MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
3.7.2006
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Ria Oomen-Ruijten and José Albino Silva Peneda
on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
on the economic and social consequences of companies restructuring in Europe
B6‑0388/2006
European Parliament resolution on the economic and social consequences of companies restructuring in Europe
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the 1989 Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers and the action programme relating thereto,
– having regard to Directive 75/129/EEC[1], as amended by Directive 92/56/EEC[2], on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to collective redundancies,
– having regard to Directive 94/45/EC[3] on the establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees,
– having regard to the fast transformations and economic changes that may affect companies in all the Members states, either in a positive or negative way,
– having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
1. Welcomes the forthcoming Globalisation Fund, which will support workers and improve the social and educational infrastructure with regard to collective redundancies;
2. Considers that aid from public funds should be linked to long-term agreements by the management of a company in matters of employment and local development;
3. Calls for the Commission to draw up a code of conduct in order to avoid subsidised company transfers where jobs are shifted from one EU country to another and to avoid relocation of companies for the sole purpose of obtaining financial aid from the EU;
4. Asks the Commission, as well as the Member States, to withdraw the subsidies from aid programmes and to claim reimbursement of these subsidies from companies which do not respect their obligations;
5. Recalls that the industrial sector itself should be primarily responsible for its own restructuring, in a way which respects the social rights of its employees;
6. Considers that firms in sectors threatened by global competition need to cooperate, with assistance from Member States and the Commission, to develop world best practice technologies that will reduce costs and improve customer value;
7. Emphasises that investment in research and development, with the engagement of EU funds through the R&D framework programme, can be used to develop the new materials, designs and processes that can reconfigure traditional industrial sectors;
8. Recalls that, in cases where collective redundancies have occurred, negotiations with employees have helped to develop alternative plans allowinga jobs to be safeguarded;
9. Expresses its sympathy with all workers, and in particular those who have been made redundant or are threatened with redundancy, as well as those from sub-contracting firms who are threatened with redundancy;
10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the social partners.