Brussels, 01/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - The drastic decision by the management of German car manufacturer Volkswagen (VW) to shed 4000 jobs at its plant in the 'Forest' area of Brussels (Belgium) was the subject of a debate on Thursday among MEPs in plenary, who were addressed by VW trade unionists, on how to respond to deregulation in social Europe and industrial restructuring.
Opening the debate, EU Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Spidla said that some restructuring was necessary to ensure competitiveness and the continued survival of companies and jobs, but it was vital to ensure the process was well managed and planned in advance in order to minimise the resulting economic and social costs. He promised to take a proactive approach and be as flexible as possible, but the Commissioner said he was unable to intervene in decisions that were under a company's control. He said the Commission had to respect the autonomy of dialogue to leave room for negotiation within the VW.
Belgian MEP Ivo Belet (EPP-ED) said the VW-Forest example provided the EU with a unique opportunity to show its 'social face' and that while governments had to take measures to cut business costs, it was up to the EU to ensure that the workers concerned would be able to benefit from the Globalisation Adjustment Fund (GAF) as quickly as possible. British MEP Stephen Hughes (PES) welcomed Spidla's pledge to makes the best use of the European Social Fund (part of the Structural Funds). Hughes called for GAF intervention for VW in Belgium and called on the EPP-ED group to back this intervention. Calling for clarity about the funding available, French MEP Jean-Marie Beaupuy (ADLE) said the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund could provide aid on a case by case basis to redundant workers to help them quickly find a new job.
On behalf of the Greens, Belgian MEP Pierre Jonckheer slammed Spidla' speech as woefully inadequate. He said that although the Commissioner had mentioned the 'autonomy of dialogue', Spidla was well aware that VW bosses were reluctant to talk. He said the EU had to put an end to social and fiscal competition among Member States that dragged everyone down, adding that nothing had changed since the restructuring of Renault-Vilvoorde ten years ago. Jonckheer recommended beefing up the instruments available, especially the directive on the European works council, as requested of the European Commission by the EP in March 2006. He also recommended the establishment of a legal framework at EU level to allow collective bargaining in the EU for companies or industries. Jonckheer called on the European Commission to ensure better controls of state aid and EU aid to ensure it wasn't used to fund relocation within the EU. Jonckheer also demanded harmonisation of tax questions and the introduction of a minimum tax rate across the EU.
French MEP Francis Wurtz (GUE/NGL) said it was vital to 'mobilise' to save jobs at VW-Forest, and that if despite this mobilisation the question of compensation were to arise, then VW should be required to fully meet its responsibilities since its profits had risen sharply over the past two years. Wurtz said the company had benefitted from a whole string of public aid in the form of various tax exemptions for its Brussels plant. The French MEP said the EU also had to contribute to the redundancy packages, arguing that the heart of the matter was structural changes to be made to the economic strategy being implemented on behalf of what the Commission calls 'Global Europe' which, more prosaically, really means cutting the cost of labour, flexibility in terms and conditions of work, shareholders coming first, getting workers to compete with one another and waving the threat of relocation. Wurtz said the VW case was at the centre of the infamous free market Europe which more and more Europeans were rejecting. Francis Wurtz concluded that only a break with this neoliberal direction could pave the way for a social Europe and win back the trust of fellow citizens. French MEP Jacky Henin (GUE/NGL) slammed what he described as companies using job losses as a bargaining tool. He said that after squeezing as much as they could out of their workers and pillaging local finances, companies were flitting off to see whether the sun shone brighter elsewhere. He said it was time for Europe to get involved and defend this industry.
Belgian Socialists Véronique De Keyser and Alain Hutchinson wanted to know where was the directive on works council that the European Commission was still blocking? De Keyser regretted the lack of EU social regulation of the labour market and recommended a 'VW Directive' be drawn up on behalf of the all workers concerned (or likely to be concerned in the near future). Criticising the Commission, along with its social strategy and Lisbon Strategy, as an irritant to the red eyes of workers who have no choice but to accept conditions of permanent impermanence, French Socialist MEP Jean-Louis Cottigny said the GAF should be used to help VW workers find new jobs. (eh)