MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on corporate social responsibility
12.3.2018 - (2018/2633(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 123(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Laura Agea, Dario Tamburrano, Isabella Adinolfi, Tiziana Beghin, Rosa D’Amato, Fabio Massimo Castaldo, Eleonora Evi, Marco Zullo, Piernicola Pedicini, Laura Ferrara, Marco Valli on behalf of the EFDD Group
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its resolution of 25 November 2014 on employment and social aspects of the Europe 2020 strategy[1],
– having regard to its resolution of 15 January 2013 with recommendations to the Commission on information and consultation of workers, anticipation and management of restructuring[2],
– having regard to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in particular Articles 22 and 23 thereof on economic and social rights and the right to work,
– having regard to Council Directive 98/59/EC of 20 July 1998 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to collective redundancies[3],
– having regard to Directive 2002/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2002 establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the European Community[4],
– having regard to Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation[5],
– having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, in particular Title IV thereof on solidarity,
– having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), in particular Articles 6 and 147 thereof,
– having regard to Article 173 of the TFEU, which requires both the Member States and the EU to ensure the competitiveness of European industry,
– having regard to Article 174 of the TFEU on economic, social and territorial cohesion, in particular in areas affected by industrial transition,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on corporate social responsibility,
– having regard to its resolution of 30 May 2002 on the Commission Green Paper on promoting a European framework for corporate social responsibility[6],
– having regard to its resolution of 6 February 2013 on corporate social responsibility: accountable, transparent and responsible business behaviour and sustainable growth[7],
– having regard to Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups[8],
– having regard to Rule 123(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the decision by Embraco, a multinational company that wants to relocate its operational and profit-making plant from Riva di Chieri (Turin) to another Member State, laying off 497 workers and refusing to give them any unemployment benefits, raises a number of broader political issues;
B. whereas Embraco’s choice to delocalise activity to Slovakia is based purely on financial considerations, since pay and taxes are lower in Slovakia, and whereas this move is to be considered as social and fiscal dumping within the EU;
C. whereas it is deplorable to lay off workers in order to increase already healthy profit margins;
D. whereas the EU internal market should be encouraging growth in all its regions and not in some at the expense of others;
E. whereas the recent intervention by Invitalia, the National Agency for inward investment and economic development, has suspended the lay-offs until the end of the year, but no guarantee to stop the dismissals and the relocation process has been made;
F. whereas non-strategic relocations within the EU dictated purely by short-term financial returns and cost-cutting considerations encourage a downward spiral in terms of jobs, undermine the economy as a whole and are incompatible with any effective industrial policy, cohesion efforts, innovation and development;
G. whereas companies involved in restructuring or downsizing have the responsibility to put social dialogue at the heart of the corresponding processes, with a special focus on informing and consulting workers, and should act in a socially responsible manner;
H. whereas the term ‘corporate social responsibility’ (CSR) is a many-faceted concept embracing various areas of business practice in terms of responsibility from a social, environmental and societal point of view;
I. whereas the key principles of CSR include its integration into core business processes and the promotion of transparency and verifiability;
J. whereas CSR can contribute to achieving the objectives defined in the European Strategy for Sustainable Development, provided that companies go beyond aspirational commitments and provided that they do not just use it as a mere public relations exercise;
K. whereas an undertaking’s disclosure of non-financial and diversity information (Directive 2014/95/EU), as regards social and employee-related matters, may concern its actions taken to ensure gender equality, implementation of fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organisation, working conditions, social dialogue, respect for the right of workers to be informed and consulted, respect for trade union rights, health and safety at work, and dialogue with local communities, and/or actions taken to ensure the protection and development of those communities;
1. Express its strong solidarity with workers who risk losing their job or lose it because of relocation and delocalisation processes, as in the case of Embraco;
2. Calls on the Commission to carry out exhaustive checks to ensure that no inadmissible use has been made of public funds in the specific case of Embraco and to assess whether the company complies with Directive 2014/95/EU;
3. Denounces the continuing beggar-my-neighbour policies being adopted by the Member States and strongly condemns the use of public funds to encourage relocations within the EU;
4. Calls on the Commission to explicitly state whether relocation within the EU in pursuit of lower pay and taxes is compatible with the Treaties;
5. Considers that companies relocating within the EU should be required to cover the cost of their redundant workforce finding alternative employment;
6. Calls on the Commission to put forward legislative and non-legislative initiatives in order to tackle social and fiscal dumping within the EU;
7. Regrets the absence of a real EU industrial policy that could protect EU workers and supply chains from short-term speculative decisions;
8. Urges the Member States to ensure adequate and thorough social protection, working conditions and decent wages, by either means of law or collective agreements, and effective protection against unfair dismissal;
9. Calls on the Commission to take into account the need to introduce a European minimum income scheme in order to deal with the emergency in terms of jobs which has been triggered by globalisation, delocalisation and deindustrialisation;
10. Stresses the fundamental role of CSR in ensuring environmentally, socially and economically sustainable growth both in the European Union and around the world; urges the Commission to adopt a new strategy on CSR that establishes stronger reporting and compliance requirements, and urges the Member States to endorse the promotion of CSR;
11. Stresses that EU CSR standards must be strenuously defended when a company intends to relocalise its production without affording proper attention to the social and territorial consequences of its short-term decisions;
12. Calls for a revision of competition policy and state aid rules in order to facilitate public intervention aimed at maintaining social and regional cohesion, improving labour and environmental standards or addressing public health concerns;
13. Calls for both the EU and its Member States to ensure that companies relocating their activities within the EU cover the cost of outplacement and of finding alternative employment for the laid-off workforce;
14. Calls for EU industrial and social policy to be revolutionised to no longer be based on socially, fiscally and environmentally questionable practices and urges the Commission to tackle the large-scale, far-reaching negative consequences which arise from delocalisation;
15. Emphasises that restricting demand must not lead to unfair competition for jobs among the Member States; calls, therefore, for long-term solutions to be developed which safeguard and create good quality jobs and industrial activity, with strict compliance with CSR;
16. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.