Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-02-13-Speech-4-113"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20030213.5.4-113"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Commissioner, you said that the restructuring of companies in the steel sector, but also in the metal sector, went back a long way. It goes back 25 years. What I would like to highlight is the difference that there is now in the nature of those restructuring processes.
You are aware that, 20 years ago, entire regions were abandoned and employees stripped of their jobs in the name of modernisation and productivity. It was extremely painful, but there was the feeling of understanding that a change was taking place, which rightly or wrongly was seen as necessary, so people felt abandoned but understood more or less why it had happened.
Now, the problem that we have is that it no longer makes sense, in other words now in restructuring what we see at work is the rule that anything goes, and in particular the rule of the shareholders that is imposed suddenly, unfairly, arbitrarily and unexpectedly.
These stories no longer make sense, which makes them depressing. In other words, people are either revolted or completely depressed by them. They particularly despair of Europe, because all of the restructuring processes are taking place at European level. So you see a sort of ping pong match going on: closing something here, buying something else here, in Poland in the case of that company. So everyone feels like they are competing with everyone else, which is a point that I would like to stress. How do you expect citizens to give any credit to Europe or have the slightest desire for Europe if that Europe appears to them to be first and foremost a battlefield of competition, with shareholders that are at times corrupt making the rules? Should we talk about Glencor, the corrupt shareholder, as there are people in this House who do not like names to be mentioned? Can we leave industrial and economic development strategies and thousands of jobs in the hands of a corrupt shareholder who is capable of sinking the
buying some profitable gems within Metaleurop, and leaving a region with unacceptable pollution? I think that we should also mention the terrible pollution of sites and serious threats to the health of employees, their children and their families.
Who is responsible? Who should pay? Are companies predators taking advantage as the shareholders dictate and then leaving all the damage in the hands of the public authorities? Or will Europe equip itself to regulate that and impose some restrictions? There are some very simple things that can be done. It is essential that we increase the power of employees on a European scale. Employees need to be able to discuss and take part in company strategies, coordinate and fight their battles together.
Everyone here has condemned the Commission’s declaration as lacking in ambition. It is true that it is lacking in ambition, I am not going to say otherwise. However, ladies and gentlemen, we also need to realise that while the Commission can say no to a merger due to a monopoly situation and competition law not being complied with, it cannot say no to restructuring which is ignoring legislation on informing and consulting workers. I would ask that this be considered in the debate on the social Europe within the Convention. There was a recent newspaper headline: ‘the Convention is pushing aside the social Europe’. Let us think about that. Do we want citizens to have lost all hope in Europe? I want the Commission to be able to say no to restructuring that is violating European legislation. However it is not the Commission that did not want that, but our Member States, in the Council, who chose to retain the legal and administrative means to allow it or not. How do you expect that to work? I want the Commission to have the power to say no to restructuring that is violating employees’ rights, and failing to consider the environment and the reclassification of sites. And in my opinion, that comes under the Convention.
Ladies and gentlemen, I invite you to put pressure on all those involved with the Convention in your groups, all those that you have contact with, to make progress on the social Europe. Otherwise that Europe will be depressing, and believe me, the people will not support it when they are consulted by referendum."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples