Brussels, 16/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - At the upcoming meeting of the European Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs Committee in Strasbourg on Monday 19 November, MEPs will be discussing the draft own-initiative report by Alejandro Cercas (S&D, Spain) on information and consultation with workers ahead of company restructurings and management of said restructurings. The report aims to give the EU institutions a greater role in helping business leaders and workers through structural changes to their companies.
The European Commission examined this in 2010 in a report on restructuring in Europe, but Cercas says further work is now needed partly because the economic and financial crisis that started in 2008 has led to mass redundancies in the car and steel industries; for example, without any genuine social dialogue. “Right now Europe has a legal framework that is very fragmented and serves basically as a response to lay-offs,” explained Cercas at a seminar in Brussels on Thursday 15 November, explains an S&D party press release.
Although systems already exist for helping laid off workers, the draft report suggests the European Globalisation Fund (EGF) could step in. This idea was mooted in discussion of a draft report by Marian Harkin (ADLE, Ireland) on 6 November (see EUROPE 10724), but an amendment by Belgian MEP Frédéric Daerden (S&D) did not get enough votes to give the EGF new powers to act ahead of any redundancies.
The S&D says the current draft report is backed by EU Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Commissioner Laszlo Andor, and also by the trade unions. “If we want to save European companies and jobs, we need a serious and rigorous industrial policy that includes a legal framework for a smart, solidarity restructuration based on a strong social dialog with all partners,” said Cercas. (JK/transl.fl)