Brussels, 31/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in plenary in Strasbourg, the European Parliament will begin work on Monday with a joint discussion on the report by Hans-Peter Mayer (German, EPP-ED) on the draft regulation on the European Company Statute, and two reports by Winfried Menrad (German, EPP-ED) on the draft directive complementing the European Company Statute regarding worker involvement, and the other on the state of implementation of the directive relating to the setting up of European Works Councils.
By unanimously adopting the Mayer Report, the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market notes the way that European Companies (ECs) are being set up highlights serious weaknesses: the directive on co-management is complex and allows for the transfer of all national rules on co-management to any other EU Member State, which, the report explains, risks having very serious legal consequences. Consequently, the European Company will have a "different face" from one State to the next, leading not to a uniform EC but to 15 different systems of ECs. The reality of the EC will also be determined by tax law (account taken of losses and redemption, for example), the Parliamentary Committee adds, urging the European Commission and national governments to establish accompanying tax regulations by 2003, necessary to give full effect to the new legal form of the ECs. It thus proposes (following the opinion of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs) a series of amendments by which it stresses in particular that: 1) for the purposes of creating a legal framework for the functioning of ECs, the present regulation must aim to refer as little as possible to the different national legislations to avoid disparity in treatment of CEs registered in different Member States; 2 ) problems stemming from the difference in tax burdens on CEs registered in the different Member States calls for a long-term solution; 3) in all areas of tax law and balance of accounts law, uniform provisions concerning tax are indispensable. The Commission will present proposals along these lines; 4) regarding social law, "the guarantee of the acquis relating to co-management is absolutely indispensable, independently of a later transfer of the headquarters of the EC. The Parliamentary Committee stipulates that it is important to protect the rights of co-management acquired in the past by employees, whatever the scale or scope of these rights.
In the first Menrad Report, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs proposes that the EP amend the Council draft directive complementing the European Company Statute regarding worker involvement. The amendments aim mainly at: - establishing minimum requirements regarding worker information, participation and consultation; - aligning the implementing modalities decided by Member States as long as this does not place into question acquired rights; - guaranteeing that even in the case of notable restructuring following the creation of an EC, provision is made for negotiations on later worker participation; - providing for clear provisions governing the obligation of information for management bodies, especially where it concerns the contents of information; - ensuring that the election or appointment of worker representatives on EC management or surveillance bodies is conducted according to the legislation in force in Member States.
By adopting the other Menrad Report, the Employment Committee considers that the directive relating to the setting up of a European Works Council (Directive 94/45/EC) comprises weaknesses that need remedying. The Parliamentary Committee here urges the European Commission to submit a draft amendment to directive 94/45/EC comprising the following improvements: 1) a precise definition of the notions of worker consultation and information, which are exchanges of views and the establishment of a timely dialogue between worker representatives and the management and before any company or group decision is taken; 2) the generalised obligation to convene extraordinary meetings of the European Works Council, as quickly as possible and at the appropriate moment, when it is a question of informing workers of a restructuring or other major decisions having a consequence on the future of the company; 3) the setting up of a strengthened consultation procedure on defined issues, of particular interest to workers (collective redundancies, company closures, transfer of production); 4) lowering the threshold of the personnel of companies concerned by the directive from 1000 to 500 employees for the company as a whole and from 150 to 100 per establishment in at least two Member States; 5) the introduction of sanctions, at national and European levels, in case of non-compliance with the directive by worker of employer representatives. It also calls on the Commission to prosecute Member States that have to yet transposed the directive.