Brussels, 13/12/2002 (Agence Europe) - Commenting on the Commissioner Monti's merger reform proposals (see EUROPE 11 December p 9), Anna Diamantopoulou described them as constituting genuine reconciliation between cohesion and competitiveness in Europe. A spokesperson for Anna Diamantopoulou stated that Mario Monti has set about modifying the regulation that calls on companies requesting the Commission's green light for mergers that do not for the instant evoke this obligation for these companies to respect the law of informing and consulting with the workers. The spokesperson explained that Commissioner Monti was committed to getting preliminary consultation of workers during merger before any decision is made involving their interests, inserted into the reform proposals. The proposals include "considerations" of the regulation with a reference to the need to interpret the text in light of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and that workers' representatives have the right to be heard during hearings organised by the Commission for the interested parties before any Commission decision on the mergers is made.