Brussels, 03/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) filed an official complaint on Monday 2 September with the European Ombudsman regarding the lack of any European Commission proposal to set up a legal instrument on the “restructuring and anticipation of change”, although this was requested by the European Parliament. Under the Lisbon Treaty (Article 225), the Commission had three months in which to do this after the adoption in January 2013 of the Parliament's own-initiative report. It has still not done so.
By referring the matter to the Ombudsman, ETUC hopes to shake up the Commission so that it finally proposes urgent legislative action at EU level “to address the anticipation of change and ensure effective management of restructuring”, an ETUC press release states. The Commission should already have done this by 15 April at the latest. The fact that the deadline has passed is not the only reproach made by the trade unions. They fear that, if the Commission does finally decide to present a proposal to Council and Parliament, it will not do so in the spirit of what ETUC and MEPs want.
From its adoption, the report had been met with great caution (see EUROPE 10764). Commissioner Laszlo Andor spoke, as the Commission's response to the Parliament's request, of a “communication in the autumn” that would take the form of a list of “best practices”. Also, although the EPP Group had supported the report, it immediately showed it was sceptical about the chances of seeing a common legislative framework rapidly emerge for the rights and obligations of businesses in managing restructuring. The Parliament had called for a legal instrument and the idea of proposing no more than a communication “does not constitute a legal instrument under EU law”, ETUC complained. In justification of its complaint, ETUC finally considers that “this is a clear catalogue of maladministration by the European Commission”. It “violates the spirit and letter of the Treaty and calls into question the role of democratic actors in the EU framework”. (JK/transl.jl)