which enables us to demystify, clarify and better grasp the complex mechanisms of a genuine problem in our society. I should also like to take advantage of the time given to me to thank the shadow rapporteurs and all my colleagues who helped draft this report.
Ladies and gentlemen, as we all know and as has been said often enough, the European Union has been going through a significant crisis of late. What is serious about this crisis is the fact that Europeans have undoubtedly lost confidence and interest in this fantastic project that is European integration. Whether it be by means of this resolution on relocations or by means of other texts, we, the Members of the European Parliament, who are elected by the people of Europe, have a duty to listen to these worries. I believe that the report on which we voted in committee contains some interesting areas for further reflection and that it responds to the legitimate questions posed by our fellow citizens on this matter.
Ladies and gentlemen, there are a great many of us in this Chamber – perhaps not this evening, but in general – who were able to note that relocations give rise more often than not to considerable economic consequences for the regions affected. However, a relocation also means job losses and tragedies for the families that are the victims, and that is something that affects us.
Furthermore, an initial observation that I was able to make while preparing this report was that the European statistical tool in this area is weak. I was also able to observe that our Assembly had already addressed this issue in the form of other reports. In an initial resolution of 13 March 2003 on the closure of businesses in receipt of EU financial aid, Parliament put its finger on the major risk that relocations represent with regard to the primary objective of regional policy, namely economic and social cohesion. Then came the resolution of 6 July 2005 by our fellow Member, Mr Hatzidakis, on the reform of the Structural Funds. On that occasion, Parliament had drawn up several proposals regarding relocations.
My report obviously takes up the ideas contained in the resolutions previously voted on by the European Parliament. I have attempted to reproduce the main principals of those resolutions. After having pointed out that regional development policy is aimed at facilitating the development of EU regions and that public aid should not serve to encourage the relocation of economic activities, the report voted on by our Committee on Regional Development goes on to propose the adoption, both at Community and at national level, of measures designed to prevent, on the one hand, the potential negative consequences that relocations might have for economic development and, on the other, the social tragedies caused by these relocations.
Firstly, we are calling for a tool to be made available to us that will allow us access to more precise information. We therefore propose entrusting the Dublin Observatory with the remit of studying, assessing and monitoring the phenomenon of relocation in order to give expression to its social and economic impact and its effect on policy regarding cohesion and regional development. In addition to this tool, and in the absence of better coordination of our national social systems, the Committee on Regional Development considers that it is now crucial to adopt an overall European strategy for averting, managing and monitoring the relocation of companies not only within, but also outside the Union. We propose a number of measures that we address in very practical terms in the report.
Firstly, we call on the Commission to take all the measures necessary in order to fulfil what I believe is one of the crucial requirements of the report: that of preventing European regional policy from being an incentive for companies to relocate.
Secondly, we support the Commission proposal aimed at penalising the companies that have received EU aid and that relocate their activities within seven years. We also request that, in the event of non-compliance with national and international laws, it should no longer be possible for these same companies to receive public aid intended for their new place of production.
We call on the Commission to contemplate measures with regard to the relocations that I would refer to as ‘reverse’ relocations, namely those that, without relocation of the company’s activities, lead to a deterioration in working conditions. We consider that the granting, and continued provision, of public aid to businesses must be conditional on precise commitments in the areas of employment and local development. We suggest that the Commission develop a system designed more severely to penalise companies that, after having received public aid, relocate all or part of their activities outside the European Union. We also call on the Commission to include social clauses in international treaties and request that the implementation of these social clauses be supported by positive measures and incentives to help the countries and the companies that comply with those clauses. We support the Commission proposal aimed at creating a Globalisation Fund designed to avert and deal with the economic and social crises resulting from restructuring and relocations.
Finally, the Committee on Regional Development considers that the consequences of the many relocations must lead us to take an open and constructive approach to the issue of creating a genuine European social area. In this regard, we consider that social dialogue has a major role to play in terms of preventing relocations and of dealing with their effects."@en1
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