Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-09-04-Speech-2-291"
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"en.20070904.25.2-291"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Council Directive 1999/70/EC concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work requires the Member States to adopt such measures that would prevent abuse arising from the use of successive fixed-term employment contracts. However, the Member States are not obliged to replace fixed-term contracts with open-ended contracts assuming that there are other effective measures in place that would prevent or sanction such abuse.
The European Court of Justice confirmed this interpretation in its judgment of 4 July 2006 in Case C-212/04 (Adeneler) pertaining to Greek legislation.
The European Court of Justice also stated that interpretation of the relevant national legislation does not fall within its competence. It is entirely for the Greek courts to provide an interpretation of relevant Greek legislation and to determine whether this legislation complies with the requirements of the Directive regarding the existence of effective measures that would prevent and sanction abuse arising from the use of successive fixed-term employment contracts.
Greece implemented the above-mentioned Directive through Presidential Decree No 164/2004 concerning the public sector. The Commission carried out a thorough analysis of this Decree and concluded that it was compatible with the requirements of the Directive.
Since the Directive was implemented at a late stage, on 19 July 2004, the Presidential Decree contained an exceptional temporary provision that makes it possible under certain conditions to change successive fixed-term employment contracts concluded before the date on which the Decree entered into force into employment contracts of indefinite duration.
I am aware that the legal situation concerning the abuse of fixed-term employment contracts in the Greek public sector was a subject of disputes over the last few years. This was confirmed by the recent judgment of the Greek Supreme Court of 11 June 2007 in which the court annulled its previous case-law.
As already mentioned, according to the judgment of the European Court of Justice, the national courts are responsible for interpreting and applying the relevant Greek legislation, including the Constitution, in relation to the circumstances of particular cases submitted to them. However, in doing so the courts must duly observe the applicable EU legislation, in particular Directive 1999/70/EC.
The Commission is closely monitoring the development of the situation in Greece. It will carefully examine the latest ruling of the Supreme Court and will monitor subsequent measures adopted by the Greek authorities.
To conclude I would like to mention that according to the information supplied by the Commission, several Greek courts have already submitted preliminary questions concerning this matter to the European Court of Justice. The European Court of Justice will thus get the opportunity to deliver an opinion on the interpretation of the relevant Community legislation."@en1
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