Strasbourg, 05/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament, which is only consulted on the issue, approved with a few amendments the Commission's proposals concerning the statute of the European Company and worker involvement. The plenary session largely followed its rapporteurs, German Christian Democrats Hans-Peter Mayer and Winfried Menrad.
As far as the draft regulation on the statute of the European Company (EC) is concerned, the Parliament insists on the need to avoid all disparity of treatment between European Companies registered in different Member States. With the adoption of several amendments by the ELDR Group, it also hopes to safeguard the margin of decision by companies regarding the size of their surveillance and administration bodies. The Commission proposed that the Member States should fix a minimum and/or maximum number of members for these bodies, and the Parliament requests that only a minimum number should be fixed.
The Parliament also calls for strengthening of the provisions guaranteeing worker information and consultation and, in the report on the state of application of the directive on European Works Councils, it insists that companies which violate essential points of the obligations arising from this directive should not receive any Structural Fund financing and/or that these companies should be forced to reimburse the funding they do receive, other Community funding or national aid granted to promote regional development and employment, and be excluded from public procurement and public aid. See also EUROPE of 1 September, p.7 on these three reports.