The European Parliament,

-  having regard to Articles 2, 3, 13, 125-129, 136-140 and 143 of the EC Treaty,

-  having regard to its resolutions of 13 April 1999 on modernising the organisation of work - a positive approach to change(1) , of 24 October 2000 on guidelines for Member States" employment policies for the year 2001 - the joint employment report 2000(2) and of 25 October 2000 on the social policy agenda(3) ,

-  having regard to the relevant sections of the conclusions of the European Councils of Nice and Stockholm,

-  having regard to Rule 163 of its Rules of Procedure,

-  having regard to the report of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities (A5-0283/2001 ),

A.  whereas, according to a survey of 21 500 workers carried out by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin Foundation), 8% of the workforce in the EU, which is equivalent to 12 million people, state that over the last 12 months they have been subject to bullying at work, and whereas this figure can be assumed to constitute substantial under-reporting,

B.  whereas the incidence of violence and harassment at work, under which the Dublin Foundation includes bullying, displays major disparities between the Member States; according to the Foundation this is due to under-reporting in certain countries, greater awareness in others, differing legal systems and cultural differences; whereas insecure employment is one of the main reasons for the increase in such occurrences;

C.  whereas the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions observes that persons who suffer from bullying are significantly more susceptible to stress than workers in general; whereas the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work observes also that bullying and harassment are potential health risks that often lead to stress-related illnesses; whereas gender-specific national data on bullying at work do not, however, reveal a uniform picture according to the Agency,

D.  whereas data from one Member State show that bullying is by far most prevalent in the case of work with a high anxiety level, which is a category of work more common amongst women than amongst men, and that it expanded considerably during the 1990s,

E.  whereas studies and empirical analysis taken together point to a clear link between, on the one hand, bullying at work, and on the other, stress or work with a high level of anxiety, greater competition, less job security and precarious employment status,

F.  whereas possible causes of bullying include, for example, shortcomings in the organisation of work, in-house information and management; whereas unresolved and longstanding organisational problems are a heavy strain on work teams and may lead to "scapegoating" and bullying; whereas the consequences for individuals and work teams may be significant and likewise the costs to individuals, companies and society,

1.  Believes that bullying, a phenomenon the true extent of which is not yet known, is a serious problem in the world of work, and that the problem urgently needs greater attention and more countermeasures, including consideration of new ways of combating the problem;

2.  Draws attention to the fact that the growing number of short-term contracts and insecurity of employment, especially among women, is creating conditions that encourage the practice of various forms of harassment;

3.  Points out the devastating effects of harassment on the physical and mental health of its victims and thus also their families, often necessitating medical and psychotherapeutic treatment and usually leading them to take sick-leave or resign from their jobs;

4.  Points out that, according to some research, women are more frequent victims than men of every type of harassment, whether it is "vertical" harassment of a subordinate by a superior, or vice versa, peer-group ("horizontal') harassment or harassment of a mixed type;

5.  Points out that false accusations of harassment can themselves constitute an effective form of harassment;

6.  Emphasises that measures to combat bullying at work must be seen as an important part of the efforts to achieve higher quality and improved social relations in the workplace; believes that they will also help to counteract social exclusion; considers that this can be regarded as the reason for Community initiatives and is in line with the European social agenda and employment guidelines;

7.  Points out that the problems associated with bullying at work are still probably underestimated in many quarters within the Union and that there are a series of arguments in favour of joint action at Union level, for example, the difficulties in devising effective instruments for counteracting and preventing bullying, the fact that guidelines on measures against bullying at work may have the effect of setting standards and influencing attitudes and the fact that reasons of fairness also justify such common guidelines;

8.  Urges the Commission in the communications on a Community strategy on health and safety at work and on strengthening the quality dimension in employment and social policy and in the Green Paper on corporate social responsibility also to take into account mental, psycho-social or social factors in the work environment, including the organisation of work, thus emphasising long-term, systematic and preventive efforts concerning health and safety with the aim, inter alia, of counteracting bullying at work, and to consider also the need for legislative initiatives to this end;

