Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-14-Speech-2-047"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20060314.6.2-047"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Ladies and gentlemen, I have listened to your discussion with interest and I feel that it has emerged from a period of thorough preparation and that the consensus displayed in it is very strong. I would like to respond to some of the questions that have directly or indirectly been raised. On the topic of informing and consulting employees, this is the second phase consultation with the social partners. On the topic of safeguarding the right of employees to be informed and consulted in advance of restructuring measures, this obligation is set out in a number of Community directives. These directives must be strictly upheld.
I would like to stress the fundamental importance of social dialogue in firms, as it represents an instrument for anticipating and managing restructuring, and the communication therefore presents the second phase consultation with the European social partners as something that involves company restructuring and European works councils in equal measure. I hope that the social partners will begin to work intensively towards the introduction of mechanisms for implementing and monitoring the reference principles outlined a year and a half ago in relation to restructuring, and to make use of European works councils as mediators for change at a company level. The Commission takes the view that this is one of their key tasks. The legislative route cannot entirely be ruled out, but in the present phase it would be more appropriate and beneficial to let the social partners handle matters.
On the question of Community assistance for relocations, I would like to state that the current framework provides for the cancellation of aid from the Structural Funds in cases where a given business undergoes significant change, for example where it is relocated within five years of a decision being made and the allocation of resources taking place. I would also say that, in respect of the 2007-2013 programming period, the Commission is proposing an increase of this guarantee to seven years, along with a requirement that any aid received must be reimbursed where this regulation has been infringed, and that any firm that breaches this requirement once would be excluded from receiving further aid in the future.
The Commission recently adopted a proposal for a regulation establishing a Globalisation Adjustment Fund. It will be up to you to discuss it with the Council and to decide whether to approve it. The Commission is fully prepared to discuss the terms applying to the fund, and I have noted a number of ideas that I regard as important in this respect. Among these is undoubtedly the idea that the companies themselves must contribute within the framework of restructuring, and that the strategy of shifting all costs to the public purse cannot be supported. I would also like to stress the direct and short-term nature of the assistance provided through this Fund, in contrast to the more structured activities of the Structural Funds, especially the European Social Fund. This means that the Fund is wholly and explicitly conceived of as being complementary to existing instruments, supplementing them in areas where they are not effective. As I have already stated, the Social Fund, as well as other Structural Funds, allows for long-term activities aimed at adapting regions, sectors and work processes to economic and social change, in contrast to the short-term demands of specific exceptional situations. This is a priority set for the target of the Structural Funds, which is competitiveness and employment in the 2007–2013 period.
Ladies and gentlemen, the unifying idea in this discussion has undoubtedly been that restructuring provides opportunities, but that the human costs will be unacceptably high if it is not managed properly. These opportunities arise from the fundamental structure of our society and the fundamental structure of modern development in general, in that it constitutes a search for ever more effective and more technologically advanced solutions in the economic and social spheres. Ladies and gentlemen, it is a basic component of the EU Treaty that the aim of our efforts should be quality of life in the everyday sense of the word. In my view, the communication or report that Parliament is now putting forward is an inspiring document which represents a step in that direction."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples