Brussels, 13/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - Pending a possible legislative proposal, the European Commission presented, on Friday 13 December, a “Quality Framework for anticipation of Change and Restructuring” (QFR). This is a sort of basket of best practice, in relation more to the field of anticipating structural changes than restructuring. Such an approach does not fully correspond to what the European Parliament had requested in January (see EUROPE 10764), namely the setting in place of a real common base of rights and obligations for companies in the management of restructuring.
Today, there are six million fewer Europeans at work than at the beginning of the crisis. This reality, which is mainly reflected in the unemployment figures, also has an impact on the way threats weighing on the European economy are defined. The time when worker disarray was mainly directed against corporate relocation now seems a thing of the past. Relocation continues to take place but the conclusion of a recent report by the European Restructuring Observatory reveals that the share of jobs lost due to company bankruptcy and closures has considerably increased in recent years compared to jobs lost in “removals”. Companies within the EU today seem to be struggling increasingly for survival rather than for advantages or better competitiveness.
The Commission communication may include restructuring in its title but emphasis is mainly placed on anticipating change, therefore putting into practice the maxim: “prevention is better than cure”. However, there is the risk that some will feel frustrated, such as the European Parliament or the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), which are calling for an active European strategy based on legislative action framing restructuring practices. The Commission recently presented a manual of best practice that, above all, deals upstream with the problem of restructuring. To sum up, the Commission points out, it is above all necessary to accompany workers in the inevitable changes taking place on the labour market, including in the public sector.
This “quality framework” is a concise document, comprising just over four pages. Each stakeholder (employers, trade unions, workers, social partners and sector-specific organisations, national and regional authorities) is invited to follow crystal-clear rules. For anticipation of changes, employers are proposed “good sense” rules such as the strategic monitoring of their economic and financial situation or the continuous mapping of jobs and skills needed. They should also cover the professional development of their workers through measures to make workers more flexible, and through training. In the case of restructuring, employers should aim at “building internal consensus” and provide personalised support for workers who have been made redundant, while the latter are invited to “explore possible action to avoid being made redundant” and to “develop an individual job-search action plan”.
After a Green Paper on restructuring adopted in January 2012 (see EUROPE 10533), the Commission has reached the conclusion that a legislative proposal is not needed on this dossier - or at least it is not needed just yet. The Commission is in fact using the threat of a legislative proposal if this “quality framework” is not adequately applied. Such caution on the part of the Commission can also be explained by the recent “quality check” that it made of three directives concerning worker information and consultation (see EUROPE 10897). Of course, gaps and shortcomings had been detected but the only remedy evoked was the possibility of consolidating or simplifying the body of directives. Current European legislation on employment and social policy was described as “relevant, effective and consistent”.
The subject of framing restructuring touches a sensitive nerve among employers and their representative at the EU, BusinessEurope, is there to point this out. In a press releases published on Thursday 12 December, it warns the Commission that it “must be extremely careful not to undermine the ability of businesses to react to new market conditions in order to sustain themselves in the long term”. The S&D Group at the European Parliament is delighted that “after more than ten years of work, the Commission has understood that the restructuring process cannot only be left in the hands of the market”. It nonetheless also denounced the non-binding nature of the measures presented. (JK/transl.jl)