9.  Urges the Council and the Commission to include quantitative indicators relating to bullying at work in the indicators for the quality of work that are to be developed for the European Council's meeting in Laeken;

10.  Calls on the Member States, with a view to counteracting bullying and sexual harassment at work, to review and, if appropriate, to supplement their existing legislation and to review and standardise the definition of bullying;

11.  Emphasises in particular the responsibility of the Member States and of society as a whole with regard to bullying and violence at work, and sees this as the main focus for the strategy for combating them;

12.  Recommends to the Member States that they require businesses, public-service departments and the social partners to put in place effective prevention policies, to provide a system for exchanging experience, and that they specify procedures to solve the problem of harassment for victims and prevent any recurrence; recommends, in this context, that information and training of employees, managers, the social partners and workplace doctors be developed, in both the private and public sectors, and here draws attention to the possibility of appointing a confidential mediator at the workplace to whom employees can turn if they so wish;

13.  Urges the Commission to consider a clarification or extension of the scope of the framework directive on health and safety at work or, alternatively, the drafting of a new framework directive as a legal instrument to combat bullying and as a means of ensuring respect for the worker's human dignity, privacy and integrity; emphasises in this connection the importance of systematic work on health and safety and of preventive action;

14.  Emphasises that the state of knowledge, including research, can be facilitated and improved through better statistical data and draws attention to the roles of Eurostat and the Dublin Foundation in this connection; urges the Commission, the Dublin Foundation and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work to initiate in-depth studies into bullying;

15.  Emphasises the importance of closer investigation of the incidence of bullying at work related both to aspects concerning the organisation of work and, for example, to sex, age, industrial sector and profession; calls for this study to include an analysis of the particular situation of women who are victims of harassment;

16.  Notes that one Member State has already introduced rules to combat harassment in the workplace and that others have begun the process of adopting legislation to combat harassment, often along the lines of the legislation to combat sexual harassment; urges the Member States to pay heed to the problems of bullying at work and to take this issue into account in national legislation or through other measures;

17.  Urges the European institutions to set an example as regards efforts to prevent and counteract bullying within their own structures and where help and support for individuals and work teams are concerned; considers that, if necessary, they should provide also for amendment of their civil service regulations, including an appropriate sanctions policy;

18.  Notes that victims of harassment in the European Institutions currently receive too little help, and congratulates the administrative services for having set up, several years ago, a training course specifically directed at female administrators entitled "The female style of management" and, more recently, an Advisory Committee on Psychological Harassment (Mobbing);

19.  Urges that thought be given to the extent to which consultation at Community level between the social partners can help counteract bullying at work and that employees' organisations be involved in this process;

20.  Calls on the social partners within the Member States and at Community level to develop their own approaches to combating bullying and violence at work, and to exchange experience about these in accordance with the principle of best practice;

21.  Recalls that harassment also has negative consequences from the point of view of employers, adversely affecting the profitability and economic performance of firms as a result of the absenteeism it causes, the reduced productivity of employees arising from their sense of confusion and loss of concentration, and the need to pay compensation to dismissed employees;

22.  Underlines the importance of broadening and clarifying the employer's responsibility for systematic action on health and safety at work that results in the achievement of a satisfactory working environment;

23.  Calls for a debate on how voluntary networks or organisations against bullying can be supported;

24.  Asks the Commission to publish no later than March 2002 a Green Paper providing a detailed analysis of the situation regarding the issue of bullying at work in the various Member States and, on the basis of this analysis, to present no later than October 2002, an action programme of measures at Community level against bullying at work; considers that the action programme should include a timetable;

25.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.

(1) OJ C 219, 30.7.1999, p. 37. (2) OJ C 197, 12.7.2001, p. 68. (3) OJ C 197, 12.7.2001, p. 180.